Coat of arms of Argentina
The coat of arms of Argentina (official name: Escudo Nacional Argentino , Argentine national coat of arms ) was established in its current form in 1944, but goes back to the first official version of 1813 without major changes.
Blazon
The coat of arms of Argentina has the shape of an ellipse in the ratio 14:11. The ellipse on the main axis is divided by celeste ( light blue ) and silver ( white ) and therefore kept in the national colors.
The shield shows two hands loyal to each other over both fields , which are supposed to symbolize the unity and brotherhood of the Argentine provinces. The two hands hold a stick ( pica ) on which a red Phrygian cap ( Gorro Frigio , officially: gorro de gules , red cap) is stuck. The staff should represent the readiness to defend freedom . Based on the Jacobins during the French Revolution, the hat is supposed to symbolize the republican sentiment of the Argentines striving for freedom from Spain .
The symbols of the Argentine coat of arms reflect the triad of the French Revolution - freedom, equality and fraternity .
On the shield rests a rising sun with 21 alternating straight and flamed sun rays, which is supposed to symbolize the rise of Argentina. Eleven of the 21 rays are straight. The sun symbol ( Sol de Mayo = maisonne; but also called Inca sun ) appeared in the flag of Argentina since April 1813 . The sun disk with a face, surrounded by rays of the sun, symbolized the son Inti of the divine creator Wiraqucha in Inca mythology .
Two laurel branches entwine around the shield , representing the (military) victory in the struggle for independence. The left branch has 23 leaves on its inside and 25 on its outside. The right branch has 21 leaves on its inside and 20 on its outside. The two branches are knotted together with a light blue-white-light blue ribbon.
History of the coat of arms
Under the influence of the French Revolution and during the weakening of Spain by the Napoleonic Wars on the Iberian Peninsula , the citizens of the city of Buenos Aires declared independence from Spain on May 25, 1810 ( May Revolution ). This declaration of independence was initially only of local significance and was initially ignored by the Spanish king, but it paved the way for further independence efforts by the viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and thus also of today's Argentina. As a result, the first national symbols of today's Argentina emerged, such as the flag of Argentina from the beginning of 1812 and the coat of arms from mid-1812.
The first image of the Argentine coat of arms that can still be verified today appears on a flag that was made at the behest of Manuel Belgrano - the creator of the Argentine flag. She was blessed on May 25, 1812, the second anniversary of the May Revolution of Buenos Aires in the main church of San Salvador de Jujuy by Canon Juan Ignacio de Gorriti.
A year later, Manuel Belgrano gave this flag to the Juyan people as a thank you for their support in the struggle for independence, especially in the Battle of Salta . The flag is now kept in the flag room of the governor's palace in Jujuy.
The flag called the Bandera Nacional de Nuestra Libertad Civil (National Flag of Our Civil Liberty) is now the flag of the Jujuy Province .
Whether the coat of arms depicted on the flag goes back to the design by Manuel Belgrano is controversial or at least no longer verifiable today, as the authorship of the coat of arms is not documented in writing.
The first official use of the Argentine coat of arms by the provisional government of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (which comprised the present-day territories of Argentina, Uruguay and the Bolivian department of Tarija) took place in 1813 when the Deputy of the Asamblea General Constituyente (Constituent General Assembly) Agustín Donado from San Luis was commissioned to design a replacement for the seal of the viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata - which corresponded to the coat of arms of Charles IV of Spain - which had been used until then .
Donado entrusted the engraver Juan de Dios Rivera with this work. The seal was used for the first time on February 22nd, 1813. This day was later set as Día del Escudo Nacional (National Coat of Arms Day).
On March 12, 1813, the seal was officially approved by the Constituent General Assembly. In this meeting it was determined:
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On April 27 of the same year it was also determined that the Spanish royal coat of arms would be replaced by the national seal in public places or in the coats of arms or flags of official bodies. The seal of the Constituent General Assembly thus became a national symbol.
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The Andes Army ( Ejército de los Andes ) of the South American freedom fighter José de San Martín carried a light blue and white flag created in 1816 during the crossing of the Andes and the War of Liberation in Chile in 1817 and 1818 . This flag was stamped with the seal of the government. However, some sources emphasize that this was a purely military flag and not a national flag . Today's flag of the province of Mendoza corresponds to the flag of the Andean Army.
