St Kitts & Nevis - tinctures?

[Chris Green]

From 1967 to 1983 when Anguilla left the federation, St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla had the following CoA:



Argent, a chevron Gules between two flowers of the Poinciana in chief and a schooner in base proper, and a chief Azure the head of a Carib proper, between a fleur de lys Or and a Rose Argent seeded Gules.
Crest: On a helmet lambrequined Or and Sable, a torch Vert with flames proper held by a black and a white hand proper.
Torse: Argent and Azure.
Supporters: Two pelicans, the dexter one holding a palm tree the sinister one a stalk of sugar cane.in chief and a schooner in base proper, and a chief Azure the head of a Carib proper, between a fleur de lys Or and a Rose Argent seeded Gules.
Motto: Unity in Trinity.

Following the secession of Anguilla the CoA was changed slightly and the motto altered to: Country Above Self. This is the CoA currently shown on the St Kitts & Nevis UN web-site and the government's official web-site:



The explanation refers to "a lighter in full sail" instead of a schooner and the principle tincture of CoA, mantling and supporters appears to have become bleu celeste. A lighter is of course a flat-bottomed barge, so either the (new) blazon is wrong or the depiction on the current official CoA is wrong; either way it isn't a schooner. As for bleu celeste as the principal tincture, this can only be considered good heraldry if one accepts that bleu celeste may properly be considered a metal. I wonder whether the College of Arms was consulted about the change.

A further oddity is the mural crown in both achievements which is not mentioned in the blazon. The earlier version is gules and in the later it has become vert.

[Arthur Radburn]

As for bleu celeste as the principal tincture, this can only be considered good heraldry if one accepts that bleu celeste may properly be considered a metal.

I wonder if it really is bleu celeste, or simply an attempt to render Argent as silver rather than white.

[JMcMillan]

I think Arthur's explanation is undoubtedly correct.

This is the emblazonment shown in the section on national symbols at the St K & N government website, http://gov.kn/

[Chris Green]

Somehow the StK&N Government seems to have come into possession of a particularly poor rendition of its current arms which shows not just the argent as bleu celeste but the mantling also of the wrong tinctures. JMcM has undoubtedly found a much more accurate version.

There is, I now see, another difference between the original CoA and the current version:

Original crest: On a helmet lambrequined Or and Sable, a torch Vert with flames proper held by a black and a white hand proper.

Current crest according to the StK&N web-site: A helmet topped with the battlements of a tower appears with a flaming torch upheld by the hands of an African, European, and a person of mixed descent. The torch signifies the struggle and quest for freedom by a people of diverse ethnic origins, but united in purpose.

The latest rendition of the CoA illustrates a vessel that is certainly not a schooner, but resembles no lighter I have ever seen. To me it looks much more like a gaff-rigged cutter, a type of vessel that would have been widely used by the RN and in colonial government service in the Caribbean during the 19th century.