The coat of arms of

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

is the national symbol and used by the government. It was restyled in 2001 to match the color scheme of the new national flag. The text reads "Republic of Rwanda - Unity, Work, Patriotism" in

Kinyarwanda Kinyarwanda, Rwandan or Rwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is spoken in Rwanda and adjacent parts of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda (where there ...

. The central tribal devices, a stem of sorghum, a branch of a coffee tree and a traditional basket are surmounted on a cog

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...

with the sun with its rays above, while two typical Rwandan shields protects them, one on the right and one on the left. They are encircled by a square knot. The details of the coat of arms are laid out in Article 3(2) of the

Constitution of Rwanda The Constitution of Rwanda was adopted by referendum on May 26, 2003. It replaced the older Constitution of 1991. The Constitution provides for a presidential system of government, with separation of powers between the three branches. It condemns ...

. The previous emblem dated from the 1960s-the colors green, yellow and red represented peace; the nation's hope for future development; and the people. According to the state, the device and the flag itself were changed because they had become associated with the brutality of the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

. However, some Rwandans at the time expressed doubts about the stated reasoning and merely viewed all this as an attempt by the ruling

Rwandan Patriotic Front The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi, french: Front patriotique rwandais, FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda. Led by President Paul Kagame, the party has governed the country since its armed wing defeated government forces, winn ...

to express its political power by changing the state's symbols.

Gallery

File:Coat of arms of Ruanda-Urundi.svg, Coat of arms of

Ruanda-Urundi Ruanda-Urundi (), later Rwanda-Burundi, was a colonial territory, once part of German East Africa, which was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under militar ...

File:Royal Coat of arms of Rwanda (1959-1962).svg, Coat of arms of the

Kingdom of Rwanda The Kingdom of Rwanda was a kingdom in East Africa which grew to be ruled by a Tutsi monarchy. It was later annexed under German and Belgian colonial rule while retaining some of its autonomy. The Tutsi monarchy was abolished in 1961 after et ...

from 1959 to 1962 File:Coat of arms of Rwanda (1962-2001).svg, Coat of arms of the Republic of Rwanda from 1962 to 2001

References

External links

Images of the former emblems of Rwanda
{{Coat of arms of Africa National symbols of Rwanda