In the period between 1813 and 1944, the national coat of arms was repeatedly modified. For example, the rising sun was omitted, the Jacobin cap was placed on the stick at an angle, or the proportions of the ellipse were changed. An example of this is the coin from 1883 shown on the right.
It was not until the presidential decree No. 10302 on April 24, 1944 that the de facto military president Edelmiro Julián Farrell defined the coat of arms. The decree of the predecessor of Juan Domingo Perón was supposed to put an end to the sometimes "capricious" changes and determined:
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Use of the coat of arms
The coat of arms of Argentina marks all public institutions under the federal government, from ministries and authorities to universities and schools. It is also run by the president, government, parliament, and the federal judiciary.
In addition to the historical flags mentioned in the history section, the coat of arms can also be found on flags on the modern rank flags of the President and the Minister of Defense.
It also appears as a national symbol on many historical and current coins. The first image on a coin is found on the first Argentine coin from 1813.
Coat of arms of the Argentine provinces
All Argentine provinces have a coat of arms and a flag.
The provinces that were only raised to a province in the 1950s (Chaco, Formosa, Misiones and all provinces south of the Buenos Aires - Córdoba - San Luis - Mendoza line with the exception of Tierra del Fuegos, which was only raised to a province in 1990) and before So-called national territories were, therefore, gave themselves their own coat of arms relatively late.
| province | location | coat of arms | in use since | comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autonomous City of Buenos Aires |  |
1923 (goes back to a coat of arms from 1649) | The current city coat of arms has been in use since December 3, 1923, but dates back to 1649. Before that, the coat of arms was used, which today shows the flag of the city. Today's coat of arms has an elliptical shape with a ratio of 5: 6. In the upper part it shows a dove, which is surrounded by rays as a sign of the Holy Spirit . In the middle two ships (a caravel and a brig from the 17th century) on the Río de la Plata . In the lower part a sandbank from which a sunken anchor protrudes. | |
| Buenos Aires |  |
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1935 (goes back to earlier coats of arms) | The current coat of arms has been in use since October 10, 1935, but dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. The coat of arms of the province is almost identical to the coat of arms of Argentina, it only differs in the rays of the sun , which are exclusively straight, and the plants that surround the coat of arms (right: olive bush , left: laurel ). |
| Catamarca |  |
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1922 (goes back to earlier coats of arms) | The current coat of arms has been in use since August 25, 1922. A provincial coat of arms has been in use since around 1900. The coat of arms is rectangular in the ratio 62:49. Inside there is an oval field of coat of arms that, like the Argentine coat of arms, shows two hands reaching out and holding a staff with a Jacobin cap. On the right above the oval there is a silver cross over two silver Indian arrows, on the left above grapes, on the right below a golden royal crown and on the left below a golden lock. The coat of arms is crowned by a rising sun with eight alternating straight and flamed rays. The coat of arms is surrounded by four Argentine flags and two branches of laurel. |
| Chaco |  |
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1955 (goes back to 1888) | The current coat of arms has been used since December 20, 1955, but it goes back to a coat of arms from 1888. The elliptical coat of arms shows a palm tree and a plow in the middle. The oval is surrounded by two laurel branches and is crowned by a rising sun with 23 alternating straight and flamed sun rays. |
| Chubut Province |  |
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1964 | The current coat of arms was adopted on December 9, 1964. The blue coat of arms, divided in two by a yellow line, shows the dam Florentino Ameghino in its lower half and a stalk of wheat in front of the lettering Chubut in the upper half . The yellow line represented the rivers of the province, particularly the Río Chubut . The coat of arms is crowned by a rising sun, whose 15 rays represent the 15 departments of the province. The coat of arms is surrounded by two laurel branches. |
| Cordoba |  |
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1925 (dates back to the 16th century) | The coat of arms of the province of Cordoba was introduced in its current form on July 24, 1925. The coat of arms goes back to the time immediately after the city of Cordoba was founded in 1573. It shows a white, stone castle with three towers, four battlements, an archway and two windows against a red background. The castle is adorned with one flag at the top and three Argentine flags on each side. At the foot of the castle, two rivers ( Río Primero and Río Tercero ) flow through the green landscape. |
