Royal British Coat of Arms Lions - New York City, NY
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 40° 45.492 W 073° 58.644
18T E 586316 N 4512418
These lions are part of the Coat of Arms used by "Her Majesty's Government" in the United Kingsom. The Queen and other members of the Royal family have their own Coats of Arms...which are similar to this one.
Waymark Code: WMCG00
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 09/03/2011
Views: 19
This crest is above the doorway of the British Empire Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center.
There is one large lion standing on the left of this Coat of Arms...but, if one looks closely, seven more can be seen on the crest.
This website (
visit link) describes the Arms thusly:
"The current Royal Arms are a combination of the arms of the Kingdoms that make up the United Kingdom, and can be traced back to the first arms of the Kings of England and Scotland. The shield is quartered: The first and fourth symbolizing England, colored red (gules), contain the three lions passant guardant of England (passant meaning walking, and gardant meaning looking out of the shield); the second, symbolizing Scotland, and also red, is a rampant lion (rampant meaning standing erect with one paw on the ground and the other three raised) and double tressure felury-counter-fleury; the third symbolizing Ireland, colored azure, contains a harp of Tara.
The crest is a lion statant guardant wearing the imperial crown, itself on another representation of that crown. The dexter supporter is a likewise crowned lion, symbolizing England; the sinister, a unicorn, symbolising Scotland. According to legend a free unicorn was considered a very dangerous beast; therefore the British heraldic unicorn is chained. They stand on a grassy hill among three other symbols of the British islands--the gilded Tudor rose of England, the thistle of Scotland, and the shamrock of Ireland. A banner below the shield carries the gilded motto of British royalty: Dieu et mon droit, which is French for "God and my [birth]right." Inscribed on a belt surrounding the shield is the motto of the Order of Garter: Honi soit qui mal y pense, Latin for "Evil for him who thinks evil"."
The Coat of Arms is part of a 1933 sculptured doorway called "Industries of the British Empire" by artist Carl Paul Jennewein. See the waymark for this site at (
visit link)