Coat of arms of Gibraltar
| Coat of arms of Gibraltar | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Details | |
| Armiger | Gibraltar |
| Escutcheon | Argent, upon a base gules a castle triple-towered of the same ported and windowed sable with a cord issuant from the portal, pendent therefrom a key Or. |
| Motto |
Montis Insignia Calpe "Badge of the Rock of Gibraltar" |
The coat of arms of Gibraltar was first granted by a Royal Warrant passed in Toledo on 10 July 1502 by Isabella I of Castile during Gibraltar's Spanish period. The arms consists of an escutcheon and features a three-towered red castle under which hangs a golden key.
The arms were described in the Royal Warrant as consisting of:
"...an escutcheon on which two thirds of its upper part shall have a white field; in the said field set a red Castle; underneath the said Castle, on the other third of the escutcheon, which must be a red field in which there must be a white line between the Castle and the said red field; on this a golden key which shall be on that with a chain from the said castle..."
The arms consist of a shield parted per fess:
The castle has its roots in the heraldry of the Kingdom of Castile, the largest and most important medieval Spanish kingdom, of which Isabella was Queen. The preamble to the warrant granting the coat of arms to Gibraltar said:
"...and we, deeming it right, and acknowledging that the said City is very strong and by its situation it is the key between these our kingdoms in the Eastern and Western Seas and the sentinel and defence of the Strait of the said Seas through which no ships of peoples of either of these Seas can pass to the other without sighting it or calling at it."
The idea of Gibraltar being the key to Spain or the Mediterranean originated well before the Spanish conquest. The followers of Tariq ibn Ziyad, who invaded Spain via Gibraltar in 711, are said to have adopted the symbol of the key when they settled in Granada. The coat of arms was accompanied by the inscription "Seal of the noble city of Gibraltar, the Key of Spain".
Today, the official coat of arms as used by the government of Gibraltar consists of the original coat of arms with the addition of the motto Montis Insignia Calpe ("Insignia of the Mountain of Calpe"; Mons Calpe was the Latin name of the Rock of Gibraltar), which was granted by the College of Arms in 1836 to commemorate the 1779-83 Great Siege of Gibraltar. It is the oldest coat of arms in use in an overseas territory of the United Kingdom and is unique in that it is the only armorial insignia that dates from before the period of British colonial administration.
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Wikipedia