Yes, although maybe not fully extended, sort of holding it out to show it has it - not offering it? Does that make sense? "See... this gives me authority, I'm holding it out so you can look but don't try and take it from me!"
Yeah, I can see that, sort of holding it forward and to the side. The maple-mace represents the clout of Canadian Law, so it's sort-of like it's being held for power, but also being offered.
First thing that came to mind: The Arms of Canada. On February 15, 2008, the Governor General authorized the House of Commons to begin using a badge of the shield of Her Majesty's Royal Arms in right of Canada superimposed on the Ceremonial mace assigned to the House of Commons (the mace is also as a symbol of Royal authority). Following the Commons example, the Senate then requested and obtained on April 15, 2008 a similar badge for itself with the shield of Her Majesty's Royal Arms surmounted on the mace assigned to the Senate.
The bear could be standing holding the Arms in front of him with the left paw and still have the Maple Mace as you suggested in his right paw?
If you go to
Arms of Canada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia you'll get the full info on the various versions, what everything stands for, etc. It's interesting, I was kind of surprised to see what used to be called The Union Jack (the flag the lion is holding) but its now called The Union. I'm no big fan of the monarchy but not anti either, I do like having a GG so I'm kinda wishy washy. Well, the Welsh are never fans of the monarchy, too many of 'em used us for target practise over the centuries, and especially after they made up the faux role of Prince of Wales. Anyhoo...
Anyway, that's what I came up with. Just IMO though, feel free to toss it, no worries. :bunny:
Okay, I see what you're thinking. That's interesting. I'm going to ponder that, but it's Sunday, and I'm off to do my Sunday things.
Just so you know... to me, I look at the position of the monarch as an "office" with a "function" that has evolved over time... but I don't get into Royalty adulation.
The point is, in the beginning, the monarch had supreme authority, but starting with the Magna Carta, a long and slow process happened where gradually a house of commons evolved as a balance, and after the British civil war, a check against the power of the crown.
Since then, power has shifted over so much to the parliament side that in terms of what a Prime Minister can do, he has *way* more executive power than an American President. The *only* check on the power of the PM is the little bit of critical power still in the hands of the crown, which in Canada means in the hands of the GG, which means... she's the *only* power in government left representing *any* sort of check we've got against the tyranny we could find ourselves subject to if the Conservatives were to ever get a majority.
That's what got me thinking about the GG, and is what caused me to find myself looking at her Crest, thinking, "That could be better"... and that's what led to this little excercise.
Plus, basically everyone in Quebec hates the whole idea of the Crown, partly because they have a historical grudge, and partly because most of them don't really understand what the power of the office implies, so I thought if we could shed a British symbol off the GGs Crest - the Lion - and replace it with something northern north American, which Quebequois identify themselves as being very much... they get polar-bears in Quebec, then they might relax enough to actually look at what the office is really about.
