british passport

[loobyloo123]

what does the unicorn and the lion mean on british passport

[delboy3]

The lion is England's heraldic animal, the unicorn represents Scotland. Don't know the symbolism, though

[firefly]

I think the lion goes right the way back to William I's Coat of Arms.

[Octavius]

The emblem depicts The Royal Coat of Arms of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and are her arms of dominion in right of the United Kingdom.

Except in Scotland, The shield is quartered, depicting in the first and fourth quarters the three lions passant guardant of England; in the second, the rampant lion and double tressure fleury-counter-fleury of Scotland; and in the third, a harp for Ireland.

The crest is a lion statant guardant wearing the imperial crown, itself on another representation of that crown.

The dexter supporter is a likewise crowned lion, symbolizing England; the sinister, a unicorn, symbolizing Scotland. According to legend a free unicorn was considered a very dangerous beast; therefore the British heraldic unicorn is chained.

The Queen has a separate version of her arms for use in Scotland, which gives the Scottish elements of her arms pride of place. The Coat of Arms of England, gules three lions passant gardant in pale or, was introduced by King Richard I (Richard the Lionheart, C�ur de Lion) in the 1190's.

[goldenboy]

the lion is the symbol of the sun and the unicorn is the moon. its a kind of union of the opposites and may have alchemical significances

[Octavius]

Symbolically, the unicorn in the past has represented Alexander the Great and Antiochus Epiphanes, a type of anti-Christ. Mythologically, the unicorn probably originated in ancient Babylon and today is a symbol adopted by New Agers to represent "a great world leader" whom they expect to bring world peace to earth. Interestingly, in "Christian" symbolism, the unicorn has also represented the Virgin Mary.
In heraldry, and even historical representations, the unicorn's eyes are round and black, i.e., no visible eye-whites. (Queen Elizabeth's heraldic unicorn is depicted as thus.) In heraldry, a unicorn is depicted as a horse with a goat's cloven hooves and beard, a lion's tail, and a slender, spiral horn on its forehead. Whether as an emblem of the Incarnation or of the fearsome animal passions of raw nature the unicorn was not widely used in early heraldry, but became popular from the fifteenth century, usually collared, an indication that its nature had been tempered.

It is probably best known from the royal arms of Scotland and the United Kingdom: two unicorns support the Scottish arms; a lion and a unicorn support the UK arms. Traditionally in heraldry, the lion has represented England.