Every sultan of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

had his own monogram, called the ''

tughra A tughra ( ota, طغرا, ṭuġrā) is a calligraphic monogram, seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the tamgha, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted ...

'', 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 Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...

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, and the final design was adopted by Sultan Abdul Hamid II on 17 April 1882.

Design

The emblem features an ornate

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the f ...

ensigned by a

. The cartouche is surrounded by various elements of the state, including two flags: the red star and crescent flag of the

Anatolian Anatolian or anatolica may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the region Anatolia * Anatolians, ancient Indo-European peoples who spoke the Anatolian languages * Anatolian High School, a type of Turkish educational institution * Anatol ...

and Asian eyalets,Sosyal Medyada Şeriat Bayrağı Diye Paylaşılan Bayrağın Aslında Rumeli'den Gelmesi
(in Turkish) and the green flag of the

Rumelia Eyalet The Eyalet of Rumeli, or Eyalet of Rumelia ( ota, ایالت روم ایلی, ), known as the Beylerbeylik of Rumeli until 1591, was a first-level province ('' beylerbeylik'' or ''eyalet'') of the Ottoman Empire encompassing most of the Balkans (" ...

, largely obscured by a

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...

. The North African provinces are not represented. Behind the flags are a number of spears and other weapons. 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 Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, "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).Ottoman Archive: Ottoman Coat of Arms
/ref> Hanging beneath the lower flourish are the medals of five Ottoman military decorations. In keeping with the Islamic proscription against depicting animate beings, no animals such as supporters are included in the design.

Symbols

The symbols in the coat of arms represent the following: *Green flag of either

Ottoman Caliphate The Caliphate of the Ottoman Empire ( ota, خلافت مقامى, hilâfet makamı, office of the caliphate) was the claim of the heads of the Turkish Ottoman dynasty to be the caliphs of Islam in the late medieval and the early modern era. ...

on the left, *Red flag of Anatolia Eyalet and Asian eyalets on the right, *Elaborate

turban A turban (from Persian دولبند‌, ''dulband''; 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. Communities with promin ...

above the central shield represents the founder of the Ottomans,

Osman Gazi Osman I or Osman Ghazi ( ota, عثمان غازى, translit= ʿOsmān Ġāzī; tr, I. Osman or ''Osman Gazi''; died 1323/4), sometimes transliterated archaically as Othman, was the founder of the Ottoman Empire (first known as the Ottoman Bey ...

, and it symbolizes the Ottoman dynasty’s throne as the leader or

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

of all Muslims in the world, * Elliptical shield with a stylized Sun motif in the middle surrounded by a number of stars. The number can vary either 12 or 16, the latter case representing the 16 Great Turkic Empires, *Flowers on the left symbolize the tolerance of the Ottomans, *Weight balance on the left symbolizes the justice of the Ottomans, *Books on the left under the balance are the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

and the body of law (''

kanunname The Ottoman Empire was governed by different sets of laws during its existence. The '' Qanun'', sultanic law, co-existed with religious law (mainly the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence). Legal administration in the Ottoman Empire was part ...

''), symbolizing the

Islamic state An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

, *Weapons on the left and right symbolize the

Ottoman military The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

, with the anchor on the left representing the Ottoman Navy and the Ottoman Cannon on the right, *The Sun symbolizes the greatness of the

Ottoman state The Ottoman Empire developed over the years as a despotism with the Sultan as the supreme ruler of a centralized government that had an effective control of its provinces, officials and inhabitants. Wealth and rank could be inherited but were j ...

, *Green medallion on the Sun with the sultan's seal (tughra) within symbolizes the great Ottoman dynasty, *Green ''hilal'' (crescent) below the tughra symbolizes the Ottoman state as the guardian of all Muslims in the world, *Below the central shield are torches and a bow and arrows, *The flourish board with hanging medallions symbolizes the roots of the Ottoman state and

Turkish culture The culture of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Kültürü) combines a heavily diverse and heterogeneous set of elements that have been derived from the various cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Europe, Caucasia, Middle East and Central Asia t ...

, *Medallions hanging in the bottom symbolize various ethnic nations within the Ottoman Empire.

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 Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...

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-stub

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

Ottoman Empire

Design

Symbols

Different designs

Pre-1882 coats of arms

See also

References