# Your country's coat of arms!



## Canadian Chocho (May 18, 2006)

I really love coat of arms'!! I'm sure every country has a very nice one except I haven't seen many so I want you to post your coat of arms please. 

Canada










&

Nicaragua


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## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland


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## Bitxofo (Feb 3, 2005)

Spain, since 1981:


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## Pho-sure (Nov 27, 2005)

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam's


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## USS Yankee (Nov 28, 2005)

The Great Seal of the United States of America

- The Great Seal was finalized on June 20, 1782.
- The bald eagle is the national symbol.
- The 13 stars above the eagle's head refers to the 13 original colonies that formed the United States
- On the eagle's right claw is an olive branch, symbolizing peace. On the eagle's left claw is a clutch of arrows (13 of them) which symbolizes war. A motto attached to the Great Seal says "Bello vel Pace Paratus" (Prepared in War or in Peace).
- E Pluribus Unum means, of course, "Out of many, one."

More information here: http://www.greatseal.com/


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## alsen (Jan 20, 2006)

malaysia's coat of arms
"Unity is Strength" (Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu)
http://my-malaysia.info/images/Malaysia_Coat_of_Arms_-_flat.png


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## kashyap3 (Jul 11, 2006)

Wikipedia said:


> The Emblem of India is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. King Ashoka the Great, erected the capital to mark the spot where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma, and where the Buddhist Sangha was founded. In the original, there are four lions, standing back to back, mounted on an abacus with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening wheels over a bell-shaped lotus. Carved out of a single block of polished sandstone, the capital is crowned by the Wheel of the Law (Dharma Chakra).
> 
> It has four lions, resting on a circular abacus. The fourth lion is on the rear and hence hidden from view. The emblem symbolizes power, courage and confidence. The abacus is girded by four smaller animals - guardians of the four directions: the lion of the north, the elephant of the east, the horse of the south and the bull of the west. The abacus rests on a nelumbo nucifera in full bloom, exemplifying the fountainhead of life.
> 
> Usually inscribed below the abacus in Devanagari script is the motto Satyameva Jayate सत्यमेव जयते (English: "Truth Alone Triumphs"). This is a quote from Mundaka Upanishad, the concluding part of the sacred Hindu Vedas.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

*Republic of the Philippines - República de Filipinas*

The Philippine Coat of Arms features the eight-rayed sun of the Philippines and the three five-pointed stars representing the three primary geographic regions of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. In the blue field on the left side is the Eagle of the United States, and in the red field on the right is the Lion-Rampant of Spain, both representing colonial history. 

The words on the scroll have undergone many changes since Philippine independence. From independence in 1946 until 1972, when President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, the scroll contained the words "REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES." From 1979 until the overthrow of Marcos in 1986, the scroll had the words "ISANG BANSA ISANG DIWA" ("One Nation, One Spirit") inscribed. After the overthrow of Marcos, the scroll changed to the current "REPUBLIKA NG PILIPINAS".


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## Sabunjar (Apr 24, 2006)

CROATIA










The red and white checkerboard has been a symbol of Croatian kings since at least the 10th century, ranging in size from 3×3 to 8×8, but most commonly 5×5, like the current coat. It was traditionally conjenctured that the colours originally represented two ancient Croat tribes, Red Croats and White Croats, but there is no generally accepted proof for this theory. The oldest source confirming the coat as an official symbol is a genealogy of the Habsburgs, dated from 1512 to 1518. In 1525 it was used on a votive medal.

The oldest known example of the šahovnica in Croatia is to be found on the wings of four falcons on a baptismal font donated by king Petar Krešimir IV of Croatia (1058–1074) to the Archbishop of Split.

