Nigeria coat of arms meaning
Have you ever thought about Nigeria coat of arms symbols and their meaning? What is Nigeria coat of arms meaning? Here you will find all the answers.
Nowadays Nigeria becomes more and more popular on the international arena. Among all the African states, its area is only fourteenth, but it heads the ranking in terms of population. In comparison with other African countries, it takes the leading positions in the field of oil production, but the coat of arms of Nigeria, instead this tends to point out its natural resources.
Nigeria coat of arms
The coat of arms, on the one hand, inherits the world's heraldic tradition, on the other hand, images and symbols are transmitted in a naturalistic way. However, Nigeria national symbols carry deep meaning, though it is not visible to the Europeans at the first sight.
Nigerian coat of arms was officially approved in 1960, May 20.
Who designed the Nigerian coat of arms?
National symbols appeared as a result of the work of a student named M.Т Akinkunmi, a person who won a nation-wide competition of coat of arms ideas.
In fact, the coat of arms of Nigeria can be divided into four parts. Nigeria coat of arms symbols are the following:
- shield, which occupies the central position;
- shield supporters are transmitted through images of white horses;
- foundation;
- eagle, crowning the composition.
Nigeria coat of arms symbols
The basis for the coat of arms is the blooming meadow. Here you can see a type of flower called costus spectabilis. It is considered to be a perennial herbaceous tropical plant, the area of distribution is quite broad, and captures Nigerian territory. At the same time local residents suppose that it is not just a representative of the local flora, but it is believed to be their national flower.
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Nigeria coat of arms meaning
- Flowering fields
Flowering fields, of course, symbolize natural wealth of the country.
- Black shield
The black shield in Nigeria's coat of arms represents fertile lands of Nigeria country.
- Silver cross
Silver cross is a symbolically shown image of two largest Nigerian waterways, the famous river Niger and less widely known river Benue.
- Golden eagle
Golden eagle is the traditional way for heraldry in Europe and Asia. Its appearance on the main symbol of the Federal Republic of Nigeria pursues the same goal – it is a kind of a demonstration of the power of the state.
- Horses
Horses represent pride and dignity.
- Gold ribbon
Gold ribbon with red underside, demonstrates the motto which expresses the major goals of the state and dreams of the people - Unity and faith, peace and progress.
Coat of arms symbols: Are they similar to Nigeria national symbols?
It seems that the combination of colors of the shield is rather unusual: the field is black and the depicted cross is silver. The form of the heraldic cross, is also rather obscure - wavy and bifurcate.
Just above the shield you can find pommers - symbol, traditional for a great number of European coats of arms, it is performed in emerald and silver colours. On the pommers there is Golden eagle, which is also familiar to many Royal courtyards.
How do you like the symbols of Nigeria coat of arms? Do you agree that they fully portray the history of Nigeria development and the life of Nigerian residents? Leave your comments for further discussion!
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Source: Legit.ng