The Coat of arms of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was first granted by the Spanish Crown in 1511, and is the oldest arms still used in the New World. It was officially re-adopted by the Commonwealth government of Puerto Rico in 1976.
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Coat of Arms
On the shield, the green background represents the island's vegetation. The lamb (of God) and flag on the shield are those of St. John the Baptist, while the book with the seven seals on which the lamb sits represents the Book of Revelation, generally attributed to John the Evangelist. The border is made up of several different elements: castles and lions to represent Castile and León (Crown of Castile) and a flag with the arms of Aragon and Sicily (for the Crown of Aragon). The Cross of Jerusalem stands for the Kingdom of Jerusalem, whose succession rights passed to the Kingdom of Sicily, and henceforth to the Spanish Crown. The F and the arrows (Spanish: flechas) represent Ferdinand II of Aragon, while the Y and the yoke (Spanish: yugo) represent Joanna I of Castile (in Old Spanish Yoanna), who succeeded Isabella I as Queen Regnant of Castile and Leon in 1504 after her mother's death. The Latin motto, "JOANNES EST NOMEN EJUS" (a quotation from the Vulgate of Luke 1:63), means "John is his name", referring to St. John the Baptist or San Juan Bautista, the original name of the island. The coat of arms is now used as the official emblem of the Governor of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico State Department and of the Government of Puerto Rico as a whole.
Great Seal
All U.S. states employ a seal as their official emblem. A seal of Puerto Rico exists, but it has been replaced with the traditional coat of arms as the main emblem of the commonwealth. It has all the elements of the coat of arms with the exception that they have been stripped of any religious elements. In the seal, the lamb carries a white banner instead of one with a red cross. The lamb's staff does not have the cross mounted on top. The book the lamb sits on does not have the seals of the Book of Revelation. The first Governors used the seal as their emblem but in recent years the usage of the seal was limited to being the official emblem of Puerto Rico and its Legislature among some offices of the Departments of the Executive Branch.
See also
- Puerto Rico
- Symbols of Puerto Rico
References
External links
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