Someone showed me a coat of arms and asked me if I knew where it came from... The thing was bought in Mae Sod district up north..I started to analyze it... It was pretty heavy, forget how much, and looked like a kind of brass, but also showed green copperoxide at some places.Here it is: and these are the quarters seperately:I see a female Neptune with an English shield and a lion. Asian lions exist... look here .. could refer to Singapore.. Then an elephant... Thailand? An animal with a ribbon. Is it a sheep? And a 7-tier pagoda with a ship. Madras, India? Hue, Vietnam? I stumbled upon some nice flag sites and also sites with coats of arms... Do you TF-ers have any clue what could be the origin of this coat of arms?

The Neptune as you call it looks like Britannia. It is in our national anthem "Rule Britannia" and used to be on the back of our coins here in Great Britain or UK as it is called now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britannia

Yup, Funky house is right, the woman on the Coat of Arm is Britannia. Very interesting piece. Will let you know if I find anything.

Thanks Nicky, Funky House and Mazzy for your comments!

Nicky: it reminded me of the Hue pagoda in Vietnam. Click the link if you wanna see it.. Thanks for the pagoda site!

I think the ears are still not big enough to be an African elephant. I believe it's an Indian one.

Funky house: it is Brittania for sure, thanks a lot!

Mazzy: ok thanks

The new info brought me to this page:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_badge_of_a_4_masted_boat_surmounted_by_a_sun_on_a_quartered_circle_with_Britannia_and_lion_an_elephant_with_howdah_pyramids_camel_3_pagodas_and_motto_in_latin_for_who_will_separate_us&src=ansTT

Hmmm the pogada and junk (boat) remind me of china........ Maybe its the coat of arms of a trading company. I have seen the sheep one before I think it has something to do with Australia

My guess would be Indonesian or maybe even dutch as a gift to the other party and here's why... The dead animal with a ribbon might stand for seasonings, the ship might be VOC, the tower next to it might be a japanese one (though it looks chinese) since the japanese occupied the islands for a while before the dutch reclaimed it (if I'm not mistaken), the tree with the elephant could very well be Inodesian too but ofcourse many other asian countries as well, IT DOES NOT explain the Britannia part described by Funky House though. Might be terribly wrong ofcourse, it's just a hunch.

Seems to me it is the coat of arms of a British trading company.

Description

Coin, 'Madras pagoda', gold, used by the British East India Company, unknown maker, India, 1808-1814 (OS)

Coin, India, Madras Presidency. Madras pagoda, 1810, gold, British East India Company, Madras, Proclamation

coinage colony of NSW.

The Malvern City Coat of Arms, Two shields were beneath the arms at angles, with a plough

on one side and a sheath of wheat on the other, and between these, underneath, the hanging figure of a sheep.

Also this hanging sheep or golden fleece is on the New south Wales, (http://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/docs/heraldry_meanings.pdf)

and Melbourne coats of arms.( http://home.golden.net/~eloker/tok5.htm)

Sounds reasonable to me Waza

the ship and pagoda look chinese.

the animal is most likely either a pig or very large rat. if it is a sheep, it is suggestive of an australian honeymoon.

The hanging animal is the symbol of The Order of the golden Fleece.

A sheep suspended in a ribbon had long been a symbol of British woolen merchants. Dating from the 15th century, it had been the emblem of

the Knights of the Golden Fleece, founded by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.

It first appeared in the heraldry of New South Wales as an element of the Great Seal of NSW in 1870. The design, however, dates back to 1429

when the Duke of Burgundy established the Order of the Golden Fleece in Flanders, which remains one of the oldest orders of knighthood still surviving.

The fleece was chosen by the Duke on two counts: it represented the woollen industries of Flanders, and it alluded to the heroic quest of Jason and the

Argonauts in ancient Greek legend, as befitting a knightly order. Knights of the Order wore a golden fleece pendant hanging from a broad red ribbon.

In time, the Order came to be commanded by the King of Spain who presented a flock of merino sheep to King George III. Descendants from this royal flock

were sent to Cape Town, from which some of the stock were then brought to NSW to establish the Australian wool industry.

The Lodge of The Golden Fleece is lodge of freemasons meeting at Melbourne, Australia. A sheep suspended in a ribbon was the symbol of Flemish wool

merchants in the 15th century and Melbourne became a center for Australian wool merchants during the 19th century.

Nice pics Joeri, by the way , I have no idea what it is .... looks a bit like Hogwart School's badge though, lol

thanks Zeusbheld, Arwin and Vee for your comments..

I am very glad with your findings Wayne! That's good information!!

So we have: Brittania referring to Great Brittain, 7-tier pagoda which brings luck and fortune and a Chinese ship depicting trade (?),

an Elephant referring to maybe Thailand but some Asian country for sure

A sheep suspended in a ribbon as a symbol of British woolen merchants in the order of the Golden Fleece...

Wow, that's much more information than at the beginning! Thank you so much for helping me!

cheers!

the last pic is not rat or pig .. it is goat or sheep in my opinion!!

hmm but 4 pieces in one arm .. very interesting huh! ))))))