THE CORRECT ARMS of the STATE OF NEW YORK. 



FmsT Paper. 



By Henry A. Homes, LL. D. 

 [Read before the Albany Institute, Dec. 2, 1879.] 



The people of the States of the New World, who have become in- 

 dependent of the monarchical governments of Europe, have all adopted 

 certain emblematic devices, by which they are recognized among 

 themselves, and by the rest of the world. These emblems they em- 

 ploy upon their public buildings, their flags, their seals, their medals 

 and in other ways. They consist of a shield and crest, and other in- 

 signia, which they call the Arms of the State, and the symbols are 

 calculated to awaken in friend and foe due sentiments of respect. In 

 devising these Arms or Ensigns, they have imitated their former 

 rulers, whose monarchies from the times of the crusades have em- 

 ployed such signs, most frequently called coats of arms, as badges of 

 honor and discrimination. The usage has been so systematized and 

 developed, as applied to families and States, as to give rise to that 

 special art, called the science of heraldry. 



As a people we have no yearnings for heraldry, or for coats of arms, 

 except as a means of symbolizing a State by some sign of a lofty idea 

 or aim, or of its characteristic traits; and in this spirit all the States 

 and Territories within the Union of the United States of America, 

 and also many of the cities and towns have adopted the custom of 

 using each a special symbol, as the state or city arms. By and through 

 this symbol, the State, its presence, its dignity, its property, its 

 authority and the relation of individuals to it for obedience and love, 

 are declared with most effective emphasis. The devices on the arms 

 of these many States are extensively known and easily remembered 

 by all men interested, because they are perpetuated without any 

 changes except in unessentials, as of the drapery of the figures, or 

 the arabesques or scroll work surrounding them. 



When, however, we come to our own State, the great State of New 

 York, we find that for many years past there has existed great uncer- 

 tainty, even among the best informed in the State, as to what is the 

 exact and genuine device of its State Arms ; and in the community 

 generally, those who should be requested to state in an informal way 



