text: The shield features a red lion passant and two thistles, taken from the family arms of Cecil Rhodes, after whom the colony was named, and the Latin motto Sit Nomine Digna (May She Be Worthy of the Name) is a reference to Rhodes. The pick, in gold on a green field, represents mining, the economic mainstay of the colony. Also featured above the shield is the soapstone statuette of the Zimbabwe Bird found in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe.
  The shield of the arms was used on the flag of the colony by being placed in the fly of a British  Blue Ensign, in the tradition of most other British colonies.  This design changed in 1964 when the field of the flag was changed to light blue. In November 1968, the full coat of arms was placed in the centre of a new Rhodesian flag which was a green, white, green triband.  After Rhodesia was declared a republic in 1970, the arms also  featured on the President's flag.
  The arms remained unchanged following the renaming of the country as Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979, and were initially used by the government of Zimbabwe from 18 April 1980 to 21 September 1981, following which  the present coat of arms of Zimbabwe were introduced.