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The coat of arms of Prince Edward Island, known officially as The Arms of Her Majesty in Right of the Province of Prince Edward Island, was begun when the shield and motto in the achievement were granted in 1905 by royal warrant of the late King Edward VII.
In the chief of the shield is the lion passant (or "leopard") of England. The lower portion depicts three oak saplings, representing the Island's three counties, beneath a mature oak that originally represented Great Britain.
The additions to the arms were granted on 26 April 2002, and the process was completed on December 13, 2002, when Adrienne Clarkson, Governor-General of Canada, unveiled the crest, supporters, and compartment, after which the full achievement was taken into official use. This was requested by Island Premier Pat Binns to commemorate the 150th anniversary of responsible government on the island.
The crest is a blue jay holding in its beak a sprig of red oak, both symbols of the island. The crown represents royal sovereignty and its use in the arms is an honour granted by the Queen.
The supporters are silver foxes, rare animals native to the region; furFor alternative meanings, see Fur (disambiguation). The term fur refers to the body hair of non-human mammals also known as the pelage (like the term plumage in birds). True fur comes from animals where the coat consists of short ground hair, long guard h farming was perfected on Prince Edward Island, and Island silver fox fur was prized. The fox also represents sagacity and wit. To denote other Island industries, one fox wears a garland of potatoThe potato Solanum tuberosum is a perennial tuber of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, which is one of the most widely used vegetables in Europe and North and South America. There are thousands of varieties of potato in cultivation. The potato is unr blossoms, and another one wears a length of fishingFishing is both the recreation and sport of catching fish (for food or as a trophy), and the commercial fishing industry of catching or harvesting seafood (either fish or other aquatic life-forms, such as shellfish). Fishing is done in a river, canal, lak net.
The compartmentIn heraldry, a compartment is a design placed under the shield, usually rocks, a grassy mount, or some sort of other landscape upon which the supporters are depicted as standing (a compartment without supporters is possible but practically unknown, with t centres on a Mi'kmaqThe Mi'kmaq (also Mikmaq, Micmac are a First Nations people indigenous to northeastern New England and Canada's Maritimes. They have a population of about 20,000 of whom approximately one-third still speak the Algonquian Mi'kmaq language. In the Canadian eight-pointed star symbol representing the sun; this is surrounded by roseAbout 100, see text References: 2002-05-29 A rose is a flowering shrub of the genus Rosa and the flower of this shrub. Description There are more than a hundred species of wild roses, mostly from the temperate northern hemisphere. The species form a groups for England, lilies for France, thistles for Scotland, and shamrocks for Ireland, as well as Lady's Slippers, the floral emblem of the Island.
The island's motto, Parva sub ingenti (the small under the protection of the great), is taken from Virgil's Georgics. The full quotation is:
It has been the Island's motto since 1769.