§ 1-2-1 — Official Coat of Arms - General Description

Alabama shall have an official coat of arms which shall be as follows: a shield upon which is carried the flags of four of the five nations which have at various times held sovereignty over a part or the whole of what is now the State of Alabama: Spain, France, Great Britain and the Confederacy. The union binding these flags shall be the shield of the United States. The shield upon which the flags and shield of the United States are placed shall be supported on either side by an eagle. The crest of the coat of arms shall be a ship representing the “Badine” which brought the French colonists who established the first permanent white settlements in the state. Beneath the shield there shall be a scroll containing the sentence in Latin: “Audemus jura nostra defendere,” the English interpretation of which is “We Dare Maintain Our Rights.” The word “Alabama” shall appear beneath the state motto.

Legislative History

(Acts 1939, No. 140, p. 176; Code 1940, T. 55, §1.)