Every

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

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 ...

had his own

monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...

, called the ''

tughra A tughra (; ) is a calligraphy, calligraphic monogram, Seal (emblem), seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the Tamga, tamgha, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the co ...

'', which served as a royal symbol. A coat of arms in the European heraldic sense was created in the late 19th century.

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

requested from the Ottoman Empire a coat of arms to be included in their collection. As the coat of arms had not been previously used in the Ottoman Empire, it was designed following this request of Mahmud II, and the final design was adopted by Sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

on 17 April 1882.

Design

At the heart of the design is a shield adorned with a turban, which serves as the "crown" of the Ottoman monarch. Above the shield, a sun symbolizes the grandeur of the nation, upon which the sultan's tughra and chosen motto are inscribed. To the left, a red book and a green book represent the Islamic and modern laws of the empire. Atop these books, a scale stands as a symbol of justice. The blooming flowers near it also represents justice in Islamic symbolism. Encircling the shield are an assortment of weapons, balancing ancient armaments with modern weaponry. A red flag representing the secular institutions of the state stands alongside the green Standard of the Caliph. Beyond the coat, the Ottoman Orders of Merit are displayed. At the top, golden light rays radiate from the sun with the tughra seal of the sultan inscribed in golden letters on a green disk background. The tughra reads in

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 ...

, "Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid, forever victorious", written out as: محمود خان بن عبد الحميد مظفر دائماً (Mahmūd Ḫān bin Abdulhamīd muẓaffar dāʾimā). The inscription in the large green crescent reads in Arabic: "Relying on Divine success, the king of the Sublime Ottoman State", written out as: المستند بالتوفيقات الربانية ملك الدولة العلية العثمانية (al-Mustanidu bi't-Tawfiqāti'r-Rabbānīyah Malik ad-Dawlatu'l-Alīyati'l-Uthmāniyah). Hanging beneath the lower flourish are the medals of five Ottoman military decorations. In the main image, from left to right they are: the Order of Charity, the

Order of the Medjidie Order of the Medjidie (, August 29, 1852 – 1922) was a military and civilian order of the Ottoman Empire. The order was instituted in 1851 by Sultan Abdulmejid I. History Instituted in 1851, the order was awarded in five classes, with the Firs ...

, the

Order of the Crescent The Imperial Order of the Crescent () was a chivalric order of the Ottoman Empire. History The order was instituted in 1799 by Sultan Selim III when he wished to reward Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, Horatio Nelson, an Church of England, ...

, the Order of Osmanieh, and the

Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction (OD) is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Ac ...

. Other than the number of medals, the arrangement and type of medals featured were never standardised. In keeping with the

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic proscription against depicting animate beings, no animals such as

supporters In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the Escutcheon (heraldry), shield and depicted holding it up. Historically, supporters were left to an individual's fr ...

are included in the design.

Symbols

The symbols in the coat of arms represent the following: *Green flag of Eyalet of Rumelia on the left, *Red flag of Eyalet of Anatolia on the right, *Elaborate

turban A turban (from Persian language, Persian دولبند‌, ''dolband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Commun ...

above the central shield represents the Emperor who unites the different aspects of the empire under him, * Elliptical shield with a stylized Sun motif in the middle represents the greatness of the state, *Flowers on the left symbolize justice in islamic symbolism, *Weight balance on the left symbolizes the justice of the Ottomans, *Books on the left under the balance are the ahkam-i şer'iyye (book of sharia law) and the nizamiyeyi cami kitab (book of modern law), *Weapons on the left and right symbolize the Ottoman military, with the anchor on the left representing the

Ottoman Navy The Ottoman Navy () or the Imperial Navy (), also known as the Ottoman Fleet, was the naval warfare arm of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Ottomans first reached the sea in 1323 by capturing Praenetos (later called Karamürsel ...

and the Ottoman Cannon on the right, *Green medallion on the Sun with the sultan's seal (tughra) within symbolizes the sultan, *Green ''hilal'' (crescent) below the tughra, holds the chosen motto of the sultan. The crescent itself is recognised as one of the symbols of Islam. *Various medals are hanging from the flourish.

Different designs

There are several different versions of the 1882 coat of arms: KAEM Osmanlı arması.jpg, Mustashfa sultans symbol 1.jpg, File:Bitola_011.JPG, Ottoman Coat of Arms damaged photo.jpg, Ottoman Coat of Arms from Salname-i Nezaret-i Hariciye.png, Osmanli-devleti-nisani-yeni.png, Osmanli armasi.svg, File:OttomanCOA.jpg, File:Enver_bey_and_Niyazi_bey_postcard_1908.jpg, Enver bey and Niyazi bey postcard, 1908 File:Istanbul_Military_museum_3035.jpg, Desk of Sultan

Abdulhamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

Coats of arms of the provinces and the government

File:Seal of the Ottoman Grand Vizier (with flags).png, Seal of The Ottoman Vizier File:Coat of Arms of Abdulmejid II, the last Ottoman Caliph.svg, Coat of Arms of Abdülmecid II, the last Caliph of The

Ottoman Caliphate The Ottoman Caliphate () was the claim of the heads of the Turkish Ottoman dynasty, rulers of the Ottoman Empire, to be the caliphs of Islam during the Late Middle Ages, late medieval and Early Modern period, early modern era. Ottoman rulers ...

File:Lesser coat of arms of Regency of Algiers.svg, Coat of arms of the

Regency of Algiers The Regency of Algiers was an Early modern period, early modern semi-independent Administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman province and nominal Tributary states of the Ottoman Empire, vassal state on the Barbary Coast of North Afr ...

(????–1830) File:Coat of arms of Regency of Algiers (1710-1830).svg, Coat of arms of the

(1710-1830) File:Coat of Arms of Regency of Algiers.svg, Coat of arms of the

(Likely the official one) File:Coat of arms of the Eyalet of Cyprus.svg, Coat of arms of the Eyalet of Cyprus (1571–1878) 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 ...

(1854–1867) 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- ...

(1867–1914) File:Coat of arms of Principality of Samos.svg, Coat of arms of the Principality of Samos (1834–1912) File:Coat of arms of the Cretan State.svg, Coat of arms of the Cretan State (1898–1913) File:Lesser coat of arms of Ottoman Tripolitania.svg, Ottoman Tripolitania (1864–1911) File:Coat of arms of the Beylik of Tunis.svg, Coat of arms of the Beylik of Tunis (19th century) File:Husseinic coat of arms.jpg, Husseinic coat of arms in 1858 File:Coat of Arms of the beys of Tunis (Husseinic dynasty).svg, Husseinic coat of arms in 1900 File:Arms of Tunisia (1620).svg, Coat of arms of the Eyalet of Tunis

Pre-1882 coats of arms

File:Coat of Arms of the Ottoman Empire (1846-1882).svg, 1846I.A.Tyroff, ''Wappenbuch der regierenden Monarchen Europas'' (Nürnberg 1846)

References

{{Ottoman Empire topics

Government of the Ottoman Empire Culture of the Ottoman Empire National symbols of Turkey Turkish coats of arms 1882 introductions 1882 in the Ottoman Empire