 It may have been suggested by the motto of Lord Gray De Wilton "Virtute non armis fido" ("I trust in virtue not arms").The committee to design a coat of arms was appointed by legislative action February 7, 1894, and the design proposed was accepted and became the official coat of arms.The committee recommended for the coat of arms a "Shield in color blue, with an eagle upon it with extended pinions, holding in the right talon a palm branch and a bundle of arrows in the left talon, with the word "Mississippi" above the eagle; the lettering on the shield and the eagle to be in gold; below the shield two branches of the cotton stalk, saltierwise, as in submitted design, and a scroll below extending upward and one each side three-fourths of the length of the shield; upon the scroll, which is to be red, the motto be printed in gold letters upon white spaces, as in design accompanying, the motto to be – "Virtute et armis", which means by valor and arms.