Portuguese Empire: Coats of Arms of the 20th Century

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At first glance, the 20th century coins of the Portuguese empire all appear very alike, apart from the country name. However, if you look closely at the coat of arms, you will see that the top right third of the arms is different for each territory or colony.

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Angola: elephant and zebra.

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Cape Verde: a ship (caravel) under sail.

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Macao: dragon.

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Mozambique, 1936: globe.

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At some point, Mozambique's coat of arms was changed to incorporate a bundle of arrows.

That symbol was associated with Saint Sebastian.

The first colonial fort in Mozambique was named in honour of Saint Sebastian.

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Portuguese Guinea: the golden sceptre of King Alfonso V of Portugal, with the head of an African on its tip.

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Portuguese India, 1 rupee, 1935. 

A glum-looking man in a turban (Vasco da Gama, apparently).

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At some point Portuguese India was given a new coat of arms.

I am not sure what it represents.

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São Tomé and Príncipe / St Thomas and Prince. A water mill, plus 17 drops of water.
 

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Portuguese Timor: a Dominican cross.

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It strikes my that the Indian possessions were collectively called "estado" da India which I presume means state of India. Whereas on others, it's simply the country name such as Timor, guine, Macau etc ... So my question , why not simply "goa, damao, diu"

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I guess it is like "Straits Settlements" or "British Caribbean Territories". Rather than having a few colonies considered small, you give them all a common name. That doesn't mean they can't all have a separate local government, though.

Hadn't focussed on the different arms before and very pleased to see them all in one place. My guess is that heraldically, they are conjoined arms, i.e. the arms of Portugal left, those of the colony right. The lower part with the sea has no heraldic meaning, but serves as a symbol to connect the two further. The whole expresses the political stance of the military dictatorship of those days, ultra-conservative, living in the 19th century and believing in colonialism and the threat of Karl Marx. There's a lesson here....

As for the device on the São Tomé and Príncipe coin, I take it for a cogwheel for use aboard a ship, possible a winch. There is no sign of mechanical devices on the local arms today, apart from a cogwheel on the arms of Santo Amaro. The same cogwheel, rigged as a capstan, appears on the Estado da India arms, this time couples with a tower (fortress.) I presume the glum-looking man is Vasco da Gama. The arrows are in a bundle, not a quiver. Since the heads point down, they are taken as a signal for peace. Perhaps more importantly, the military dictator of Spain wanted his arrowheads pointing up

Peter

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I'm getting a bit semantic here , but I also meant to pose the question on why "estado da India" and not simply "India"

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I'm getting a bit semantic here , but I also meant to pose the question on why "estado da India" and not simply "India"

I don't know the answer to that, but the phrase only appears on the coins from 1934 onwards.

Before that, the legend says "India Portugueza" (Portuguese India), as in this attached example.