The coat of arms of Dominica follows the medieval tradition of heraldry in Europe. When armed knights went onto the battlefield they were covered from head to foot in body armour and chain mail and their troops could not tell who they were. So they wore their family symbols as a ‘coat of arms’ on their shields and capes and breastplates to identify themselves in battle. These coats of arms were designed according to rigid rules laid down by the College of Arms and each part of the design represented a particular aspect of that family or royal house.
Dominica had a previous coat of arms during the colonial period in the form of an illustrated shield that was designed by the British after gaining the island by the terms of the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The story of this is given below. It was used up until 1961 when it was replaced with the present coat of arms that continued to be used after independence in 1978.
Our coat of arms was designed in 1960 by three people: The first Chief Minister of Dominica, Franklin A. Baron and the British Administrator of Dominica, Colonel Alec Lovelace and his wife Eleanor. It was assigned to Dominica by royal warrant, signed at Buckingham Palace on 21 July 1961, and was registered at the College of Arms in London on 16 August 1961. As the declaration of the warrant says, it is to be borne "on Seals, Shields, Banners, Flags or otherwise according to the Laws of Arms".
Its formal description as handed down by the College of Arms, is virtually incomprehensible to the modern reader:
"Quarterly Or and Azure a cross filled counterchanged in the first quarter on a Rocky Mount Sable a Coconut Tree fructed proper in the second a Dominica Crapaud also proper in the third on Water Barry wavy a base a Carib canoe with sail set all likewise proper in the forth quarter on a Rocky Mount also sable a Banana Tree fructed also proper and for the crest. On a Wreath Argent and Azure a Rocky Mount Sable thereon a Lion Passant guardant Or and for the Supporters. On either side of Sisserou Parrot (Amazona imperialis) proper beaked and membered or together with the motto Apres Bondie C'est La Ter."
A more understandable description would be that the central shield is divided into four quarters with a background of blue and gold representing the sun, sky and sea. Each quarter has an object representing some aspect of the island. The top left and bottom right quadrants have a coconut palm and banana plant respectively that represents the agriculture of the island. In the top right quadrant is a frog, locally called ‘crapeau’ (Leptodactylus fallax) representing the wildlife. In the lower left quadrant is a Carib/Kalinago canoe representing the indigenous people. On the top or crest of the shield stands a lion representing the two centuries of British rule over the island.
THE MOTTO
The shield is supported by two Sisserou parrots (Amazona imperialis). They are perched on a strip of parchment on which is written in Creole, the national motto: "Apres Bondie C’est La Ter". In the established form accepted by Creole linguists today it would be written: "Apwe Bondye Se La Te." It means, "After God it is the Land". However "La Te" can be translated to mean, the land, the Earth or the soil. But the message of the motto for the people of a mainly agricultural island is that after praising God first, the next most important thing is the land in the form of bearing fruit. It can also be extended to mean the land in the nationalist sense that after your commitment to God then comes your commitment to your country. The use of Creole represents also the influence of France on the island and the part played by African traditions and language in the creation of the Creole heritage.
The origin of this motto is thanks to the folk research of the Roman Catholic priest, Fr. Raymond Proesmans, a member of the Redemtorist order based for many years in the village of Pointe Michel. He went among his parishioners recording many of their traditional sayings, which he noted down in a book. This motto comes from an unidentified farmer from Point Michel. Fr. Proesmans told me that one evening he was out walking when he met a farmer coming down from his garden in the hills. On greeting him and commenting on the variety of fruit and vegetables he was carrying in his back-pack or "conta", the farmer replied, "Wi mon pe, apwe Bondye se la te". When the Administrator and Chief Minister were designing the new coat of arms, he called on Fr. Proesmans to provide a selection of these Creole sayings out of which the national motto was chosen.