Nova Scotia

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NOVA SCOTIA

Official blazon

Arms : Argent a saltire Azure, overall on an escutcheon Or a lion rampant within a double tressure flory-counter-flory Gules.
Crest: A branch of laurel and a thistle issuing from two hands conjoined, the dexter gauntleted in armour, all proper.
Supporters: Dexter a unicorn Argent armed crined and unguled Or, crowned with the Royal Crown of Scotland proper, and gorged with a coronet composed of crosses patté and fleurs-de-lis a chain affixed thereto and reflexed Or, sinister a 17th-century representation of a North American Indian holding in the sinister hand an arrow proper, both standing on a grassy mound Vert set with thistles and mayflowers slipped and leaved proper.
Motto: MUNIT HAEC ET ALTERA VINCIT

Origin/meaning

The arms were officially granted on May 28, 1625 and again on July 20, 2007.

The arms were granted in 1625, making them the oldest coat of arms in the British Empire/Commonwealth outside of Britain. When Nova Scotia joined Canada in 1867, the arms had become lost, and the province was given a new arms. In 1929, the old arms were restored and confirmed in Canada in 2007.

The blue saltire is a simple reversal of the Scottish flag (a white saltire on blue being St. Andrew's Cross), while the badge in the middle bears the royal arms of Scotland. The unicorn is also from the Scottish coat of arms. The "savage" represents a member of the Micmac first nation, and the presence of thistles in the crest and the compartment can be explained by the fact that the thistle is the national emblem of Scotland.

The second arms were granted on May 26, 1868.