Pearl of the Orient
The arms of the seal consist of a pre-Hispanic shield, horizontally divided into red and blue fields. The top, red half depicts the city's nickname, "Pearl of the Orient", while the lower, blue half is charged with a sea-lion surmounting the waves of the River Pasig and Manila Bay. The sea-lion originally represented the islands's former colonial status as an "ultramar" (overseas) possession of Spain, and is ultimately derived from the arms of the Kingdom of León.