The current devised Emblem of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China came into use on 20 December 1999, when the sovereignty of

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

(Macao) was transferred from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. The

emblem An emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and '' symbol'' are often use ...

is now referred to officially as the "Regional Emblem" ().

Description

The regional emblem features the same design elements as the regional

flag of Macau The flag of Macau, officially the regional flag of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (; pt, Bandeira regional da Região Administrativa Especial de Macau ) is light green with a lotus flower above the ...

in a circular setting. The outer white ring is shown with the caption of the official name of the territory in

traditional Chinese character Traditional Chinese characters are one type of standard Chinese character sets of the contemporary written Chinese. The traditional characters had taken shapes since the clerical change and mostly remained in the same structure they took a ...

s (as opposed to the simplified form): "" (Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China) and the Portuguese short form, "Macau".

History

The coat of arms used by

followed traditional

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an styles: The first coat of arms used in Macau was used until the end of the 19th century. It features the arms of Portugal surrounded by the saying ''Cidade do nome de Deus, não há outra mais Leal'' (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

for "City of the Name of God, there is none more Loyal"). In 1935, most Portuguese colonies were given coats of arms that followed a standard design pattern. For Macau, a dragon was used for the part of the shield featuring a design unique to each colony. The last coat of arms of colonial Macau, used until 1999, shown here in its most simple form, was used in banknotes, coins, stamps, official documents and appears also in the facade of the "Banco Nacional Ultramarino" in Lisbon. File:Brasão de Macau (1850s-1910).svg, First coat of arms File:Lesser coat of arms of Portuguese Macau (Used until 1935).svg, Second coat of arms File:Lesser coat of arms of Portuguese Macau.svg, Simple coat of arms (1935-1999) File:Coat of arms of Portuguese Macau (1935-1951).svg, Coat of arms (1935-1951) File:Coat of arms of Portuguese Macau (1951-1976).svg, Coat of arms (1951-1976) File:Coat of arms of Portuguese Macau (1976-1999).svg, Coat of arms (1976-1999) File:Macau.PNG, Simplified coat of arms (1976-1999)

References

External links

Lei n.º 6/1999 Utilização e Protecção da Bandeira e do Emblema Regionais

Regulamento Administrativo n.º 5/2019 Disposições concretas relativas à utilização das Bandeiras e Emblemas Nacionais e Regionais e à execução instrumental e vocal do Hino Nacional

Designs of the colonial coat of arms of Macao in 1934 Reference code(s): MO/AH/AC/SA/01/14775
- Webpage from the Archives of Macau website about several proposed coats of arms for Macau in 1934; none of which were adopted. National symbols of the People's Republic of China

Coat of Arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

Chinese heraldry {{Heraldry-stub

Description

History

See also

References

External links