It was granted by a royal warrant of Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia dated 17 March 1969.

The official blazon, or heraldic description is contained in the royal warrant, and reads:[This quote needs a citation] For Arms: Argent on a base wavy Azure charged with a barrulet wavy Argent a Black Swan naiant proper.

And for Crest: On a Wreath Or and Sable The Royal Crown between two Kangaroo Paw (Anigosanthos Manglesii) flowers slipped proper.

A helmet and mantling is depicted in correct heraldic form in the Warrant to conform to heraldic principles, but omission thereof for general usage is in line with the usage of the Commonwealth of Australia and of other Australian States.The black swan was noted by all of the early European maritime explorers who sailed along the Western Australian coast.

The kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos manglesii) flower is the official floral emblem of Western Australia, adopted in 1960, and together with the black and gold torse framing the Crown indicates the honour bestowed upon the state by the grant of arms, and emphasises the sovereignty and independence of Western Australia.

Its natural habitat, combined with that of the black swan, covers almost the whole state and symbolically reflect the jurisdiction of the coat of arms.

The lack of any designs or emblems on the boomerangs held by the kangaroos indicates their role in representing all of the Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia.

Although no motto was granted as part of the coat of arms, earlier heraldic-like emblems of Western Australia sometimes used a motto of Cygnis insignis, which means 'distinguished for swans', being a Latin pun on the swan emblem (cygnis being Latin for 'swan').

Insignis can also mean 'remarkable', 'outstanding' or 'conspicuous' – all adjectives pointing to the long-standing association between Western Australia and the emblematic black swan.

An early 20th century magazine devoted to Westralian poetry named Cygnet was published between 1913 and 1915;[3]: 614  and the Western Australian essayist Walter Murdoch wrote in 1930, quoting an unnamed poet:[4] Hail to Westralia!

The early colonist George Fletcher Moore included in his 1831 ballad So Western Australia for me the lines:[5][full citation needed] No lions or tigers are we dread to meet, Our innocent quadrupeds hop on two feet; No tithes and no taxes, we here have to pay, And our geese are all swans, as some witty folk say.

Arms of Dominion and Sovereignty are the symbols of intangible public authority which belong to independent states and are used by their representatives (such as government agencies) and leaders.