| Corrientes |  |
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? (goes back to a coat of arms from 1822) | The current coat of arms is based on a design from 1822. It is elliptical and shows two hands holding a stick with a Jacobin cap. Under the hands the so-called Cruz de los Milagros (Cross of Miracles) is depicted under the flames. This representation goes back to an event during an Indian attack in 1588 when the said cross was infected by the Indians but miraculously did not burn. Next to the cross are four headlands on the right and three on the left, symbolizing the seven streams of water that flow into the Río Paraná and which gave the city of Corrientes its name: San Juan de Vera de las Siete Corrientes (Saint John from Vera of the Seven Rivers). |
| Entre Ríos |  |
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1967 (goes back to a coat of arms from 1822) | The first provincial coat of arms, which already showed the same attributes as the current one, was adopted on March 12, 1822. The current shape was determined on October 23, 1967 and shows two hands reaching out on an elliptical shield in the middle. In the red field above, a silver star is depicted, symbolizing peace and leniency and above which is the words Provincia de Entre Rios . Under the hands, in the green field, the May sun is depicted with sixteen alternating straight and flamed rays, above which is the writing Federación, Libertad y Fuerza (Federation, Freedom and Power). The coat of arms is surrounded by a silver rope and within two laurel branches. The color red symbolizes the federal status of the province and green the living nature of the province. |
| Formosa |  |
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1959 | The coat of arms was established by law on July 7, 1959 and has an irregular polygonal shape. The coat of arms has two fields. The upper one is light blue and shows a cotton seed , which symbolizes the agricultural and industrial production of the province. Nine stars are depicted around the bud, symbolizing the departments of the province. Two hands reaching out are shown in the lower white field. A stylized rising sun is depicted above the escutcheon, two laurel branches below the shield. |
| Jujuy |  |
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1960 (goes back to a coat of arms from 1834) | The coat of arms adopted in 1960 goes back to the silver seals made in Potosí for the provincial government. The current coat of arms shows two hands holding a stick with a Jacobin cap. The hands are in front of a two-part background that is light blue at the top and white at the bottom. The coat of arms shows two incisions with rosettes. The shield is crowned by a rising sun and is surrounded by two laurel branches. |
| La Pampa Province |  |
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1964 | The coat of arms of the province, adopted on May 11, 1964, has a two-part escutcheon with the tree caldén tropical above and a rider with a lance representing the indigenous population below. The shield is crowned by a rising sun and framed by ears of wheat, which symbolize fertility. Two lances cross behind the shield as a sign of fighting spirit. |
| La Rioja |  |
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1926 | The coat of arms, which has been in use since July 5, 1926, shows a mountain in the twilight in an elliptical shield. The shield is crowned by a rising sun and framed by two laurel branches. |
| Mendoza |  |
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1941 (but goes back to older coats of arms) | The coat of arms was established by law on October 25, 1941. The coat of arms shows two hands holding a stick with a Jacobin cap. The hands are in front of a two-part background that is light blue at the top and white at the bottom. Under the hands there is a cornucopia which pours out its wealth. The shield is crowned by a rising sun and is surrounded by two laurel branches. |
| Misiones |  |
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1959 | The coat of arms has been in use since December 30, 1959 and shows the Iguazú waterfalls in the north of the province within the oval heraldic shield . A rising sun is depicted over the waterfalls, over which two missionary staffs and a bow and arrow are shown. The latter symbolize the indigenous population of the province, the bars of Spanish rule. Above and below the sign is the words Provincia de Misiones , next to the sign are yerba mate leaves on both sides , the main agricultural product of the province. |
| Neuquén |  |
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1958 | The heraldic shield is an irregular polygon, which is crowned by a rising sun and which is framed by two laurel branches at the bottom. In the coat of arms is the silhouette of Pehuén or Araucaria , a typical tree of the province. Behind the tree is the Lanín Volcano . The tree and the volcano are framed by two hands at the bottom, representing thanks for the gifts of the province, and at the top by 16 gold stars, which symbolize the 16 departments of the province. |
