Barbados - Coat of Arms

Last modified: 2024-05-04 by rob raeside
Keywords: barbados | trident | fig tree | dolphin | pelican | pride of barabados | sugarcane | st. andrew |
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image by Zoltan Horvath, 19 April 2024

• Coat of Arms

See also:

• Barbados
• Barbados - Prime Minister's Flag
• Barbados - Colonial Flag

Coat of Arms

The Grant of Arms conveyed by royal warrant was presented to the President of the Senate by Her Majesty the Queen in 1966 - the year Barbados gained independence from Britain.
The Golden Shield carries two Pride of Barbados flowers (the National Flower) and the Bearded Fig Tree (after which Barbados is named). The shield is supported by a dolphin (symbolic of the fishing industry) and by a pelican (after a small island called Pelican Island which existed off Barbados). Above the shield is a helmet and mantling and above is a hand of a Barbadian holding two crossed pieces of sugarcane (symbolic of the Barbados sugar industry). The cross formed by the cane is a reference to the cross on which St.Andrew was crucified - Barbados' Independence Day is celebrated on November 30th, Saint Andrews Day.
From the official site of the Barbados government

I was wondering - it seems that in all coat of arms images the leaves of the barbed fig tree are green (as I suppose they are in nature) while in the Royal Standard they appear as blue. Any explanation?
Željko Heimer, 24 Febuary 2001