The Emblem of Eritrea was adopted on 24 May 1993 on the occasion of

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

declaration of independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

from

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. The

national emblem A national emblem is an emblem or seal that is reserved for use by a nation state or multi-national state as a symbol of that nation. Many nations have a seal or emblem in addition to a national flag. Other national symbols, such as national ...

mainly depicts a

camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

surrounded by an olive wreath.

Present emblem

The modern emblem of Eritrea was adopted 24 May 1993, the date of the

from

. It shows a scene of a

dromedary The dromedary (''Camelus dromedarius''), also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel and one-humped camel, is a large camel of the genus '' Camelus'' with one hump on its back. It is the tallest of the three camel species; adult males sta ...

in the desert, which is surrounded by an

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

wreath A wreath () is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs, or various materials that is constructed to form a ring shape. In English-speaking countries, wreaths are used typically as household ornaments, most commonly as an Advent and C ...

. The camel was the beast of burden used during the war of independence from Ethiopia to transport supplies and goods, and was seen as being instrumental to the movement's success by Eritrean nationalists. The name of the country appears on a scroll towards the bottom of the emblem threefold, in Tigrinya, English and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, three widely spoken

languages Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing. Human language is ch ...

in the country.

History

was first assigned a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

in 1919, when it was a colony of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

. The shield was parted in half horizontally, with the top portion displaying a red lion charged on his breast with a white star and the bottom half divided into six wavy bars alternating blue and white. The red lion represents the Italian Kingdom, lions alluding to the Italian King who used the beasts as supporters and red being a common colour associated with Italy and also used by the ruling House of Savoy. The star has long been a symbol of the Italian people, known as the ''Stellone d'Italia'', which protects and guards the nation. The bottom portion displaying blue and white wavy bars is a common heraldic depiction representing water, and alludes to the origins of the colony's name. Eritrea is derived from the Latin ''Erythræa'', the name applied to the Red Sea in antiquity; the colony was named so for its coastline along that body of water. During the

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

regime of Italy, which began in 1924, the arms were augmented with symbols of the new government: a red chief was added in 1936, which was charged with fasces and laurel wreath. Eritrea was then absorbed into the colony of

Italian East Africa Italian East Africa (, A.O.I.) was a short-lived colonial possession of Fascist Italy from 1936 to 1941 in the Horn of Africa. It was established following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, which led to the military occupation of the Ethiopian ...

in 1936, reducing it to a province of the new and larger colony. The arms of Eritrea made up one field in the arms of Italian East Africa, but without the chief added in 1936. In 1941, when the province was conquered and placed under British administration, the fascist chief was removed and the original arms were again employed. In 1951, the process of annexation by Ethiopia began, and the arms continued in use until the following year. During the annexation period, from 1952 to 1962, an emblem was adopted that consisted of a vertical olive branch encircled by an olive wreath. This emblem is used still on the nation's flag.

Historical coats of arms

File:Coat of Arms of the Ottoman Empire (1846-1882).svg, Coat of Arms of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

from 1846 to 1882. File:Coat of arms of the Ottoman Empire (1882–1922).svg, Coat of Arms of the Ottoman Empire from 17 April to 5 July 1882. File:Coat of arms of the Wāli of Egypt.svg, Coat of arms of the

Egypt Eyalet Ottoman Egypt was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire after the Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–1517), conquest of Mamluk Egypt by the Ottomans in 1517. The Ottomans administered Egypt as a Eyalet, province (''eyalet'') of their empir ...

from 1854 to 1867. File:Coat of arms of the Khedive of Egypt.svg, Coat of arms of The

Khedivate of Egypt The Khedivate of Egypt ( or , ; ') was an autonomous tributary state of the Ottoman Empire, established and ruled by the Muhammad Ali Dynasty following the defeat and expulsion of Napoleon Bonaparte's forces which brought an end to the short- ...

from 1867 to 1882. File:Greater coat of arms of the Kingdom of Italy (1870-1890).svg, Coat of arms of The

from 1882 to 1890. File:Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Italy (1890).svg, Coat of arms of The Kingdom of Italy from 1890 to 1929. File:Greater coat of arms of the Kingdom of Italy (1929-1944).svg, Coat of arms of The Kingdom of Italy from 1929 to 1941. File:Coat of arms of Eritrea (1919-1936).svg, The heraldic arms of the Italian colony of Eritrea from 1919 to 1936. File:COA of Italian East Africa (Wiki Style).svg, Coat of arms of

from 1938 to 1941. File:Arms of the Eritrea governorate.svg, The coat of arms of colonial and provincial Eritrea from 1936 to 1941. File:Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (1837-1952).svg, Coat of arms of

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from 1941 to 1952. File:Coat of arms of Egypt (1922–1953).svg, Coat of arms of the

Kingdom of Egypt The Kingdom of Egypt () was the legal form of the Egyptian state during the latter period of the Muhammad Ali dynasty's reign, from the United Kingdom's recognition of Egyptian independence in 1922 until the abolition of the monarchy of Eg ...

from 1941 to 1952. File:Emblem of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.svg, Emblem of The

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ') was a condominium (international law), condominium of the United Kingdom and Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day South Sudan and Sudan. Legally, sovereig ...

from 1941 to 1952. File:Coat of arms of Eritrea (1919-1936).svg, The heraldic device of the British administration of Eritrea from 1941 to 1952. File:Imperial coat of arms of Ethiopia (Haile Selassie).svg, Coat of arms of The

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire, historically known as Abyssinia or simply Ethiopia, was a sovereign state that encompassed the present-day territories of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It existed from the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak a ...

(Under Haile Selassie) from 1952 to 1975. File:Emblem of Eritrea 1952-1962.svg, The emblem of

during federation with Ethiopia from 1952 to 1962. File:Emblem of the Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia.svg, Emblem of The Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia from 1975 to 1987. File:Emblem of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.svg, Emblem of The

People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE; ) was a socialist state that existed in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea from 1987 to 1991. The PDRE was established in February 1987 as a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist one-party state upo ...

from 1987 to 1991. File:Emblem of Transitional Government of Ethiopia.svg, Emblem of The

Transitional Government of Ethiopia The Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) was an era established immediately after the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) seized power from the Marxist-Leninist People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) in 1991. ...

from 1991 to 1993.

References

{{Coat of arms of Africa

National symbols of Eritrea

Present emblem

History

Historical coats of arms

See also

References