Jamaican Coat of Arms

This digital illustration is a depiction of the Jamaican coat of arms. Originally designed by William Sanderoft but underwent and small but important change in 1957. In 1957 the original Latin motto was changed from ‘Indus Uterque Serviet Uni’, which translates to ‘The two Indians will serve as one’, to ‘Out of Many, One People’. This was a more accurate reflection of Jamaica after a long multicultural history due to colonization and the Atlantic slave trade.

The change in moto is a reflection of the multicultural and racial history of the island. Despite the circumstances that brought these various people together they now stand as one in a new identity of liberation and self governance.

1494 began the subjugation of the native Taíno people as Christopher Columbus reached the island claiming it for the Spanish crown. The natives were enslaved and nearly all killed due to disease and the intensive labor they were put under, African slaves were then imported. In 1655 the island was then captured by British forces who expelled Spanish forces, however, many slaves known as Maroons fled to the highlands. The British began to expand the islands economy off the back of imported slave labor from the Royal African Company, slaves outnumbered European settlers 5 to 1. Internal strife between slaves and European settlers began in the 18th century as slave revolts began to appear across the island with leaders such as Samuel Sharpe who motivated thousands to stand up to the British. In 1807 British Parliament abolished the transatlantic slave trade and an emancipatory act took place in 1838. Finally in 1957, Jamaica was on its way truly representative self government with its shared founding of the West Indies Federation.