The oldest known coat of arms of Croatia (six-pointed star over a moon), coat of arms of Dalmatia and coat of arms of Slavonia (as well as the šahovnica) were all at times used as the Coat of Arms to represent the whole Croatia, especially in early heraldic period. Towards the Late Middle Ages the distinction for the three crown lands (Croatia 'proper', Dalmatia, Slavonia) was made. The šahovnica was used as the coat of arms of Croatia proper & together with the shields for Slavonia and Dalmatia was often used to represent the whole of Croatia in Austria-Hungary. An example of where the Croatian coat of arms was constituted of the šahovnica & Dalmatian (top half of coat of arms), & Slavonian (bottom half of coat of arms) crests include the:

Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia in Habsburg Empire (1848-1852) - as depicted on the roof of St Mark's Church in Zagreb; 
Triune Kingdom of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia (1867 - 1918). 
The two are the same except for the position of the šahovnica & Dalmatian coat of arms which are switched around & with different crowns used above the shield - the later employing St Stephen's crown (associated with Hungarian kings).

By late 19th century šahovnica had come to be considered a generally recognized symbol for Croats and Croatia and in 1919, it was included in the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) to represent Croats. When the Banovina of Croatia was formed, the šahovnica (chequy gules and argent) was retained as the official symbol.

*The current design*

On 21 December 1990, the post-communist government of Croatia, passed a law prescribing the design created by the graphic designer Miroslav Šutej, under the aegis of a commission chaired by Nikša Stančić, then head of the Department of Croatian History at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb.

The new design added the five crowning shields which represent the historical regions from which Croatia originated. They are, from left to right:

- the oldest known Croatian coat of arms: a golden six-pointed star (representing the morning star) over a silver moon on a blue shield. It represents the capital city Zagreb and central Croatia in general. 
- an older coat of arms of the Republic of Dubrovnik: two red stripes on a silver shield. The coat of arms on the flags and stone portals of Dubrovnik were painted black as a sign of grief by Dubrovnik' s citizens after the invasion by Napoleon. 
- the coat of arms of Dalmatia: three golden, crowned leopards, two over one, on a blue shield. This coat of arms originates from the Roman Emperor Diocletian who made Spalato (today Split) the capital of the Western Roman Empire. His palace, to this day, still stands in Split. 
- the coat of arms of Istria: a golden goat with red hooves and horns, on a dark blue shield. 
- the coat of arms of Slavonia: two silver stripes on blue shield (representing the rivers Drava and Sava that mark the northern and the southern border of Slavonia), between them on a red field a black, running marten (kuna in Croatian - note national currency is related to the marten - Croatian kuna), above a six-pointed, golden star. This coat was to Slavonia was officially recognised by king Ladislaus Jagiello in 1496. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Croatia


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## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

*Denmark*


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

Somalia's coat of arms, useless today though...


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## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

^ That's a nice one!

A shame about it, but hopefully the world with open it's eyes and help the country out of it's current troubles..


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## Novak (May 9, 2006)

*Finland* 










From Wikipedia:
The Coat of Arms of Finland were granted at the burial of Gustav Vasa in 1560 and still remain the arms of the Republic of Finland. The arms were also used as the official symbol of the Grand Duchy of Finland.

The blazon as described in the act on the arms of Finland (381/78) may be translated as follows:

"Gules, among nine roses argent, a lion rampant crowned Or, having for its dexter forepaw a human arm armoured, brandishing a sword trampling a falchion fesswise reversed, both of the second hilted of the third."

It has been assumed that the lion comes from the House of Folkung, which is also present in the Coat of Arms of Sweden. The two kinds of swords are similar to the ones in the Coat of Arms of Karelia. The curved Russian sabre placed under the feet of the lion reflects the political situation during the period. At that time, Sweden and Russia had been under constant war. The nine roses are often assumed to represent the nine historical provinces of Finland, but the number of roses has varied during history and is unrelated to the provinces.


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## Thermo (Oct 25, 2005)

Kingdom of Belgium


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## LuckyLuke (Mar 29, 2005)




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## GlasgowMan (Jan 11, 2006)

Scotland:









Glasgow:


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## sjwmoore (Feb 17, 2005)

Republic of Ireland



and for balance: 

Northern Ireland


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## Mickey (Apr 2, 2006)

Italy's one is an emblem.


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## Sirgarbagemann (Apr 5, 2006)

GUATEMALA!!


