Coat of arms of the Republic of Macedonia

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The coat of arms of the Republic of Macedonia is composed of a double bent garland of ears of wheat, tobacco leaves and poppy seeds, tied by a ribbon decorated with the pattern of a traditional Macedonian costume. In the centre of an oval frame are depicted a mountain, a lake and a sunrise. At the top of the frame is a five-pointed red star, a traditional symbol of Communism. The coat of arms is said to represent "the richness of our country, our struggle and our freedom".

The emblem was adopted on July 27, 1946 by the People's Assembly of the People's Republic of Macedonia (later the Socialist Republic of Macedonia). It is still in use following the Republic's independence from Yugoslavia in 1992.

Efforts to update the coat of arms have so far failed, due to political disputes over possible replacements. A proposal was put forward 1992 to replace it with the emblem of a gold lion on a red shield, an older symbol of Macedonian nationalism. However, this was rejected on three main grounds:

Several nationalist parties, notably VMRO-DPMNE, already use that emblem in their party flags;
Macedonia's ethnic Albanians rejected the emblem on the grounds that it only represents Slavic Macedonians, rather than the nation as a whole;
The emblem is also used in Bulgarian heraldry.

Because of these problems, the Macedonian parties have agreed to continue using the existing coat of arms until a solution is found. However, the emblem does not appear on the country's passports.