New York is a city with a long history. He, like the state of the same name, has many different emblems, including the coat of arms and other official symbols. The city is one of the largest in the country. The Dutch were its founders, then the British captured it, and New Amsterdam was renamed.
State Symbol History
One of the settlers named Jonas Bronk, who lived in the 17th century, who owned the land, today the Bronx in New York, had a coat of arms depicting the rising sun. This may have influenced the appearance of the state press of New York and its coat of arms, adopted in 1778. In addition, the symbol of the sun may have been chosen in honor of the Duke of York, who ruled the English colony after 1664 (the sun was a sign of this kind).
During the American Revolution (1775–1783), the military unit carried a banner resembling the state’s modern flag. In 1858, a similar canvas, but with a white background, was recognized as its official symbol. The light brown color of the New York form during the Revolution replaced white as the background on April 8, 1896. But on April 2, 1901, the original, dark blue background was restored. His sample was officially adopted in 1882, but, in fact, it is an image first adopted during the revolution. Currently, this symbol on a canvas in dark blue is the flag of New York.
State emblem
The coat of arms of New York was developed by a commission appointed in 1880 as a standard form of representation of the state, which was originally developed (and was already used in military colors) in 1777 and officially adopted by law on March 16, 1778 as “The rising sun over the three mountains and the Excelsior motto (Excelsior, “Higher”). This coat of arms does not explicitly mention ships on the river or even the river itself. The earliest images of the coat of arms up to the civil war had a picture of a river, but without ships or the nearest river bank at the base of the shield. The only exception, the image that was used in the military commissions during the Revolution, was the model used in 1880, which was subsequently approved by the Act of the State Assembly of 1882 as the “permanent model and legal form of the coat of arms”. It was slightly modified in 1896, and in this form still exists.
It is believed that the landscape on the shield represents the sun rising behind the mountain above the Hudson River. The ship and sloop are symbols of trade: the sloop depicted has the design of a typical ship, used for trade in the upper reaches of the river in those days.
Description of the coat of arms of New York
The residents themselves call it the seal. In the central part there is a shield with the image of the four wings of the windmills, two beavers above and below, as well as two barrels of flour on the left and right sides. These elements are symbols of the main goods that were produced in the city at the beginning of its existence.
On the left side, a shield on the coat of arms of New York is held by a colonial sailor in traditional clothing. There was a sinker in his right hand. Above it on the left is an image of an old astronomical instrument called the Jacob's staff.
On the right side of the shield is an image of a representative of one of the Indian tribes, the Lenape, who lived on Manhattan Island, with a hunting bow in his left hand. Under the shield and figures, a laurel branch is depicted.
Above the shield is a bald eagle with spread wings, sitting on a stylized image of the northern hemisphere. This element appeared in 1784. Previously, a crown was depicted on this site, which was a symbol of the rule of the British monarchy.
Under the laurel branch is the number 1625, which is the year of the founding of New Amsterdam, a Dutch settlement that, after some time, became the city of New York.
An inscription in Latin Sigillum Civitatis Novi Eboraci is located on a semicircular ribbon along the edge of the coat of arms.
Origin and meaning
The windmill with beavers and barrels has been the emblem of New York, at least since the beginning of the 18th century, and probably dates from the end of the 17th century. There are no documents on providing it to the city during the colonial period, but there is a lot of evidence from newspapers, maps, city views, etc., talking about using it during the colonial period
It should be noted that the coat of arms of New Amsterdam was identical to the coat of arms of Amsterdam itself. However, in the province of New Netherlands (which later became the state of New York), a beaver was depicted surrounded by a wampum or Native American money made from oyster shells. The beaver appeared on the Dutch colonial coat of arms for the same reason that the British placed them on the coat of arms of the renamed city of New York: it was founded as a delivery port for selling fur, primarily beaver skins. By the time the British captured the growing colony, agriculture was already in place and the city was one of the main sources of flour for other English colonies in the West Indies. Therefore, the coat of arms depicts barrels of flour.
There was a windmill at the fort at the tip of Manhattan, and all the early views of the colonial city show it as the most prominent feature of the city. It served as a guide for all arriving ships and could be used as an emblem. In addition, the hands of the Van Cortlandt family, the wealthy landowners, apparently had a windmill, and perhaps they helped to include its image in the symbol. It should also be noted that the city coat of arms of New York has never had a motto.