Meghan Markle now has her very own royal coat of arms, and it imagines the duchess as an elegant songbird

In the song “California Gurls,” Katy Perry sings, “California girls/We’re unforgettable.” If anyone is proving her right, it’s the newest member of the royal family, Meghan Markle. The Duchess of Sussex now has her very own royal coat of arms. And it’s so California-inspired, it’s surprising Perry herself isn’t featured on the signet.

You can usually guarantee that any imagery associated with the House of Windsor is packed with symbolism. When Markle married Prince Harry on May 19th — already a week ago! — the Duchess of Sussex’s wedding veil was loaded with meaning. And now, the same is true for Markle’s new coat of arms. The official royal website offers a breakdown of what all of the California-inspired graphics mean.

“The blue background of the shield represents the Pacific Ocean off the California coast, while the two golden rays across the shield are symbolic of the sunshine of The Duchess’s home state,” Kensington Palace’s memo reads.

That’s not all, though. The coat of arms also pays tribute to Markle’s gift with words. As if anyone could forget, before she became a royal, she maintained a (now-defunct) personal blog called The Tig. According to Kensington Palace, Markle’s coat of arms includes three quills specifically to represent “communication and the power of words.”

Here’s what Meghan Markle’s highly symbolic coat of arms looks like.

Just looking at it transports you to the Golden Coast, right?

But wait — there’s even more symbolism to it than you might think.

Just as Markle’s royal wedding flower bouquet honored Princess Diana, the flowers on her coat of arms have a lot of meaning as well.

"Beneath the shield on the grass sits a collection of golden poppies, California's state flower, and wintersweet, which grows at Kensington Palace," the official royal site explains.

But nothing beats the presence of the songbird.

"The Supporter relating to The Duchess of Sussex is a songbird with wings elevated as if flying and an open beak, which with the quill represents the power of communication," the palace's memo says.

It’s so perfect to imagine Meghan Markle being related to a songbird, because we can’t stop singing her praises.

It turns out that Markle played a big part in designing her coat of arms.

"The Duchess of Sussex took a great interest in the design," said Thomas Woodcock, the Garter King of Arms.

Really, knowing what we do about the Duchess of Sussex, that’s not a big surprise.

So, Meghan Markle might not be a “California Gurl” as Katy Perry imagines. She’s not dancing around in Daisy dukes with a bikini on top, that’s for sure. But she is married to a duke now, so that counts for something.

Congratulations to the California songbird on her lovely coat of arms.