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## SerfCity (Mar 9, 2006)

Argentina


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## Promiscuous Boy (Aug 3, 2006)

^^It looks a lot like Argentina's

Pennsylvania's Coat of Arms









Philadelphia's Coat of Arms


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## tayser (Sep 11, 2002)

Which other countries actually _eat_ their coat of arms? We do in Aus 

Basic description (further to Subganite's post)










Kangaro & Emu supporting shield which has the 6 state's discs (from the state flags) on it (clockwise from top left: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia), above is the 7 pointed Federation star (one point for each state and 1 for all territories) on a bed of Wattle.

Very Australian and very non-British for a former (series of) British colony(ies). i.e compare to Canada.


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## AJ215 (Nov 22, 2003)

Coat of arms of Brazil


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## Kampflamm (Dec 28, 2003)

Germany










http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Germany


Northrhine-Westfalia










The CoA combines the 3 historical regions (and their coats of arms) that make up Northrhine-Westfalia: The Rhineland (green part), Westfalia (the horse) and the Principality of Lippe (the rose).

Cologne










The 3 crowns stand for the 3 kings (magi). A shrine containing their remains is housed in the Cologne Cathedral. The 11 flames stand for 11 (or 11,000) virgins which were killed by the Huns near Cologne.


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## Novak (May 9, 2006)

Province of Western Finland









Region of Satakunta









The City of Pori


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## Kampflamm (Dec 28, 2003)

IMO the less cluttered a coat of arms is, the better. Some of these South American coas have way too many features.


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## caglieri (Nov 9, 2005)

*Chile's coat of arms* 

In August of 1832, with the endorsement of President Prieto and his Minister Joaquín Tocornal, Wood Taylor's new design for the coat of arms was sent to the Congress, which approved it on June 24th, 1834. The design became the national coat of arms that is used to this day.

This coat of arms, which has the same colors as the flag, consists of a field divided into two equal parts: the top is blue and the bottom is red. In the foreground are a condor, the strongest bird of the Chilean skies, and a huemul, the most distinctive animal of Chile. Both animals wear golden naval crowns on their heads, which symbolize Chile's maritime renown.

A crest consisting of three feathers-red, white, and blue-crowns the coat of arms. These feathers were historically what the Presidents of the Republic placed in their hat to distinguish themselves. Below is the motto "Por la razón o por la fuerza": "By reason or by force."

http://www.presidencyofchile.cl/view/viewEmblemasPatrios-Escudo.asp?seccion=Emblemas%20Patrios


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## coastal (Oct 16, 2004)

tayser said:


> Which other countries actually _eat_ their coat of arms? We do in Aus
> 
> Basic description (further to Subganite's post)
> 
> ...


Further to Taysers tasty description.
I understand that the Roo and Emu were also chosen to represent the country because they cannot take a backwards step


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## Unsing (Apr 15, 2006)

This imperial seal of Japan is costomarily treated as the national coat of arms.
Since the 82nd Emperor used it as his own seal in 13th century, it has long been the symbol of the imperial family.


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## alvse (Oct 18, 2003)

To add to Taysers post, here are the different Coat of Arms for each state and territory of Australia.


New South Wales











Queensland











South Australia











Tasmania











Victoria











Western Australia











Northern Territory











Australian Capital Territory


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## Kampflamm (Dec 28, 2003)

Tubeman said:


> That's odd. What's the deal with the red bobble hat?


Wikipedia to the rescue:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrygian_cap

During the 18th century, the red Phrygian cap evolved into a symbol of freedom, held aloft on a Liberty Pole during the American Revolutionary War. It was also adopted during the French Revolution, and to this day the national emblem of France, Marianne, is shown wearing a Phrygian cap. The cap was also incorporated into the symbol of the late 18th century Irish revolutionary organisation the Society of the United Irishmen.

Many of the anti-colonial revolutions in North and South America were heavily inspired by the imagery and slogans of the French Revolution. As a result, the cap has appeared on the coat of arms of many Latin American nations.


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## Avens (Jan 19, 2006)

The coat of arms of England, as oppose to the UK.


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## conquest (Jul 27, 2005)

colombia


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