18th Century

Little earlier than the anonymous map is another one entitled Plano de las Islas de Canaria, made by Francisco Javier Machado Fiesco in 1762 (5). On top of it there is a coat of arms showing the same elements, but with significant differences: the islands are drawn in elevation instead of as ground plans; the background is represented as being plain blue by horizontal lines; and the crown is open instead od closed. On the other hand, the motto "Oceano" (in its correct form, with a single “c”) really occupies the chief of the shield.

A manuscript of uncertain date, estimated between 1770 and 1784, entitled Canaria Ilustrada y Puente Americhano and written by Dámaso de Quezada y Chaves (6), a clergyman born in Tenerife and living in Rome, devotes a chapter to describe the coat of arms of the Canary Islands, with the following words: as a kingdom, they were granted for arms seven islands on a background of blue sea waves; on top a silver fess and gold crown framed with 6 gold letters [saying] OCEANO. And next, he draws two variants of these arms, one including the “fess” or chief and the letters and the other one without these elements. On both cases, it looks very similar to the arms in the 1765 map.

In 1772, the first printed edition of Noticias de la Historia General de las Islas de Canaria, the work of José de Viera y Clavijo (7), includes as a frontispiece an engraving with a version of the arms of the islands containing all the elements of the current emblem: the seven islands shown in elevation and ordered two, two, two, one, the motto OCÉANO in a ribbon and not as part of the field, the royal crown closed and, on both sides of the shield, a dog with collar as an iconographic reference to the hypothetical ethimology of the islands’ name. Other accesory elements are: some flags, an anchor, a compass, a cannon, etc. In chapter 90 of this work the arms are described, falling again into confusion about the “chief”: The ancient Fortunate islands are a kingdom. Their coat of arms represents the seven islands by seven rocks on blue waves, with royal crown, and in the chief gold letters saying Oceano.

Another version, dated 1785, shows the peculiarity of being surrounded by military trophies and drawn in colour, though, oddily, the field is not blue. It appears on the map entitled Plan et Vue des Iles Canaries, made by Emmanuel D'Hermand (8), French consul in the Canaries.

The arms shown on the first printed map of the Canary Islands, made by José Trinidad de Herrera and published in the Semanario Enciclopédico Elemental in July 1786 (9), is clearly based on the one appearing in Viera’s work.

In december the same year it was established in La Laguna the Real Consulado de Mar y Tierra de Canarias (Royal Consulate of Sea and Land of the Canaries), with the aim of promoting the economic development and the commercial relations of the Islands. As its emblem, it chose a composition clearly based on the earlier ones, though showing important variations. It’s a round-shaped shield where the seven islands appear on a blue background surrounding an escutcheon with the arms of Castile and Leon. On top of a closed royal crown, the ribbon with the motto OCEANO. This was the first and only time, until the arrival of the autonomy, when the emblem of the seven islands served as the symbol of an official Canarian institution, though its life was ephemeral.

NOTES

(5) Tous Melián, Juan. Plano de las Islas de Canaria, por D. Francisco Xavier Machado Fiesco, 1762. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Museo Militar Regional de Canarias, 1994

(6) Biblioteca Nacional, Ms. 22.520

(7) Viera y Clavijo, José de. Noticias de la Historia General de las Islas de Canaria.Madrid, 1772

(8) Tous Melián, Juan. Carte et Vue des Iles Canaries, por Emmanuel Louis Joseph D'Hermand, Cónsul de Francia en las Islas Canarias. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Museo Militar Regional de Canarias, 1994

(9) Tous Melián, Juan. El primer mapa impreso en las Islas Canarias. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Museo Militar Regional de Canarias, 1994