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Bermuda - Subdivisions

image from <www.bermuda-online.org>

The Parishes

Municipalities:

See also:

The Parishes

Bermuda is divided to 9 Parishes. All got Coat of Arms:
- Devonshire - Coat of Arms at <bermuda-online.org/devonshire.gif>
- Hamilton - Coat of Arms at <bermuda-online.org/hamilton.gif>.
- (The City of Hamilton's Coat of Arms at <bermuda-online.org/citycrest.jpg>).
- Paget - Coat of Arms at <bermuda-online.org/paget.gif>.
- Pembroke - Coat of Arms at <bermuda-online.org/pembroke.gif>.
- Sandys - Coat of Arms at <bermuda-online.org/sandys.gif>.
- Smith's - Coat of Arms at <bermuda-online.org/smith.gif>.
- Southampton - Coat of Arms at <bermuda-online.org/southampton.gif>.
- Warwick - Coat of Arms at <bermuda-online.org/warwick.gif>
- St. George's - Coat of Arms at <bermuda-online.org/somers.gif>.
Dov Gutterman, 7 June 2004

Maps of the parishes are at <www.bermudashorts.bm> and <www.world-gazetteer.com>.
António Martins, 7 June 2004

The map at <www.world-gazetteer.com> is better, but it has several strange flaws - it shows a channel at the southwest edge of Harrington sound (that's the big lagoon between Hamilton and Smith's parishes) - there is no gap there. Also, it shows the northeastern corner of the mainland as being part of Hamilton Parish - it is in fact part of St George's. This is the part next to the string of three islands (actually two islands and a long peninsula) to the right of the last "h" of "Hamilton Parish". Also, although both St George's Parish and Sandys Parish show a contiguous mainland, this is a string of islands connected by bridges. The best map is at <www.bermuda-online.org>.
James Dignan, 7 June 2004

The Bermudas Royal Mail issued a set of stamps showing the parish Coat of Arms, and, e.g., <naxum.tripod.com/heraldry/30xbm.jpg> agrees with <bermuda-online.org/southampton.gif>. However, <naxum.tripod.com/heraldry/33xbm.jpg> shows a different Coat of Arms than <http://bermuda-online.org/somers.gif>, attibuted in our pages to St. George's parish, inspite of the filename (Somers was the British noble who founded the colony - . Bellow on the same page the arms in the stamp are linked to <www.bermuda-online.org/towncrest.gif>.) Moreover, neither arms are plain St. George crosses, as given in Town of St. George, which flag may be used locally for eponymity, not as an exclusive identity mark, as flags usualy are.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 9 January 2006

There are nine parish coats of arms and two municipality ones, for the town of St. George's and the city of Hamilton. "Somers" is the arms of Sir George Somers, also used as the arms of St. George's Parish. However, it is not the arms of St. George's town, which are those shown on the stamp (and at <www.bermuda-online.org/seetown.htm>). Things get more confusing still, since while St. George's town is surrounded by St. George's Parish, Hamilton city is nowhere near Hamilton parish. More confusingly still, Bermuda-online cannot tell the difference between a crest, a seal, and a coat of arms, so the town of St. George's is shown with two crests, one of which is actually the arms, and the other of which is the town's seal.
A quick recap on Bermudian geography: The island is divided into nine parishes: (southwest to northeast) Sandys, Southampton, Warwick, Paget, Pembroke, Devonshire, Smiths, Hamilton, and St. George's. The town of St. George's is located in the northeast, surrounded by the parish of the same name. The city of Hamilton is on the peninsula that forms Pembroke Parish, in the centre of the island chain.
James Dignan, 10 January 2006