Coat of arms of Nuuk The red siminar, with gold windows and a weathercock, represents education and culture, while the yellow paddle, also known as the "kayak paddle", symbolizes the way of life of the indigenous peoples of Greenland, hunters of fish and other sea creatures; most importantly, it also symbolizes that Nuuk is the true power of Greenland. The blue and white waves, which are collected in three sets, growing larger as they get to the red siminar, represent two different things: the blue waves represent the sea fjord near Nuuk, and the white waves represent the sea ice. The coat of arms, against
Nuuk Airport flying boat, with the aircraft using the waterways of the Nuuk Port as a landing site. In 1962 a PBY Catalina crashed near the port, killing 15 people on board. The tragedy was one of the factors leading to the decision to invest in a helicopter fleet. The Sikorsky S-61N machines—still in use in 2010—proved to be a more reliable mode of transport for the city, providing exclusive service for the Nuuk city for more than a decade—from the purchase date in 1965 until the late 1970s. Even in the later era of the fixed-wing, turboprop plane domination, the S-61N