NOLA

Periodically I am reminded, sometimes almost forcibly, that if you are looking around, you can find heraldry anywhere and _every_where!

In the most recent example of this in my life, we were just poking around one of our favorite antique malls here in Dallas (if you're ever in the neighborhood, we'd be happy to take you to it) and ran across a small (1¼" tall) gold-colored key pendant with the arms of New Orleans, Louisiana (often shortened to NOLA) on it.

Actually, as you can see, the key contains a full achievement of arms for the city -- arms, crest, supporters and, of course, a crocodile below it.  In hunting around doing some research on it, I ran across a color copy that may make some of the various elements a little more clear.

Or maybe not. I'm still not certain what the central figure on the shield is supposed to be.  A native American in a canoe?  A French or Spanish explorer?  I'm assuming that stuff in the background on the shield is clouds, because you don't find mountains like that anywhere in Louisiana, much less New Orleans, much of which city is currently below sea level.  (And that alligator below the shield is a _lot_ harder to identify in the color version!)

Anyway, what a great little find during a morning's outing!