- The Governor General of Canada
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John James Nanos
Toronto, Ontario
Grant of Arms, Flag and Badge, with differences to Alexandra Panayiota Nanos and Dimitrios John Nanos
December 20, 2012
Vol. VI, p. 198
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Blazon
Arms
Gyronny Azure and Argent a cross and saltire all counterchanged, overall an eight-pointed star Or charged with a like star Gules;
Crest
Issuant from a coronet erablé Gules a demi double-headed eagle Or;
Motto
FAITH • EXCELLENCE • HONOUR;
Symbolism
Arms
Mr. Nanos is a direct descendent of the Nanos and Sekeris clans in Greece and uses the blue and white colours of Greece as well as the Greek cross and the cross of St. Andrew (who is the patron saint of the Patriarchate of Constantinople). The central gold star takes a shape often used for honours and contains two allusions, of honour and wealth. The first is to Mr. Nanos’s great-great-great-grandfather who was awarded the Gold Medal, known as the Chruseon Ariston, by King Otto of Greece. The second is to the uncle of Mr. Nanos’s great-great-great-grandfather. This uncle was the Treasurer of the Filiki Eteria, a secret society with a twelve-person executive that initiated and funded the 1821 Greek Revolution. The Sekeris family were merchants operating in Greece, Russia and France, and they were the first major family of wealth to support the Revolution. The red star added to the design differences these arms from those of his brother Nikita James Nanos, granted by the Chief Herald of Canada in 2004.
Crest
The coronet represents the Canadian branch of the Nanos family. The double-headed eagle alludes to Mr. Nanos’s Greek Orthodox faith and to the origins of the Nanos family in northern Greece and southern Albania.
Motto
Not applicable