Template:POTD/2020-06-25

Picture of the day

Virginia is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state capital is Richmond, and Virginia Beach is the most populous city. It was the tenth state to ratify the Constitution of the United States, doing so on June 25, 1788.

This picture shows Virginia's historical coat of arms, as illustrated by American engraver Henry Mitchell in State Arms of the Union, published in 1876 by Louis Prang. The escutcheon depicts the Roman deity Virtus, standing in a pose that indicates a battle has been won. She rests on her long spear, and holds a parazonium in her other hand; both are weapons of authority rather than combat. A personification of Tyranny lies defeated at her feet, above the state motto Sic semper tyrannis (Latin for 'thus ever to tyrants'). The broken chain in Tyranny's left hand represents Virginia's freedom from Britain's restriction of colonial trade and westward expansion, and the useless whip in his right hand signifies the state's relief from the punitive laws passed by the British parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. A similar design appears on the the state's flag and seal.Illustration credit: Henry Mitchell; restored by Andrew Shiva