Gallery of country coats of arms

Alternate coat of arms: The Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia within Georgia has been granted arms by the State Council of Heraldry. These arms are quartered and depict an image of St George in the first quarter, the seven green and white stripes from the Abkhazia flag in the second and third quarters and the arms of the House of Shervashidze in the fourth.^[2] To have the Georgian arms in the first field shows it as arms of precedence. For Georgia, these are canting arms and predates the Russian conquest of Georgia and Abkhazia; the similar St George arms used by Russia has a different origin, even if they depict the same saint. The princely House of Shervashidze used to rule Abkhazia in the time of the Kingdom of Georgia. It is not uncommon for the arms of former ruling houses to become part of the territorial arms of the area they once ruled, another example of this can be found in the coat of arms of Sweden.

Afghanistan has changed symbols many times over the years. The former Taliban regime used another emblem but in the same emblematic style.

In Albania, like in some other countries in South East Europe, sable (black) is considered to be a "neutral" heraldic tincture, not affected by the rule of tincture and it is therefore acceptable to display the black eagle on a red field. The double-headed eagle is originally an imperial symbol from the Roman empire. While the eagles in the arms of Austria and Germany have their origin in the Holy Roman Empire, the Albanian eagle, like the one in neighbouring Serbia, can trace its roots to the Byzantine Empire to which these two countries belonged before they were conquered by the Turks.

The shield itself consists of many components. In the centre inescutcheon is a depiction of the Mount Ararat with Noah's Ark sitting atop it; Ararat is considered the national symbol of Armenia. Surrounding the inescutcheon with Mount Ararat are symbols of old Armenian dynasties: Artaxiad, Arsacid, Bagratuni and Rubenid. The use of the arms of old ruling dynasties as territorial arms can also be seen e.g. in the greater coat of arms of Sweden.

The shield contains the badge (n.b. not the coat of arms) of each Australian state, the whole surrounded by an ermine border representing the federation of the states.^[6] The crest is the Commonwealth Star. Creating a shield composed of the arms (or in this case the badges) of the states or provinces making up the country follows the pattern of the royal arms of the United Kingdom and was also done in other dominions, notably the first arms of Canada and the arms of the Union of South Africa. The supporters are a red kangaroo and an emu, from the indigenous fauna of the land; this follow the pattern of many other arms of former British colonies, were indigenous wildlife has been adopted for heraldic achievements, like Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana and the Seychelles.

The crest for Barbados is the fist of a Barbadian holding two sugar cane stalks that are crossed to resemble a saltire (St. Andrew's Cross). Upon it are a pair of the national flower, the Pride of Barbados, and a single bearded fig tree (Ficus citrifolia). The shield is supported by a dolphin and pelican. They stand for the fishing industry and Pelican Island, respectively. At the bottom is Barbados' national motto ("Pride and Industry") on a scroll.

This emblem replaced the historic pahonia arms in a 1995 referendum. The pahonia arms, used from 1991-1995, was a traditional heraldic achievement showing a knight of silver on a red field. It has a common history with the coat of arms of Lithuania and looks very much like it.

The greater arms (pictured to the left) are used only rarely. Above the mantle rise banners with the arms of the nine provinces that constituted Belgium in 1837 – instead of making them part of the shield, like in the arms of the Czech Republic, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom. They are (from dexter to sinister) Antwerp, West Flanders, East Flanders, Liège, Brabant, Hainaut, Limburg, Luxembourg and Namur. Note Luxembourg – part of historical Luxembourg is a province of Belgium, while the eastern part is the independent Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, bearing the same arms. This can be compared to the arms of Ireland being both the arms of the Republic of Ireland and a field in the arms of the United Kingdom. (Since the province of Brabant was split in 1995, the greater arms no longer reflect the present territorial divisions of the state.)

The lesser coat of arms (pictured to the right) are used by the Belgian federal government, on passport covers and the official sites of the monarchy and of the government.

From 1975-1990, Benin used a national emblem of the socialist type, with a red star on green.

