Rhode Island Coat of Arms

History of the Coat of Arms of the State of Rhode Island

Rhode Island Coat of Arms

The coat of arms of the State is familiar to every citizen, for it is impressed on public documents and meets the eye on monuments and in newspapers. Its simplicity and its significance, as well as its correct heraldry render it superior to that of any of the other states; and the words by which it is described in our statute book, have a singular force and beauty. “ There shall continue to be one seal for the public use of the State; the form of an anchor shall be engraven thereon, and the motto thereof shall be the word Hope.”

This has been the seal* of the State ever since the adoption of the charter, in May, 1664. Previous to that time the seal consisted of an anchor only, on a shield, without the motto ” Hope.” At the first meeting of the General Assembly under the “parliamentary patent,” in 1647, it was “ordered that the seal of the province shall be an anchor,’.’ and on the margin of the original manuscript, now preserved in the office of the secretary of state, is simply an anchor upon a shield, drawn by the pen of the writer.

Source: George Washington Greene, A short history of Rhode Island, (p.333) Published by J. A. & R. A. Reid, 1877
*ClassBrain Note: The term coat of arms were originally used almost interchangeably with seal in old texts, since the coat of arms were inscribed on physical seals that were used to mark documents. The look of the official state seal usually deviated from the coat of arms over the first few years as borders, inscriptions, and other devices were added to the coat of arms to clarify or distinguish the Official State Seal or the Great Seal of the State.

Rhode Island State Statute on the Coat of Arms

TITLE 42
State Affairs and Government

CHAPTER 42-4
State Emblems

SECTION 42-4-1

§ 42-4-1 Arms of state. – The arms of the state are a golden anchor on a blue field, and the motto thereof is the word “Hope”.

Source: Rhode Island General Laws