The Cayman Islands Coat of Arms consists of a
shield, a crested helm and the motto. Three green stars representing the
Islands - Cayman Brac, Grand Cayman and Little Cayman - are set in the lower two-thirds of the shield. The stars rest on
blue and white wavy bands representing the sea.
In the top third of the
shield, against a red background, is a gold lion "passant guardant"
(walking with the further forepaw raised and the body seen from the side),
representing Great Britain.
Above the shield is a green turtle on a coil
of rope. Behind the turtle is a gold pineapple. The turtle represents
Cayman's seafaring history; the rope, its traditional thatch-rope
industry; and the pineapple, its ties with Jamaica.
The Islands' motto "He Hath Founded It Upon the Seas" is printed at the
bottom of the shield. This verse from Psalms 24 acknowledges Cayman's
Christian heritage.
The proposal for a coat of arms was approved by the Legislative Assembly
in 1957, and public input was sought on its design. The Royal Warrant
assigning "Armorial Ensigns for the Cayman Islands" was approved by Her
Majesty's command on 14 May 1958.
Use Of The Coat Of Arms According to law, only the government may use the Coat of Arms to
indicate authority, identity or ownership. However, anyone may publicly
display the National Arms as an expression of patriotism, provided it is
not in a manner to suggest ownership.
How Should The 'Arms' Be Depicted? For those intending to use the national symbols for other than
official purposes, all proposed uses must be approved in writing by
government, through the office of the Chief Secretary.
The Arms, Crest, Motto or Flag may be depicted
separately or in any combination, but there is only limited scope for
artistic variation and interpretation:
The shield may be shown vertical or tilted, but while the shape of the
shield is a matter of artistic choice, it is important that its to suit
their application.
Accordingly, gold may be used instead of yellow, and silver instead of
white. The waves may be shallow or deep and the stars may have either gold
or yellow edging. However, the lion must always be in the 'passant' pose
and looking out from the shield.
The Motto and its scroll may be of any colour, and may be shown either
below the shield, English style, or above the crest, Scottish fashion. The
curliness of the scroll is a matter of artistic interpretation. The motto
may even be used without a scroll at all, but the wording must be
unchanged.
The Crest, if shown, must be complete. In black-and-white line drawings,
the colours may either be represented with dark colours blocked in solid
black, and light colours left white, or, the lines may be represented by
cross-hatching. (In this case, areas of red should be shown using vertical
lines, blue should be represented with horizontal lines, dots for yellow
areas, and white areas left blank.)