The arms were adopted to replace the arms with fleurs-de-lis, arms which were based on armorial bearings of the Kingdom of Bosnia from the Middle Ages. Totally different arms were also used before the First World War when Bosnia and Herzegovina were part of Austria-Hungary and yet another emblem was used during the Communist regime in the Yugoslav era.

In some circumstances, the National Seal of Brazil is used to represent the country in stead of the coat of arms.

The first arms of Brazil was granted in 1500, when Brazil was a Portuguese colony. Other arms were also used during the Brazilian monarchy 1822-1889.

In 1992, this emblem replaced the earlier variant with a seashell that had been in use since independence from Portugal in 1975 and was very closely related to the emblem of Guinea-Bissau; there was a movement to join the two countries. Before independence, Cape Verde had a heraldic achievement.

There also exists a separate state seal or emblem of Chad, which has a black-and-white design consisting of a circle with the words "République du Tchad – Unité, Travail, Progrès" surrounding a depiction of the head and upper body of a tribal girl with her hair in cornrows.^[21]

While the People's Republic of China claims the island of Taiwan, the Republic of China residing there claims all of China. None of the regimes are universally recognised by all other states around the world.

The Blue Sky with a White Sun (shown to the right) serves as the design for the party flag and emblem of the Kuomintang (KMT), the canton of the flag of the Republic of China, the national emblem of the Republic of China (ROC), and as the naval jack of the ROC Navy. In the Blue Sky with a White Sun symbol, the twelve rays of the white Sun representing the twelve months and the twelve traditional Chinese hours, each of which corresponds to two modern hours and symbolizes the spirit of progress. The Blue Sky with a White Sun flag was originally designed by Lu Haodong, a "martyr" of the Republican revolution. He presented his design to represent the revolutionary army in 1895. The circular form in this emblem is more related to other symbols of East Asia, like the mon of Japan and the emblem of Bhutan.

The Republic of Northern Cyprus is using similar arms.

The condor on top of the shield stretches his wings to symbolize power, greatness and strength of Ecuador. The shield is flanked by four flags of Ecuador. The laurel on the left represents the victories of the republic. The palm leaf on the right side is a symbol of the martyrs of the fight for independence and liberty. The Fasces below the shield represents the republican dignity.

The eagle as a symbol of Saladin is disputed by archeologists. The symbol of an eagle was found on the west wall of the Cairo Citadel (constructed by Saladin), and so is assumed by many to be his personal symbol. There is, however, little proof to defend this. It was subsequently adopted as a symbol of Arab nationalism by Iraq, Palestine, and Yemen (and formerly by Libya).

Behind the coat of arms there are five cobalt blue and white striped flags representing the flags of the Federal Republic of Central America, one flag is risen straight up behind and over the triangle, hanging loosely around the spear, and the other four flags are risen half way and stretch out far like wings from behind the triangle sides, two on each side, one over another, the flags hang loosely on their sides, creating almost a horn-like effect with their ends being tied up behind the triangle's bottom. All of thee five flags are each held up and raised with Native American Indigenous war spears with obsidian Projectile points, symbolizing El Salvador's American Indigenous ancestry and heritage, the spears also are a reference of the Lenca and Pipil warriors, who defeated the first European Spanish conquest in this Mesoamerican region. Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado wrote he was awestruck and spooked in great fear when he saw the massive numbers of American Indigenous military warriors with large spears and bow arrows as their weaponry standing their ground in their battle against the invading Spaniards. The Native Indigenous shock troops made an unexpected decisive shock and awe military attack on the Spaniards who fled from this strong Indigenous resistance. The Lencas of El Salvador were led by their mighty Warrior Princess Antu Silan Ulap who made a Guanacasco (botherhood fellowship) with chief Lempira of Honduras, against the Spanish. The nickname Guanaco which means (brother) in Lenca language is coined to present day Salvadorans. The Pipil were led by their Warrior Prince, who defended the Cuzcatan nation. The spears in the coat of arms of El Salvador are a representation of the nation's indigenous heroes and spirit.

