We’re very proud of our Grand Cayman culture and heritage, and we thought we’d take a moment to share just a few of them with you, so that you might experience them for yourself when you’re here staying at beautiful Aqua Bay Club Condos Condos…
Our Coat of Arms
With a long history behind it, the Cayman Islands coat of arms consists of a shield, a crested helm, and our motto. The three green stars represent our Islands, and rest on the blue and white wavy bands represent the sea. In the top third of the shield–against a red background– is a gold griffin “passant guardant”, representing Great Britain. Above the shield is a green turtle on a coil of rope. Behind that turtle is a gold pineapple. The turtle represents our seafaring history; the rope represents the traditional thatch-rope industry; and the pineapple shows our ties with nearby Jamaica. The Islands’ motto, “He hath founded it upon the seas”, is found at the bottom of the shield.
The Wild Banana Orchid
The local woods provide shelter for several varieties of flowering plants, including gorgeous orchids. Probably the best known of Cayman’s 26 species of orchids is the wild banana orchid; of which there are two varieties – one which originated on Grand Cayman, and the other came from Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Both varieties have scented flowers with purple lips, and the flowers appear at the top of a long curved spike at the bottom of which cluster banana-like pseudo-bulbs that give this orchid its name.
The Silver Thatch Palm
Tall and majestic slender silver thatch palms are especially conspicuous at the eastern end of all three of the Cayman Islands, where they gently sway in the trade winds high above the low, dry thickets of our native trees and shrubs. The leaves are what give this tree its common name; they are green on the top and silver on the bottom. Unusually strong, the leaves have a variety of uses; from roofing for houses to the plaiting and sewing of hats, baskets and fans. Exporting rope was Cayman’s largest source of revenue at one time.
The Cayman Parrot
Just about 2,000 parrots inhabit exotic Grand Cayman. Nesting in tree holes in the old-growth forests, these colourful parrots depend on undisturbed woodlands and black mangrove forests for their survival. Cayman’s parrots have iridescent green feathers with darker edges over the body, a white eye ring, lovely red cheeks, noticeable black ear patches, and brilliant blue wing feathers which are only readily apparent when they are in flight. Please note that while historically parrots were common family pets, it is now illegal to take a parrot from the wild for any reason, even to keep it as a pet!
We hope to see you here at Aqua Bay Club soon, so we can all enjoy our Caymanian Symbols together in our natural paradise.