Entry in progress—B.P.
 
Wikipedia: Coat of arms of New York
The coat of arms of the state of New York was formally adopted in 1778, and appears as a component of the state’s flag and seal.
 
The shield displays a masted ship and a sloop on the Hudson River (symbols of inland and foreign commerce), bordered by a grassy shore and a mountain range in the background with the sun rising behind it. The unheraldic nature of the Hudson River landscape reveals the modern origin of the design.
 
The shield has two supporters:
 
. Left: Liberty, with the Revolutionary imagery of a Phrygian cap raised on a pole. Her left foot treads upon a crown that represents freedom from the British monarchy that once ruled what is now New York as a colony.
 
. Right: Justice, wearing a blindfold (representing impartiality) and holding scales (representing fairness) and a sword.
 
A banner below the shield shows the motto Excelsior, a Latin word meaning “higher”, “superior”, “lordly”, commonly translated as “Ever Upward.”
 
The shield is surmounted by a crest consisting of an eagle surmounting a world globe.
 
The flag of the state of New York is the coat of arms on a solid blue background. The state seal of New York is the coat of arms surrounded by the words “The Great Seal of the State of New York.”
 
(Oxford English Dictionary)
excelsior, n.
Etymology:  Latin, comparative of excelsus high: see excelse adj. and n.
The Latin motto (‘higher’) on the seal of the State of New York (adopted by the senate of that state 16 Mar. 1778), the accompanying device being a rising sun. Hence attrib. in The Excelsior State, New York.
1778   Drawing of Seal in N.Y. Senate Rep. (1881) No. 61   Excelsior.