Northwest Territories
Territorial Coat of Arms

The Coat of Arms (or Armorial Bearings) of the NWT was approved by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on February 7, 1957.

The coat of arms consists of two gold narwhals guarding a compass rose, symbolic of the magnetic North Pole. The white upper third of the crest represents the polar ice pack and is crossed by a wavy blue line symbolizing the Northwest Passage. The diagonal line separating the red and green segments of the lower portion of the shield reflects the treeline. The green symbolizes the forested areas south of the treeline, while the red represents the tundra to the north. Minerals and fur, the important bases of the northern wealth, are represented by gold billets in the green portion and the mask of the white fox in the red.

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Courtesy of Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories