Stained glass window
This beautiful stained glass window is in the Old Courthouse, built in 1909, in Kamloops, British Columbia. It shows the coat of arms for the province of British Columbia.
The work is interesting for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it shows an early design version which did not receive official approval from the Crown and which was later revised. The contentious issue? The placement of the setting sun above the Union Jack flag contradicting the old adage "the sun never sets on the British Empire".
Some of the other elements include: the royal helm and crown, the Crest of Queen Victoria, which later was to be garlanded with dogwood flowers which are the official flower of B.C.; the sun and wavy lines are the flag of B.C. and represent B.C.'s position as the westernmost province with the sun setting on the Pacific Ocean; and, the elk and the bighorn sheep represent, respectively, Vancouver Island and the mainland, each of which were originally separate Crown colonies but which united in 1866 to become British Columbia.
The motto "Splendor Sine Occasu" means, literally, Splendour Without Diminishment but is taken to mean "a shining without a sunset" to emphasize that the sun never sets on the Empire.
Stained glass window
This beautiful stained glass window is in the Old Courthouse, built in 1909, in Kamloops, British Columbia. It shows the coat of arms for the province of British Columbia.
The work is interesting for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it shows an early design version which did not receive official approval from the Crown and which was later revised. The contentious issue? The placement of the setting sun above the Union Jack flag contradicting the old adage "the sun never sets on the British Empire".
Some of the other elements include: the royal helm and crown, the Crest of Queen Victoria, which later was to be garlanded with dogwood flowers which are the official flower of B.C.; the sun and wavy lines are the flag of B.C. and represent B.C.'s position as the westernmost province with the sun setting on the Pacific Ocean; and, the elk and the bighorn sheep represent, respectively, Vancouver Island and the mainland, each of which were originally separate Crown colonies but which united in 1866 to become British Columbia.
The motto "Splendor Sine Occasu" means, literally, Splendour Without Diminishment but is taken to mean "a shining without a sunset" to emphasize that the sun never sets on the Empire.