The

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

n national emblem ( ar, شعار السعودية) was adopted in 1950. According to the Saudi Basic Law, it consists of two crossed swords with a

palm tree 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 ...

in the space above and between the blades. The two swords represent the Kingdom of Hejaz and the Sultanate of Najd and its dependencies, which were

united United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

under Ibn Saud in 1926, or strength, stamina, and sacrifice. The crest represents that prosperity can only be had through Justice. The palm stands for growth, vitality, and prosperity and the crossed swords represent Justice. The palm tree represents the Kingdom's assets which are defined as its

people A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physica ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, and

resources Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their av ...

natural and non-natural. Thus, the palm is shown to be guarded by the two swords, which represent the forces to be used in defence of the nation.

Historical emblems

File:Coat of arms of Kingdom of Hejaz.svg, Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Hejaz from 1916 to 1925 File:Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd.svg, Coat of arms of the

Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd ( ar, مملكة الحجاز ونجد, '), initially the Kingdom of Hejaz and Sultanate of Nejd (, '), was a dual monarchy ruled by Abdulaziz following the victory of the Saudi Sultanate of Nejd over the Hashemite ...

from 1925 to 1932 File:Coat of Arms of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 1932-1950.jpg, Seal of

from 1932 to 1950

Usage

The Emblem appears on government documents,

diplomatic missions A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

, as well as several Saudi Arabian flags. It is emblazoned in gold on the flag of the

Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia The Saudi Arabian Armed Forces (SAAF) ( ar, القُوَّات المُسَلَّحَة العَرَبِيَّة السُّعُودِيَّة, Al-Quwwat al-Musallahah al-Malakiyah as-Su’ūdiyah), also known as the Royal Saudi Armed Forces, ar ...

(which is also the Kingdom's

war ensign A naval ensign is an ensign (maritime flag) used by naval ships of various countries to denote their nationality. It can be the same or different from a country's civil ensign or state ensign. It can also be known as a war ensign. A large ve ...

), and on the lower hoist of the

Royal Standard In heraldry and vexillology, a heraldic flag is a flag containing coats of arms, heraldic badges, or other devices used for personal identification. Heraldic flags include banners, standards, pennons and their variants, gonfalons, guidons, and ...

. The latter is essentially the national flag with the added Emblem in gold, which is placed in the lower part of the (left-facing) hoist and not in the canton as with other royal standards. The Emblem's lower position is in deference to the sacred nature of the ''

Shahada The ''Shahada'' ( Arabic: ٱلشَّهَادَةُ , "the testimony"), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there i ...

'', the Islamic creed.

References

National symbols of Saudi Arabia

{{Portal, Saudi Arabia