The coat of arms of Uruguay or Uruguayan shield ( Spanish: ''Escudo de Armas del Estado'') was first adopted by law on March 19, 1829, and later on had some minor modification in 1906 and 1908. It was supposedly designed by Juan Manuel Besnes Irigoyen (1788–1865).

Description

It consists of an oval shield, which is divided into four equal sections and crowned by a rising golden sun, the “'' Sun of May''”, symbolizing the rising of the Uruguayan nation and the

May Revolution The May Revolution ( es, Revolución de Mayo) was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the terri ...

. The oval is surrounded by a

laurel branch A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a sy ...

on the left and an olive one on the right, representing honor and peace, joined at the bottom by a light blue ribbon, the former uruguayan

cockade A cockade is a knot of ribbons, or other circular- or oval-shaped symbol of distinctive colours which is usually worn on a hat or cap. Eighteenth century In the 18th and 19th centuries, coloured cockades were used in Europe to show the allegi ...

. In the upper left quarter there is a golden scale on a blue background, symbol of equality and justice. The upper right quarter contains the ''Cerro de Montevideo'' (Montevideo Hill) with its fortress on top on a silver background, as a symbol of strength. In the lower left, also on a silver background, there is a galloping black horse, symbolizing liberty. The lower right quarter holds a golden ox on blue background, as a symbol of abundance.

Modifications

From 1829 the coat of arms was ornamented with multiple Uruguayan Flags on each side, weapons, and various elements of commerce, in 1906 the design was simplified by law eliminating all ornaments and standardizing the design. File:Escudo El Nacional Uruguay.jpg File:Escudo Uruguay El Nacional 1845.jpg

Historical coats of arms

File:Coat of Arms of the Oriental Province.svg, Coat of Arms

Oriental Province Banda Oriental, or more fully Banda Oriental del Uruguay (Eastern Bank), was the name of the South American territories east of the Uruguay River and north of Río de la Plata that comprise the modern nation of Uruguay; the modern state of Ri ...

(1815-1817) File:Sello de Armas de la República Oriental.png, Seal of the

(1817) File:Coat of arms of Uruguay (1829-1908).svg, Oriental State of Uruguay (1829-1906)

Departamental shields

File:Coat of arms of Artigas Department.svg, Artigas File:Escudo de Canelones.svg, Canelones File:Cerro Largo Department Coa.png, Cerro Largo File:Escudo del Departamento de Colonia.svg, Escudo de Colonia File:Durazno Department Coa.png, Durazno File:Flores Department Coa.png,

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and t ...

File:Florida Department Coa.png,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

File:Lavalleja Department Coa.png,

Lavalleja Lavalleja () is a department of Uruguay. Its capital is Minas. It is located in the southeast of the country, bordered to the north by the department of Treinta y Tres to the east with Rocha, to the south with Canelones and Maldonado, and to ...

File:Maldonado Department Coa.png, Maldonado File:Montevideo Department Coat of Arms.svg,

Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern co ...

File:Paysandu Department Coa.png,

Paysandú Paysandú () is the capital of Paysandú Department in western Uruguay. Location The city is located on the banks of the Uruguay River, which forms the Argentina–Uruguay border, border with Argentina. It lies northwest of Montevideo via Rout ...

File:Rio Negro Department Coa.png, Río Negro File:Rivera Department Coa.png,

Rivera Rivera () is the capital of Rivera Department of Uruguay. The border with Brazil joins it with the Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento, which is only a street away from it, at the north end of Route 5. Together, they form an urban area of aro ...

File:Salto Department Coa.png, Salto File:San Jose Department Coa.png, San José File:Soriano Department Coa.png, Soriano File:Tacuarembo Department Coa.png, Tacuarembó File:Treinta y Tres Department Coa.png,

Treinta y Tres Treinta y Tres () is the capital city of the Treinta y Tres Department in eastern Uruguay. Location The city is located on Route 8, on the north banks of Olimar Grande River. The city is almost surrounded by a populated rural area, a zone of ' ...

Sources

Heraldry of the World: Uruguay

National symbols of Uruguay

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

{{Heraldry-stub

Description

Modifications

Historical coats of arms

Departamental shields

See also

Sources