REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
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The
Republic |
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The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern
half of the second largest of the West India Islands, and was discovered by
Columbus in October, 1492, on his first voyage, and named by him Hispaniola. In March 1493 Columbus
returned from his first voyage and joined the Catholic kings in Barcelona
between the 15th and the 20th of April. After he had
presented his report of his voyage to the kings and to Luis de Santangel and
Gabriel Sanchez, he was received in audience in a much better atmosphere and
was confirmed in his privileges on the 20th of May. His coat of
arms was augmented eight days later on
the 28th. At the same time
he was nominated “Admiral, Vice-king and Governor of the Great Ocean and the
isles and continent he had discovered and would discover in the future”. In 1493, Columbus came
back to the island on his second voyage and founded the first Spanish colony
in the New World, the city of Isabella. In 1496, his brother
Bartholomew Columbus established the settlement of Santo Domingo de Guzmán on
the southern coast, which became the new capital. On his third voyage Colombus
reached Santo Domingo on the 20th of August 1498 to find that the majority of
the colonists had rebelled against his authority under the leadership of
Francesco Roldán. The arrival of the Vice-king did not resolve the problem.
The accusations against him and his family eventually led to his dismissal by
the royal court. On the 23rd of August 1500 Francisco de Bobadilla arrived in
the harbour of Santo Domingo to arrest the Vice-king and governor. After
faint resistance Christopher, his brother Bartholomew and his son Diego
sailed for Spain in chains. After a while Chistopher was
rehabilitaded but not restored in his functions by the Catholic Kings. After
a fourth voyage in 1502 he died in 1506. In 1508, the son of Christopher Columbus, Diego (1479-1526), was named
governor of the Indies, the post his father had previously held. He continued
to fight for the remainder of his father's titles, and was made viceroy of
the Indies in May, 1511. He continued to resent enroachments on his power and
to fight for all of his father's privileges thereafter and made trips to
Spain in 1515 and 1523 to plead his case without success. After his death, a
compromise was reached in 1536 in which his son Luis Colon (1519/20-1572) was
named admiral of the Indies and renounced all other rights for a perpetual
annuity of 10,000 ducats, the island of Jamaica as a fief, an estate of 25
square leagues on the Isthmus of Panama, and the titles of Duke de Veragua
and Marquis de Jamaica. From that time Hispaniola (and Santo Domingo) was incorporated in the
Vice-kingdom of Nueva España, founded 1535. New Spain With the conquest of the American mainland, Hispaniola quickly declined.
Most Spanish colonists left for the silver-mines of Mexico and Peru, while
new immigrants from Spain bypassed the island. In 1586, Sir Francis Drake
captured the city of Santo Domingo, collecting a ransom for its return to
Spanish rule. In 1605, Spain forcibly resettled the inhabitants
closer to the city of Santo Domingo. French and English buccaneers took
advantage of Spain's retreat into a corner of Hispaniola to settle the island
of Tortuga in 1629, which France established direct control over in 1640,
reorganizing it into an official colony and expanding to the north coast of
Hispaniola itself. In 1655, Oliver Cromwell dispatched a fleet, commanded by
Admiral Sir William Penn, to conquer Santo Domingo. After meeting heavy
resistance, the English retreated, taking the island of Jamaica instead. Division
and Union 1697 - 1844 Spain
ceded the western end of the island to France in 1697, under the Treaty of
Ryswick. This part of the island had since 1630 been more or less
under the control of French filibusters, and the majority of the inhabitants
at the time of the treaty spoke the French language On July 22, 1795, the remaining or
Spanish end of the island was also ceded to France. Six years later, 1801, the
independence of the island was proclaimed by Toussaint l’Ouverture. Following
the capture and death of Toussaint, his lieutenant, Jean Jaques Dessalines,
proclaimed himself Emperor of Haiti, restoring the ancient name. Beginning in
1805, attempts were made by the Spaniards to regain possession of the eastern
end of the island. In these attempts they were assisted by Spanish-speaking
inhabitants, to whose bravery is due the victory of Palohincado on September
7, 1808. and the final
capitulation of the besieged Santo Domingo on July 9, 1809, with help from
the Royal Navy. By the treaty of Paris in 1814 this
occupation was recognized as of right. The Spanish authorities
showed little interest in their restored colony and the Spanish lieutenant
governor José Núñez de Cáceres declared the colony's independence as the
state of Spanish Haiti (Estado Independiente de Haiti Español) on November