| Río Negro |  |
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1969 | The oval escutcheon shows an Indian who represents the Comahue tribe . 13 stars are depicted above the Indian as symbols of the departments. The shield is crowned by a rising sun and is surrounded by two laurel branches. Below the shield there is a cross as a symbol for religion and a kepi as a symbol for the struggle in the conquest of the desert. |
| Salta |  |
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1946 (goes back to earlier coats of arms) | The oval heraldic shield with a blue background shows a silver six-pointed star in front of which the May sun is depicted. The sun symbolizes the struggle for independence, the star corresponds to the star awarded to General Martín Miguel de Güemes in the so-called Guerra Gaucha (Gaucho War) in 1817 . The coat of arms is surrounded by two laurel branches. |
| San Juan |  |
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1962 (dates back to 1821 and 1911) | The coat of arms used since May 9, 1962 largely corresponds to the national coat of arms. However, the shield is crowned by a sun with 19 straight rays for the departamentos . |
| San Luis |  |
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1939 (goes back to a coat of arms from 1836) | The coat of arms, established since October 27, 1939, shows a typical landscape of the province with animals that are now extinct in the province ( venados or pampas deer ) in front of four mountains above which a sun shines. The coat of arms is framed by two laurel branches. |
| Santa Cruz |  |
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1959 | The oval coat of arms, which was adopted on September 25, 1959 and has been in use since October 9, 1959, shows in the lower, white field the May sun with the lettering Provincia de Santa Cruz underneath and in the upper light blue field the mountain Fitz Roy ( El Chaltén ), above the am Night firmament the Southern Cross stands. The shield is surrounded by two branches of laurel. |
| Santa Fe |  |
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1937 | The center of the oval coat of arms is divided horizontally into two fields. The upper one is blue and the lower one gray. It shows two crossed Indian arrows pointing downwards and behind them an upright lance. This representation is supposed to represent the victory of civilization (lance) over the Indians (arrows) and is framed by 23 golden stars representing the departments . Two laurel branches entwine around the coat of arms. |
| Santiago del Estero |  |
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1915 (goes back to earlier coats of arms) | The coat of arms of the province of Santiago del Estero was established in its current form by law on November 4, 1915 and the symbolism largely corresponds to the Argentine national coat of arms. |
| Tierra del Fuego |  |
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1990 | The provincial coat of arms was established by law on April 26, 1990. It is elliptical and shows on its shield four penguins in front of a body of water and the highest mountain in the province, the Cornú , behind which the ten-pointed sun rises. The shield is framed by flames as a reference to the name of the island of Tierra del Fuego and the stylized representation of an albatross . |
| Tucuman |  |
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1946 (goes back to earlier coats of arms) | The province's coat of arms is practically identical to the Argentine coat of arms. However, it is not crowned by a rising sun. |
literature
- Luis Cánepa: Historia de los Símbolos Nacionales Argentinos . Editorial Albatros, Buenos Aires 1953.
- Adolfo Enrique Rodriguez: Escudos provinciales de la Argentina . Consejo Federal de Inversiones (CFI), Buenos Aires 1996. ISBN 950-9899-90-9
- Dardo Corvalán Mendilaharsu: Los símbolos patrios. Bandera-Escudo-Himno Nacional . 1994.
Web links
- Legal text on the coat of arms: Decree 10302/44 Que el Escudo, la Bandera, el Himno y su letra son los símbolos de la soberanía de la Nación ( Memento of April 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (Spanish)
- Manual de Identidad Visual del Gobierno de la Nación - El Escudo Nacional (Design manual for the use of the coat of arms) (Spanish) ( Memento of October 4, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- Detailed description of the national and provincial coats of arms (Spanish) ( Memento from July 1, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- Under Argentina there is a detailed collection of historical and current coats of arms of Argentina and its provinces (Spanish)
References
- ^ Blazon of the coat of arms, on p. 64 ( Memento of December 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Photos of the original flag ( Memento from February 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Presidential Decree No. 10302 of April 24, 1944 ( Memento of April 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
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