Lions are awfully popular on coats of arms considering they had nothing to do with most of the countries that use them.
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Then again, Canada and the UK also have a unicorn, so
So this got me curious and now I'm actually learning things.
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According to various websites (someone can correct me if this is wrong), for a long time people believed unicorns to be a very real, very powerful thing. They were considered strong enough to take on and defeat an elephant, and also symbolized purity, innocence, joy, balance, healing, strength, nobility, etc.
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The other thing it had going for it was it was apparently often pitted against the lion in the great debate of what the most powerful creature alive was (presumably none of the people in charge had ever seen a grizzly bear or a blue whale). So the lion and the unicorn became known as natural enemies.
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The lion was also the symbol of England. Scotland and England did not get along particularly well, so what better symbol for Scotland than Britain's symbol's natural enemy-- the unicorn.
It's likely stuck around for so long because the Scottish are rued as very huge lovers of mythology and tradition and such. And giving the middle finger to countries they don't get on with.
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The gold chain around the unicorn seems to be a bit of a mystery, however-- the only agreed upon sentiment was that it was probably added to show Scotland's power for taming such an indomitable beast. Apparently prior to this only virgin maidens had any hope of taming a unicorn.
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Canada apparently doesn't have as many worries (maybe we have a surplus of virgin women), because for our coat of arms we have the chain broken, which is apparently meant to symbolize freedom and defiance against oppression
'
Then again, Canada and the UK also have a unicorn, so
'
According to various websites (someone can correct me if this is wrong), for a long time people believed unicorns to be a very real, very powerful thing. They were considered strong enough to take on and defeat an elephant, and also symbolized purity, innocence, joy, balance, healing, strength, nobility, etc.
'
The other thing it had going for it was it was apparently often pitted against the lion in the great debate of what the most powerful creature alive was (presumably none of the people in charge had ever seen a grizzly bear or a blue whale). So the lion and the unicorn became known as natural enemies.
'
The lion was also the symbol of England. Scotland and England did not get along particularly well, so what better symbol for Scotland than Britain's symbol's natural enemy-- the unicorn.
'
The gold chain around the unicorn seems to be a bit of a mystery, however-- the only agreed upon sentiment was that it was probably added to show Scotland's power for taming such an indomitable beast. Apparently prior to this only virgin maidens had any hope of taming a unicorn.
'
Canada apparently doesn't have as many worries (maybe we have a surplus of virgin women), because for our coat of arms we have the chain broken, which is apparently meant to symbolize freedom and defiance against oppression