The coat of arms and national motto

THE COAT of arms was granted to Jamaica in 1661 under a royal warrant. The original was designed by William Sancroft, then Archbishop of Canterbury. The design was changed a few times, including in 1906, 1957 and 1962. The crocodile standing on a piece of log has always been a part of the design. In the original it is crested on a royal helmet which rested atop a shield of a red cross on which five pineapples are emblazoned.

In 1906, the royal helmet was removed and the shape of the shield changed. A ribbon with the motto, INDVS VTERQVE SERVIET VNI, was added at the bottom of the shield. In another version of the motto, the Vs are replaced with the Us as in, INDUS UTERQUE SERVIET UNI. It is the Latin translation for ‘The two Indians will serve as one’, or ‘Both Indies will serve together’, in reference to the collective servitude of the Tainos to the colonisers.

A Taino woman with a basket of fruits was put on the left of the ribbon, while a Taino man with a large bow was put on the right. The Tainos were living in Jamaica when the Spaniards chanced upon them in 1494. A more colourful royal helmet was returned to the design in 1957, this time with the royal mantle surrounding it atop the shield. The style of the ribbon was changed, but the motto wasn’t.

In giving consideration to what might be the final form of an appropriate coat of arms for an Independent Jamaica, the pre-Independence PNP government and the Opposition JLP reached an agreement in principle that the existing coat of arms, established since 1661 under royal warrant and partially revised in 1957, constituted a badge of great historical significance to the nation and should be retained. However, the colour of the ribbon was changed to gold, and the motto to ‘Out of many, one people’, in tribute to the unity of the different ethnic groups on the island.