30, 1821, requesting admission to the Republic of Gran Colombia. Colombia was not able to assist
the new State, and so Jean
Pierre Boyer, the President of Haiti which had meanwhile changed its form of
government from a monarchy to a republic, was able to extend his government
over the whole island just
nine weeks later. In this way the first flag of the
Republic became the Colombian tricolor. The first Republic 1844-1916 The island remained united under Haitian
Government until 1844, when the eastern or Spanish end threw off the Haitian
yoke and became independent under the name of Dominican Republic. The flag
then adopted was a modification of the then Haitian flag, by the introduction
of the white cross and a rearrangement of the quarterings [1]. On
the coat of arms of the Republic appear the cross, the book of Gospels, and
the motto, “God, Country, and Liberty.” These words were the secret password
of “La Trinitaria,” the patriotic society which inaugurated the revolution of
1844. [2] After
a civil war at the end of the fifties and following negotiations with Spain,
president Pedro Santana offcially restored the Dominican Republic to Spain in
March 1861. In March 1865,
however Queen Isabel II annulled the annexation and independence was
restored, with the last Spanish troops departing by July. United States occupation 1916 -1924 United States Marines landed in Santo Domingo on May 15, 1916. On June 1,
Marines occupied Monte Cristi and Puerto Plata, and, after a brief campaign,
took Arias's stronghold Santiago by the beginning of July. The Dominican
Congress elected Dr. Francisco Henríquez Carvajal as President, but in November,
after his refusal to meet the American demands, Woodrow Wilson announced the
imposition of a U.S. military government, with Rear Admiral Harry Shepard
Knapp as Military Governor. The occupation ended in 1924, with a democratically elected Dominican
government under president Horacio Vasquez. |
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1493 Coat of arms of Christobal Colón,
Viceroy and Governor of the Sea, Islands and Continent of the socalled Ocean,
granted by the Most Catholic Kings, 20th of May 1493. (Drawing preserved in
the monastery of Rábida at Palos.) Arms: Quarterly: 1. Vert, a three-towered
castle Or; 2. Argent, a lion rampant Gules; 3. A sea proper, strewn with
islands Or; 4. Or, a bend Azure and a chief Gules. The grant reads: Don Fernando e doña Isabel &.
Por facer bien e merced a vos don christoval colon nuestro almirante de las
islas e tierra firme por nuestro mandado descubiertas e por descubrir en el
mar oceano en la parte de las indias acatando los muchos e leales servicios
que nos haveis fecho e esperamos que nos fareis especialmente en vra persona
como la posistes a mucho arrisco e trabajo en descobrir las dichas yslas e
por vos honrar e sublimar, e porque de vos e de vuestros servicios e linaje e
descendientes quede perpetua memoria para siempre jamás habemos por bien e es
nuestra merced e vos damos licencia e
facultad para que podades traer e traygades en vuestros reposteros e escudos
de armas e en las otras partes donde las quisieredes poner, demas de vuestras armas, encima dellas, un
castillo e un leon que nos vos damos por armas: conviene a saber, el castillo de color
dorado en campo verde en el cuarto del escudo de vuestras armas en lo alto a
la mano derecha; y en el otro cuarto alto a la mano izquierda un leon purpura
en canpo blanco rayado de pardillo, y en el otro cuarto baxo a la mano
derecha unas islas doradas en ondas azules [de mar]; y en el otro cuarto bajo
a la mano isquierda las armas vuestras que soliades tener las cuales armas
sean conocidas por vuestras armas e de vuestros hijos e descendientes para
siempre jamas. &. Dada en la ciudad de Barcelona a
veinte dias del mes de mayo año del nascimiento de nuestro señor jesucristo de
mil cuatrocientos noventa y tres años. 1-1-2/9. núm. 1,
fol. 30 vto [3] The third
quarter is for the title of “admiral of the isles and continent discovered
and to be discovered by our appointment in the ocean and part of the Indies”
(almirante de las islas e tierra firme por
nuestro mandado descubiertas e por descubrir en el mar oceano en la parte de
las indias) and consists of a picture of some islands washed
by the sea. |
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Mercedes a
Christóbal Colón: escudo. [1498] Escudo de
Cristóbal Colón tras la ampliación de sus armas con un castillo y un león,
concedidos por los Reyes Católicos en 1493, como premio a los servicios del
Almirante en el descubrimiento del Nuevo Mundo. Colores, óleo sobre piel;
adherido a la vueltas de la cubierta del Libro de los Privilegios de Veragua. 290 x 210 mm. Patronato, 295, N. 98. (Patronato, 9, R.1, fol. 30 v°). El dibujo presenta variantes en relación con el privilegio, porque
debió hacerse siguiendo la descriptión de Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo. [4] II. Arms: Quarterly: 1. Gules, a three
towered castle Or, masoned Sable the windows and gate Azure; 2. Argent, a
lion rampant Purpure, crowned Or; 3. Azure, islands and a continent Or; 4.
