The national coat of arms depicted on bank notes,
coins, postage stamps and official publications was
introduced in French times; it consists of a key, a star,
a ship and a small cluster of palms.
The meaning of its
Latin legend,
Stella et Claviscus Maris Indici
("The Star and the Key of the Indian Ocean") is widely known.
Until 1986, Queen Elizabeth I of Mauritius (Britain's Elizabeth II)
was represented on all Mauritian currency.
She is now gradually being replaced by the first
prime minister of independent Mauritius,
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, who also served as
First Minister of Mauritius
during the last seven years of
British rule.
Symbols of national unity are difficult to construct and justify in independent,
democratic Mauritius. The public symbols of "Mauritian-ness"
current today are, therefore,
largely inherited from colonial times.
This continued use of colonial symbols
and history as national ones, is much less controversial in Mauritius than
in most African countries.
In Mauritius, there was no violent discontinuity
from colonialism to independence. Conflicts over independence were internal
and did not involve the colonial power directly.
The white settlers did not
flee after the referendum (where the pro-independence factions won by a slight margin).
If it hadn't been for the French and the British, there would have been no
Mauritius - and people know this.
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Pere Laval
The national coat of arms depicted on bank notes,