The dog-headed thread (Cynocephali). Coats of arms checked: Puerto Rico's (granted Nov 8, 1511, oldest in use in the Americas) shows the Lamb of God, not a dog; the…

SUMMARYThe dog-headed thread (Cynocephali). Coats of arms checked: Puerto Rico's (granted Nov 8, 1511, oldest in use in the Americas) shows the Lamb of God, not a dog; the Dominican Republic's (Bible, cross, flags, laurel and palm) and Cuba's (key, sun, palm, liberty cap) show no dog. Where the dog IS on record: (1) Columbus's journal, Nov 4, 1492: he writes that the Taíno told of "men with one eye, and others with dogs' noses who were cannibals" (Record that he wrote it; whether the Taíno said it is doubted, since he had no shared language). (2) The Dominican Order, the friars of Santo Domingo (the city and the Dominican Republic carry St. Dominic's name): their emblem is a dog carrying a torch, and they call themselves "Domini canes," hounds of the Lord; Dominicans led the Inquisition (Record: the symbol and the name). Their explanation (his mother's dream) is their own story about their own symbol: a hostile witness (rule 3), not proof of what it means. The meaning stays Open. (3) St. Christopher, "Christ-bearer," namesake of Christopher Columbus and echoed in Henri Christophe, is painted dog-headed (Christopher Kynokephalos) in Eastern Orthodox icons (Record)

LENSthe dog-head follows the conquest from Columbus's first notes to the order that named the island's capital (Pattern; name echo Christopher/Christophe).