LA removes cross, why not Trinidad

The miniature gold cross that once adorned the Los Angeles County seal has been erased. So have the oil derricks and the bountiful goddess Pomona, all scrubbed off by county leaders who voted to redesign the emblem after the American Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue over the use of a cross in a government seal. The new design, unveiled last Wednesday and scheduled to be considered by the Board of Supervisors this week, remains a potpourri of symbols of the county’s history, landscape and industries. A Spanish galleon, a couple of engineering tools, a tuna and a dairy cow named Pearlette all made the cut, but now - the new seal’s right side depicts a cross-free San Gabriel Mission. And in the seal’s centre, Pomona, goddess of fruit trees, has been deposed in favour of a barefoot Native American woman carrying a bowl, meant to represent the area’s early inhabitants. (New Seal, Sans Cross, Offers Other Changes Sue Fox, Los Angeles Times, Thu Sep 9)

Within moments of the proposed seal’s release, critics were picking it apart - and promising a new battle to restore the cross. “Let’s see, they got rid of the oil wells, so that’s politically correct,” mused David Hernan-dez, a Valley Village insurance adjuster who is leading a petition drive to restore the cross by ballot initiative. In June, three of five supervisors voted to remove the seal’s cross after county lawyers advised that courts probably would find it an unconstitutional endorsement of Christianity. A week later, more than 700 protesters flooded into the county Hall of Administration to denounce the decision. Hernandez said demonstrators planned another rally at today’s board meeting. Others liked the design. At the ACLU, attorney Ben Wizner praised the new images as more inclusive and even “pretty.” “As far as we were concerned, they could have satisfied their legal obligation by simply removing the cross,” he said. “But they went a step further and tried to devise a symbol that would really reflect the diversity of the county.”

It was that extra step that particularly upset Los Angeles Council-woman Janice Hahn, whose father, the late Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, designed the seal in 1956. It was drawn by the artist Millard Sheets. County artist Loren Clapp said he crafted more than 30 renditions of the seal, which he presented to Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen for approval. Version 27 featured the San Fernando Mission; 29 included a statue of a Spanish priest. The latest version depicts an angled view of the San Gabriel Mission (so that the cross out front cannot be seen). “You have to please the client,” Clapp said, his modest cubicle strewn with books about 18th-century missions and Native Americans. “That’s the nature of the job.” Janssen said the revisions, such as replacing the goddess, were requested by the board. During public debate over the seal, he noted, “We took a good deal of abuse about the fact that we were removing the cross and keeping the pagan goddess.

“As for the oil derricks, there simply wasn’t room once the mission was added.’’ Janssen suggested that anyone with objections to the design should voice them at today’s meeting. “Maybe,” he said dryly, “Pearlette the cow should be gone.” This news item, unreported in Trinidad and Tobago, was reproduced to highlight the contrast between a nation that is developed and a nation that refuses to develop. The recent rigid position of the Prime Minister on the issue of the national awards contrasts sharply with that of the officials in LA. However change for the national awards will not be easily removed from the national agenda. A motion on this issue is to be raised in the Senate as follows: Whereas pursuant to the Constitution of the Republic if Trinidad and Tobago Chapter1:01 there exists Letters Patent which establish the Order of the Trinity And whereas the Order of the Trinity consists of all those persons who are awarded the highest honours of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (‘‘the Republic’’) viz, the Trinity Cross, the Chaconia Medal and the Humming Bird Medal or the Medal of Merit.

And whereas the nomenclature ‘‘the Order of the Trinity’’ and ‘‘the Trinity Cross’’ are divisive in that they are perceived to be Christian names for what is a State or secular award of the Republic thus ignoring the sensibilities, sensitivities and religious beliefs of the majority non-Christian population of the Republic. And whereas the highest awards of the Republic ought to be a unifying as opposed to a dividing factor. Be it resolved that this Honourable Senate do instruct the Cabinet of the Republic to change the name “Order of the Trinity’’ to ‘‘Order of Trinidad and Tobago’ and to change the name ‘‘Trinity Cross’’ to ‘‘Grand medal of the Republic’’ or such other name as shall find favour with this Honourable Senate. It will be interesting to view if the motion would be entertained by the President of the Senate Linda Baboolal, and if it is allowed how the non-Christians on the Government side will vote on such an issue.