The coat of arms of Cyprus depicts a dove carrying an olive branch (a well-known symbol of peace) over “1960”, the year of Cypriot independence from British rule. The background is a copper-yellow colour; this symbolises the large deposits of copper ore on Cyprus (chiefly in the form of chalcopyrite, which is yellow in colour).
When Cyprus was a British Crown Colony, local colonial officials used a coat of arms (which were never in fact officially granted) of two lions passant guardant, based on the coat of arms of the United Kingdom.
Famous quotes containing the words coat of, coat and/or arms:
“Want is a growing giant whom the coat of Have was never large enough to cover.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“He will watch you while you work, and always has a good word to say or a quip to snap at you to keep you cheered up, but when it comes to taking off his coat and lending a hand,... he is an Oriental incense-holder on the guest-room mantle.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“In the whole vast dome of living nature there reigns an open violence, a kind of prescriptive fury which arms all the creatures to their common doom: as soon as you leave the inanimate kingdom you find the decree of violent death inscribed on the very frontiers of life.”
—Joseph De Maistre (1753–1821)