The Coat of Arms of St. Johns County, Florida

A translation of the grant of arms to St. Johns County, Florida, in 1991 (excerpted from the county’s website at http://www.co.st-johns.fl.us/County_Information+/ArmsTranslation.aspx?FontSize=1).

I guess that they decided that if the city of St. Augustine was going to get a coat of arms, the county (in which the city is located) should, too.

Don Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent
Certification of the Coat of Arms
Which Corresponds to the Use of the
County of Saint Johns, Florida
Madrid, 12th of October of 1991

Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent, de Gaztanaga y Nogues, Herald, King of Arms, Dean of the Corps of Heralds

I CERTIFY: That on petition of the desires expressed by the authorities of Saint Johns County, in Florida (United States) which desires to perpetuate the historic memory of the population and founding of that County by the subjects of the Kings of Spain and in order that the memory should remain steadfast, the drawing up of a Blazon is solicited which for fundamental symbols of the same bring those events to mind adapting them to the Science of Blazon, and as a consequence and by virtue of the desires expressed by the already cited authorities that in its field they wish to reflect three aspects; two of them of historic character and one symbolic, taking for it (the Blazon) a castle as an allusion to the Garrison which was in the County, the Arms of Castile and Leon as a remembrance of the epoch of its discovery and union to the Crown of Spain, and a direct allusion to the name of the County referred to, and as a consequence, it stands organized and composed in the following manner;

In a field of green an Agnus Dei of silver, suspended on the dexter side of the Agnus Dei is a silver banner with red cross (as a direct allusion and symbol of the name of the County). On a heraldic chief of red is a gold castle with towers, with masonry joints in black, and with the windows and doors in red (in recognition of the fortress that was constructed in the military garrison of St. Augustine which is a part of the County).

An overall border is composed of eight parts; alternating, a red quadrilateral, with a gold castle and quadrilateral of silver with a purple lion rampant (that is to say, alternating the simplified Arms of Castile and Leon).

Given for a crest is a mural crown of a province. This is a circle of gold walls with in reality twelve gold towers with all the masonry joints in black. Only seven of the towers are visible in the drawing.

Said Arms as they are described and drawn may be used, having them engraved, sculpted and painted in the customary places, standing protected by this certification of Blazons, ratified, legalized and legitimized in the use of the same for Saint Johns County, in Florida (United States).

A “New” Coat of Arms for St. Augustine, Florida

Over 275 years after applying for them! (And people think that waiting a year or a little more to get a coat of arms from the English College of Arms is a long time!)

Founded in 1565, St. Augustine, Florida claims to be the oldest continuously occupied settlement of European origin in the United States. The city’s website notes: "Forty-two years before the English colonized Jamestown and fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, the Spanish established at St. Augustine this nation's first enduring settlement."

The city had for a long time been using a simplified version of the arms of Spain, Quarterly Castile and Leon. These same arms appear carved over a doorway at Fort Marion, the city’s old Spanish fort. But in 1991, the City Commission passed a resolution authorizing a formal request to Juan Carlos I, King of Spain, for an official coat of arms for the city. Now, back in 1715 the citizens of St. Augustine petitioned Philip V, King of Spain, to grant the city a coat of arms. There was no record of the request being fulfilled, and so a new grant was sought.

Research conducted by Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent, Cronista Rey de Armas (Chronicler King of Arms of Spain), found that a coat of arms for the city had indeed been authorized on November 26, 1715. The city received its "new" coat of arms on October 12, 1991, almost 276 years after it was granted.

The first quarter, the upper left side of the shield, includes a gold fleur-de-lis on a blue background. This is a symbol of the connection to the French House of Bourbon, since King Philip V of Spain was the grandson of King Louis XIV of France. In the second quarter, the upper right area, there is a gold castle on a red background, representing Castile. In the third quarter, there is the purple lion of Leon on a silver/white background. In the fourth quarter there is an arm in armor holding a sword on a red background, honoring St. Augustine as a Spanish military outpost. The four quarters of the shield are divided by a gold cross. The mural crown above the shield indicates that this coat of arms is for a city.

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems to me that if you are going to wait 275 years for a coat of arms, you might hope to get one that doesn’t belong to the "kitchen sink" (instead of "everything but the kitchen sink," throw in the kitchen sink, too) or "resume" (where everything important you’ve ever done is referenced on the shield) schools of heraldry. And, too, 1715 was during the period of heraldry known informally as "the Decadence," when coats of arms were designed and granted that were, shall we say, did not follow so closely the simpler, more cohesive designs of earlier years.

Still and all, though, it’s nice that St. Augustine finally got their coat of arms, even if it was 275 years later.