N.L. confronts its archaic coat of arms depicting ‘noble savage’
Another archaic symbol of Canada’s colonial past is under the microscope.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government confirmed this week it plans to redesign the province’s 400-year-old coat of arms, which depicts two Indigenous warriors holding a red shield.
At first glance, the stoic Beothuk figures seem innocent enough. But the official description of the pair, written in 1637, calls them “savages,” a term that has prompted the province’s Indigenous Peoples Commission to call for changes in the name of reconciliation.
“It’s not really appropriate,” says commission president Stephen Green.