Under the triangle, there is a golden Amber (color) scroll which states the national motto of El Salvador: Dios, Unión, Libertad (Span., "God, Union, Liberty") in black letters.

All of this is surrounded by a green Laurel wreath, which is tied together with a cobalt blue and white striped ribbon of the national flag. The laurel wreath is divided into 14 different parts, which symbolize the 14 Departaments, the Salvadoran subnational administrative units. All this is surrounded by golden Amber (color) letters, which form the Spanish words REPÚBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMÉRICA CENTRAL (English: Republic of El Salvador in Central America). For special occasions the whole entire coat of arms of El Salvador is stylized in amber gold color with a white or royal cobalt blue background. The coat of arms of El Salvador is also recognizable in silhouette.

Underneath the shield is the national motto of Equatorial Guinea, Unidad, Paz, Justicia ("Unity, Peace, Justice"). The motto was adopted in 1968. During the dictatorship of Francisco Nguema (1972–79) the arms and motto were changed, a combination of different tools and swords with a cock over all, and motto on two stripes, in the middle of the arms Trabajo (work), and below Unidad, Paz, Justicia, but the original 1968 coat of arms' motto was restored afterward.

In 1346, Denmark sold its Estonian dominion to the Teutonic Order after its power had been severely weakened during the St. George's Night Uprising of 1343-1346. The three lions, however, remained the central element of the greater coat of arms of Tallinn. In later centuries, the motif of the three lions transferred to the coat of arms of the Duchy of Estonia, the Ritterschaft of Estland, and to the coat of arms of the Governorate of Estonia. The Riigikogu (the state assembly) of the independent Republic of Estonia officially adopted the coat of arms on June 19, 1925.

The coat of arms was officially banned following the occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in 1940, and replaced with the Soviet-inspired coat of arms of the Estonian SSR. Soviet officials persecuted and jailed anyone using the coat of arms or the national colors of Estonia. The readoption of the national symbols, which was finally achieved on August 7, 1990, marked one of the high points in the struggle for the restoration of independent Estonia. The use of the coat of arms is regulated by the Law on State Coat of Arms, passed on April 6, 1993.

The emblem also appears on the centre of the flag of Ethiopia.

In 1975, an earlier version of the emblem of Ethiopia was adopted, consisting of a plow on a yellow sunburst surrounded by a wreath. It was associated with the Derg regime.

Prior to 1975, there was a European heraldry-influenced imperial coat of arms for the Ethiopian Empire.

The crest at the top depicts a takia – a traditional Fijian canoe – while the supporters grasping the shield on both sides are Fijian warriors. According to legend, they are twins – the older brother is clutching a spear, while the younger one holds a war club. At the bottom is the country's motto – Fear God and honour the Queen (Fijian: Rerevaka na kalou ka doka na Tui).

The coat of arms appears on the Finnish state flag. The Finnish lion is also used in a wide variety of emblems of different state authorities, often modified to depict the duties of the unit or the authority. On the other hand, the Finnish municipalities and regions usually use heraldic motifs drawn from elsewhere, leaving the lion for state use (exceptions exist, such as the Coat of arms of Jakobstad). Finnish lion also appears as armed force's generals' rank insigna and in navy as part of officer's rank insigna.

In 1953, France received a request from the United Nations for a copy of the national coat of arms to be displayed alongside the coats of arms of other member states in its assembly chamber. An interministerial commission requested Robert Louis (1902–1965), heraldic artist, to produce a version of the Chaplain design. This did not, however, constitute an adoption of an official coat of arms by the Republic.

The reverse bears the words "AU NOM DU PEUPLE FRANÇAIS" ("in the name of the French people") surrounded by a crown of oak (symbol of perenity) and laurel (symbol of glory) leaves tied together with weed and grapes (agriculture and wealth), with the circular national motto "LIBERTÉ, ÉGALITÉ, FRATERNITÉ".