The Cuban coat of arms is the official

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

symbol of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. It consists of a

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...

, in front of a

fasces Fasces ( ; ; a ''plurale tantum'', from the Latin word ''fascis'', meaning "bundle"; it, fascio littorio) is a bound bundle of wooden rods, sometimes including an axe (occasionally two axes) with its blade emerging. The fasces is an Italian symbo ...

crowned by the Phrygian cap, all supported by an

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

branch on one side and a

laurel wreath 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 other. The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

was created by

Miguel Teurbe Tolón Miguel Teurbe Tolón y de la Guardia (September 20, 1820 – November 16, 1857) was a Cuban playwright, poet, and the creator of the Coat of arms of Cuba and the Flag of Cuba The national flag of Cuba ( es, link=yes, Bandera de Cuba) con ...

in 1849 and was adopted on April 24, 1906. It is the only coat of arms of a currently socialist country that currently does not use any

communist symbolism Communist symbolism represents a variety of themes, including revolution, the proletariat, peasantry, agriculture, or international solidarity. Communist states, parties and movements use these symbols to advance and create solidarity within ...

Official description

Cuban law describes the coat of arms as follows:Ley de los símbolos nacionales, Art. 12
/ref> ''The coat of arms is a symbol of the nation that is formed by two arches of equal circles, cut turning concavities to each other, as in an ogival shield. It's split at two thirds of its height, where a horizontal line divides it. It consists of three spaces or fields: the top represents a sea, on its sides, right and left, opposite to each other, two capes or points of land, between which, closing the strait they form, extending from left to right, a key with a thick stem, its ward down, and for its background a rising sun with its rays extending throughout the sky of the landscape. In the lower space or field to its left lie five bends, placed alternately, of the same width, of the colors dark blue and white, blue one being the highest, and all slighted from left to right. In the lower space or field to its right, the figure of a landscape representing a valley, in its center rises a royal palm tree, with the bud of its middle leaf being the highest, standing upright, for its background two mountains and clear skies. The shield is supported by a bundle of sticks, its lower end tied with a red string crossed in saltire, protruding from below the point of the shield. Above, protruding from the central part of the shield, is located a bundle of sticks tied together by a red circular string. The crown of the bundle of sticks is covered by a Phrygian cap of the red color turned right, and is sustained on one of the sticks slightly protruding. In the central part of the cap is a white five-pointed star, one of the points up. Not surpassing the rightmost and leftmost points of the arches of the shield, two branches, with their respective fruit, bordering it, one of laurel to the right, and one of holly oak to the left, facing it and crossed in the lower end of the shield, behind the bundle of sticks.''

Official description

Gallery

History

See also

References

External links