Azure, five anchors per fess Or, 2, 1, 2; Enté en point Or, a bend Azure and
a chief Gules. These are the arms of Columbus after his
second voyage (1493-’96). The tincture of the first field changed into Gules.
The third and fourth for the realms mentioned in the grant of 1493. In the
third a continent and islands (las islas e tierra firme) and in the fourth five anchors for his
dignity as a Grand Admiral (almirante). His personal arms in a point
enté in base. In 1498 some of the Lesser Antilles had been
discovered on his second voyage and Trinidad and the Venezolean coast on his
third voyage. |
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The arms of the Spanish possessions overseas at the
beginning of the 16th century. As on Maximilian’s Triumphal
Arch by Albrecht Dürer c.s.:, 1515/’17. 1. Arms: A lion passant and an elephant in
base. L.: Gibaltraris et insularū canarie 2. Arms: A rhinoceros and a part of the
zodiac showing the constellations of cancer,
leo, virgo and libra between two six-pointed stars. L.:
Insularum Indiarū et maris occdt 3. Arms: An archipelago [proper]. L.: XVc
inseln. These arms are quite enigmatic because two of
them do not occur in younger armorials.
Arms of (The From: Vigil Rabers Sterzinger Wappenbuch. Weimar,
Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, Fol. 28 ad. 1. The title of this coat of arms must be
a mistake as the coat of arms of Gibraltar was a castle and a key by then
(adopted 10 VII 1502) However, the
coat of arms with the lion and the
elephant appears in a 17 th c.
Spanish roll of arms where it is mentioned as: “Islas y Tierra Firme: partido en dos
en el superior, leopardo de oro y en punta un elefante de plata.” [5] The title Islas y Tierra Firme seems
to apply here to Algeria which enjoyed a short spanish occupation between
1510 and 1519. It is a
translation in spanish from the Arabic word al-jazā’ir, which
translates as the islands, referring to the four islands which lay off
the city's coast until becoming part of the mainland in 1525. From ancient times the elephant
has been the symbol of Africa, a lion occurs as the symbol of some of the
North-African emirs in the 13th c. Wijnbergen Roll.
Arms of the Indiani
Insularii maris Occiane/ . 1548 From: Vigil Rabers Sterzinger Wappenbuch. Weimar,
Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, Fol. 28 ad. 2. The rhinoceros in this arms were
considered as a typical Indian beast. A rhinoceros, until then unnown in
Europe, was offered in 1513 by the portuguese king Emanuel to the pope. The
animal perished during transport owing to shipwreck. Dürer made a woodcut of
it after sketches sent to him from Lisbon and the rhinoceros in the arms is a
simplified version of this woodcut. Dürer
writes on the woodcut: Nach
Christigeburt/1513 Jar adi 1 May hat man dem großmechtigsten König Emanuel
von Portugal/ gen Lisabona aus India pracht/ ain solch lebendig Their das
nennen sie Rhinocerus
….. The title of the arms fits well with the
vice-kingdom of India, then consisting of the Antilles and the surrounding
coasts of the American mainland. Of this vice-kingdom Diego Colon, the son of
Christopher Columbus was the viceroy (1511-1526). He made a trip to Spain in
1515. A map of the vice-kingdom was published in
1513 by Martin Waldseemüller. The coat of arms of “India” is only
documented on Dürers’ Triumphal arch and later by Vigil Raber.. ad. 3. This coat of arms maybe derived from
the arms of the Islas e Tierra Firme in the third quarter of the first coat
of arms of Columbus. The number XV refer to the fifteen Islands of the
Canaries, Madeira and the Azores in the Atlantic, the Azores and Madeira
belonging to Portugal, the Canaries conquered by Spain in 1492 only. The coat of arms with the islands appears
frequently in the 16th century and later, when it is called the arms of the
15 islands, later of the Canaries. Today it is the coat of arms of the
autonomous community of the Canarias. |
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Philip II |
King of Spain
1556-1598 |
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Santo Domingo (Founded by Bartholomeo Colon
1496) Arms: Per fess of Spain and the Netherlands, enté
en point in a semicircle: Vert, a globe, showing the western hemisphere, the
continent argent, the ocean azure, charged with a horse saliant proper, in
his mouth a ribbon with the words Non inhærensis . Motto: nec
spe nec metv (Nor by Hope nor by Fear, the motto of Philip II). On a map of the bay and city of Santo Domingo
by Baptista Boazia, Leiden, 1588, two years after Francis Drake captured the city. [6] His ships are seen in the
bay. The legend of the map reads: Civitas S. Domici sita in Hispaniola Indiæ Angliæ mag: nitudine fere
æqualis, ipsa urbs elegan: tor ab Hispalis extracta, et omnibus circumvicinis
