Ship's Coat of Arms
The sea dragon is an awesome beast that is both vigilant and fierce. Grasping a flaming sword, the sea dragon symbolizes the naval prowess and attack capability of today's USS Bunker Hill. The flaming sword also represents the revolutionary capability of the vertical launching system first introduced in Bunker Hill. The stars commemorate the eleven battle stars the former USS Bunker Hill (CV 17) earned in the Pacific theater during World War II. Blue and gold are the colors traditionally associated with the Navy and are symbolic of the sea and excellence. The two white bars in the chief represent American courage and purpose as displayed at the Battle of Bunker Hill on 17 June 1775. The red bars symbolize the British assaults on the colonists' entrenchment and the curve below alludes to the hill that the British took at great cost. Battle of Bunker Hill proved to be a rallying point for the Americans, since afterwards the British faced full scale war. The colonists were formidable opponents at Bunker Hill. The entrenchments or redoubts they built are symbolized by the scarlet hill and battlements. The muskets with bayonets recall the weapons of that battle and the powder horn refers to the New Englander's stand until their ammunition supply was exhausted. The anchor is symbolic of maritime traditions and excellence of achievement.
Read more about this topic: USS Bunker Hill (CG-52)
Famous quotes containing the words ship, coat and/or arms:
“Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)
“The old coat that I wear is Concord; it is my morning robe and study gown, my working dress and suit of ceremony, and my nightgown after all. Cleave to the simplest ever. Home,—home,—home. Cars sound like cares to me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“His eloquence was of every kind, and he excelled in the argumentative as well as in the declamatory way. But his invectives were terrible, and uttered with such energy of diction, and stern dignity of action and countenance, that he intimidated those who were the most willing and the best able to encounter him. Their arms fell out of their hands, and they shrunk under the ascendant which his genius gained over theirs.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)