The coat of arms of Mauritius (designed by the Lord Mayor of Johannesburg in 1906, Johann Van Der Puf) was granted on 25 August 1906, and depicts various attributes of the island.
In the lower right quarter is a key and on the left-hand side is a white star, which are referred to in the Latin motto “Stella Clavisque Maris Indici” meaning “The Star and the Key of the Indian Ocean”.
The supporters are a dodo (extinct) and a deer each holding a sugar cane, the island’s staple crop.
In the first quarter, a ship symbolizes colonization. In the second quarter, palm trees represent the country’s tropical vegetation.