insulis iura dat. As the coat of arms is not crowned, this is
the coat of arms of the realm of Santo Domingo and not the royal arms for Santo
Domingo. The modern arms of Santo Domingo are Gules,
in chief two lions rampant respecting, in nombril point a fivepointed crown,
in dexter base a key per pale Or and in sinister base a cross Argent. |
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THE REPUBLIC |
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1844-1861 |
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The emblem of the first Dominican Republic of
Pedro Santana (1844-1861) resembles the symbol of the Haitian Republic in
that it consists of a trophy of flags, a phrygian cap and armory in a “free”
arrangement. To these symbols a snake for eternity, and an open bible and
latin cross for religion are added. The whole is surrounded by a crown of oak
and laurel. [7] The national flag of 1844 was
quarterly of blue and red, a white cross.
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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
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1865 - 1896 |
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The second emblem of the first republic
(1865) consists of a shield of the national flag, charged with a trophy of
four national flags in saltire, charged with a snake, a latin cross, an open
bible and a phrygian cap. Around the shield is a crown of palm and laurel and
underneath the motto • dios • patria •
libertad written in golden lettering on a white ribbon. The name of
the republic is written on a like ribbon above the shield. [8] The bible is opened at the Gospel
of Matthew, Chapter X. of which the verses 24 and 25 may apply: 24 The
disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. 25 It
is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his
lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall
they call them of his household? |
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1896 - 1916 |
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By law of the 12th of June 1896 the snake and
the phrygian cap were omitted.[9]
Reverse of a 10
centavo coin, 1897. |
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1924 - present |
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In the constitution promulgated during the
Protectorate (1916 - 1924), the coat of arms was described in Art. 96. It was
laid down then that the form of the shield had to be “oblong in
shape, with the upper angles salient and the lower angles rounded, the center
of the base of which terminates in a point”. Constitution of the Dominican Republic Art. 96 The coat of arms of the republic shall have
the same colours as the national flag, placed in the same manner; in the
center it shall bear the book of the Gospels, open, with a cross above it,
both issuing out of a trophy consisting of two lances and four national flags
without coat of arms, two on either side; it shall bear a laurel branch on
the left side and a palm branch on the right; it shall be crowned with an
ultramarine blue ribbon bearing the legend:
“dios • patria • libertad”, and at the base another ribbon vermillion
red in colour, with these words: “republica
dominicana”. The national coat
of arms shall be oblong in shape, with the upper angles salient and the lower
angles rounded, the center of the base of which terminates in a point, and so
placed that if a horizontal line is drawn uniting the two verticals of the
oblongs from where the lower angles begin, a perfect square results. [10] This article of the Constitution has been
confirmed in later and the last versions of the Constitution. Æ see illustration in the head of
this essay. |
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Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas) |
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Achievement of
the Armed Forces |
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Army (Ejército Nacional) |
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Emblem of the
Army |
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Navy (Marina da Guerra) |
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Achievement of
the Navy |
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Air Force (Fuerza Aérea) |
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Achievement of the Air Force
Dominican
Air force Command, seal
Roundel |
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Police (Policia Nacional) |
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Emblem and arms of the National
Police |
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© Hubert de Vries 2007-10-15;
Updated 2010-02-07; 2013-02-11; 2013-03-12; 2016-03-02
Heraldry of the World