This coat of arms is (in my ever-so-humble opinion) terribly poor. The three shields in the coat of arms are symbolic of the foundations of the city. In the upper left, there is a shield representing Great Britian (the union jack, surmounted by the crown of Britian- such a Union Badge is a mark of honour that has only been granted to a few institutions, such as the Royal Military College in Kingston). The sovereign is represented by the upper right shield (it's very hard to see in this picture, but that shield is divided in quarters- the first and fourth are red, with three gold lions, the second is gold, with a red lion and double tressure, and the third is blue, with a gold harp. These are the arms of the sovereign of Britian, when borne for England). The cross represents the cathedral of Fredericton, and the fir tree in the bottom shield (green tree against blue sky- very poor heraldry) represents the forest wealth of New Brunswick.

Despite the cluttered appearance of the shield, the motto is of of the most original ones in Canadian heraldry- "Fredericopolis silvae filia nobilis" (Fredericton, noble daughter of the forest), although they could have left out the Fredericopolis bit (since it's Fredericton's coat of arms, it's obvious what city they're referring to).

The reason these arms (despite their unheraldic appearance) were granted to the city of Fredericton is given below (courtesy of Terrence C. Manuel, KStJ,CD,FHSC, taken from the same official publication from which he took the arms image- thanks Terry).

On April 25, 1845, Queen Victoria of Britain commanded that Fredericton become a city. Three years later. on March 30th, 1848 the city was incorporated by Act of the New Brunswick Legislature. At that time the arms for the new city were designed by Dr. James Robb, a professor at King's College (now University of New Brunswick), who was also a member of Fredericton's City Council. The arms were drawn without regard to the laws of heraldry and were not recorded nor approved by the College of Arms in Britain at that time.

In 1955 when the late Brigadier Michael Wardel of Fredericton entered into discussions with the College of Arms on behalf of the City with a view to obtaining official authority for the arms, it was stated that in no circumstances could such use of the royal emblems be sanctioned. The difficulties seemed unsurmountable, but the discussions continued over the years and three successive mayors of Fredericton urged the city's case for the official recognition of its arms, based on unbroken usage for more than a century.

In 1970 as a result of procedures suggested by Sir Anthony Wagner, the Garter King of Arms, a petition was made to the Queen by the Governor General of Canada on a proposal of the Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. The Queen, in view of the special circumstances, approved in principle the use of the old arms, thus empowering the College of Arms to grant to the City of Fredericton the lawful authority and unique distinction of being entitled to bear and use the Royal Arms for ever, as set forth in Letters Patent presented to the City on June 10th, 1971.