Coat of arms of Sydney

[1] It features a three-masted ship on a gold and blue background, along with symbols pertaining to various figures in Sydney's history (namely Viscount Sydney, Governor Phillip, Captain Cook, and Sir Thomas Hughes).

The crest is an anchor encircled by a mural crown and surmounted by a six-pointed star, and the supporters are an Aboriginal and an 18th-century British seaman.

An interpretation published alongside the grant of arms explains this as follows: The English landing party took possession from the aborigine, and in turn surrendered it to that growing nationality of which the settlement of the City of Sydney was the foundation.

[2] The redesign simplified the arms, removing the motto and replacing the human supporters with a snake and a coiled rope.

Like later iterations of the arms, the design included an Aboriginal and a British sailor and the motto "I take but I surrender".