The motto "Rize and roar" (with that spelling, with a Z) was come up at this year's Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) Congress in San Francisco. The jaguars trace back their origin to a dream that one of the founders, Julie McCurdy, had when the group just started back in February 2011.
This coat-of-arms was created for the Jaguar Sisters, a community organization in Portland, Oregon. Unlike most of my past work it is essentially an Iberian-style heraldry (i.e., Spanish, Portuguese, Latin American) rather than a more British or Irish style one. The faces of the two sable jaguars rampant are taken from a Mayan jaguar mask design.
The crown is in fact a mural crown, which is common among the heraldry of cities and communes in the continental Europe as well as in Central and South America, which traces its history to a symbol of the Hellenic Goddess Tyche, Roman Goddess Fortuna, or of Cybele. Rather than being a symbol of monarchy or empire, as such is the case with the crown in British heraldry, the mural crown would be a befitting symbol for this women's empowerment and solidarity community. Additionally, the city walls historically symbolize both the communal nature of a city, as well as its common and mutual defence of its citizens. The mural crown imagery subconsciously evokes the sense of protection, stability and safety in a community, something the Jaguar Sisters have set themselves to achieve through their organizing.
If the Oregon DMV began selling the European Union style license plate for the benefit of some local nonprofit (maybe a pool of organizations that promote the learning of languages) it might be able to raise quite a bit of good money. Europlates look great on Volvo or Volkswagen, and they would most likely appeal to hipsters as well as to European car enthusiasts.
Cat.
Happy purrs in the sun.
Upside down under blue sky.
Cat.
Content beyond measure.
Oblivious of petty human games.
Cat.
Sleep when it wants.
Eat, only to go to sleep.
Cat.
Paradise on earth realized.
World peace in fur format.
Cat.
Does not care what you think.
Does not care if you make six figures.
Cat.
Meows and purrs.
Jumps up on your lap.
Cat.
Does not care if you are tired.
Jumps up on your bed to make biscuits.
Cat.
Does not care if it is 4 in the morning.
Sits on your face and meows loudly.
Cat.
Is everywhere on earth.
In Canada and South Africa.
Cat.
In Afghanistan and Palestine and China and North Korea.
In Australia and Greece and Italy and Kosovo.
Cat.
Does not need Berlitz or MBA in international trade.
Meow means meow here, there or elsewhere.
Cat.
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