The design of the coat of arms of the Republic of Nauru originated in 1968 following the declaration of independence, and it began to be used officially in the early 1970s. Its shield is divided and separated in the middle. In the upper section the

alchemical symbol Alchemical symbols, originally devised as part of alchemy, were used to denote some elements and some compounds until the 18th century. Although notation like this was mostly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists, so this pag ...

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

is shown over a golden woven background.Nauru
/ref> The lower silver section depicts a black

frigatebird Frigatebirds are a family of seabirds called Fregatidae which are found across all tropical and subtropical oceans. The five extant species are classified in a single genus, ''Fregata''. All have predominantly black plumage, long, deeply forked ...

, which sits on a perch over blue ocean waves. The lower right section is blue and contains a branch of

calophyllum ''Calophyllum'' is a genus of tropical flowering plants in the family Calophyllaceae. They are mainly distributed in Asia, with some species in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, and the Pacific Islands. History Members of the genus ''Calophyll ...

flowers. The shield is surrounded by images of

tribal chief A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categorized a ...

gear, which was worn to ceremonies - ropes from

palm leaves The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees. ...

, feathers of the frigatebird and

shark teeth Sharks continually shed their teeth; some Carcharhiniformes shed approximately 35,000 teeth in a lifetime, replacing those that fall out. There are four basic types of shark teeth: dense flattened, needle-like, pointed lower with triangular upp ...

. The star centered above the shield is taken from the flag. The ribbon above it bears the name of the island in Micronesian Nauruan: ''Naoero''. The ribbon under the shield bears the

national motto This article lists state and national mottos for the world's nations. The mottos for some states lacking general international recognition, extinct states, non-sovereign nations, regions, and territories are listed, but their names are not bold ...

of the Republic of Nauru: ''God's Will First''. The woven background symbolizes the people of Nauru; the frigatebird the

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

there; the alchemical symbol for phosphorus, the mining of

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...

References

External links

Image of the national coat of arms of Nauru
Nauru National symbols of Nauru Nauru Nauru Nauru 1968 establishments in Nauru Nauru {{Nauru-stub