Coat of Arms

Armorial Bearings

Officially granted by Royal Warrant on May 26, 1868, by Queen Victoria.

The Shield is topped by a gold lion on a red background, representing the Duchy of Brunswick in Germany, a possession of King George III at the time of New Brunswick's creation in 1784, and after which New Brunswick was named. The galley with oars in the water represents New Brunswick's early shipbuilding history and its reliance upon the sea.

Coat of Arms

The Shield was augmented on September 25, 1984, by Royal Warrant granted by Queen Elizabeth II in honour of New Brunswick's bicentennial.

The Crest, comprised of an Atlantic salmon leaping from a gold, maple-leaf coronet and supporting the crown of St. Edward, rests upon a gold royal helmet. This helmet is generally reserved for the Arms of the Royal Family and its Dominions, but was granted special favour by the Queen in honour of the bicentennial. A gold and red mantling, secured to the coronet by a wreath, borrow their colours from the shield and represent protection from the sun.

The Supporters, two white-tailed deer, each wear a friendship collar of Maliseet wampum (the original of which resides in the New Brunswick Museum) to which are attached 2 small shields. The left shield comprises the Union Badge and represents New Brunswick's English heritage as well as the Irish and Scot settlers who played such a prominent role in the province's early history. The right shield comprises the Royal Arms of France and represents France's original settlement and rule. The deer stand upon a grassy mound covered with the provincial flower, the purple violet, and budding ostrich fern, more commonly known as 'fiddleheads'. Today, as in yesteryear, 'fiddleheads' provide a delightful, nourishing, and welcome Springtime treat when made into a salad or soup, or simply cooked as 'greens'.

The Motto, SPEM REDUXIT, is commonly translated as 'Hope Restored', representing the establishment of New Brunswick as a 'home for refugee settlers' when a vast influx of United Empire Loyalists flowed into the area following their expulsion from the newly-formed United States in 1784.