The coat of arms of Saint Helena, part of the British Overseas Territory of

Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha is a British Overseas Territory located in the South Atlantic and consisting of the island of Saint Helena, Ascension Island and the archipelago of Tristan da Cunha including Gough Island. Its name wa ...

, was authorised on 30 January 1984. The arms feature a shield, with the top third showing the

national bird This is a list of national birds, including official birds of overseas territories and other states described as nations. Most species in the list are officially designated. Some species hold only an "unofficial" status. National birds See al ...

, the Saint Helena plover (''Charadrius sanctaehelenae''), known locally as the wirebird – stylized, but with its unmistakable head pattern. The bottom two thirds depict a coastal scene of the island, a three-masted sailing ship with the mountainous island to the left. The coastal scene is taken from the colonial seal of the colony and shows the

flag of England The flag of England is the national flag of England, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is derived from Saint George's Cross (heraldic blazon: ''Argent, a cross gules''). The association of the red cross as an emblem of England ...

flying from the ship (when the shield was first introduced in 1874 the flag was a

White Ensign The White Ensign, at one time called the St George's Ensign due to the simultaneous existence of a cross-less version of the flag, is an ensign worn on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross ...

). The motto is ''Loyal and unshakable''. The full coat of arms features, above the shield, a woman holding a cross and a flower. This represents

Helena of Constantinople Flavia Julia Helena ''Augusta'' (also known as Saint Helena and Helena of Constantinople, ; grc-gre, Ἑλένη, ''Helénē''; AD 246/248– c. 330) was an '' Augusta'' and Empress of the Roman Empire and mother of Emperor Constantine th ...

, also known as Saint Helena, after whom the island is named. The cross is shown as Helena is credited with finding the relics of the

True Cross The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...

(cross upon which

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

was crucified). The shield of the arms features on the flag of Saint Helena and the Governor's flag. The local two pound coin has the full coat of arms on its reverse.

Arms usage by dependencies

The arms were also used by Ascension Island and

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying approximately from Cape Town in South Africa, from Saint Helena a ...

when they were dependencies of Saint Helena before 2009. Tristan da Cunha was granted its own arms in 2002 and Ascension Island was granted its own arms in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coat Of Arms Of Saint Helena Saint Helena Saint Helena Saint Helena Saint Helenian culture Saint Helena Saint Helena Saint Helena Saint Helena Helena, mother of Constantine I

Arms usage by dependencies

See also

References