Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, the O'Higgins Pioche is a

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

piece regarded as the true symbol of presidential power, which is placed in the lower end of the

presidential sash A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the human body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else encircling the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, ...

of office. The O'Higgins Pioche is a

pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle around ...

of about 7 cm in diameter, enameled in red. This was the name given to a medal that

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; 20 August 1778 – 24 October 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque people, Basque-Spanish people, Spani ...

ordered to be put on the presidential sash. The relic was a gift by O'Higgins to José Gregorio Argomedo (1767–1830) after his abdication in January 1823. During the inauguration of the monument in the Alameda (1872), descendants of Argomedo gave it to President Federico Errázuriz Zañartu, who put it on the presidential sash in inaugurating a tradition that continues. The original piocha remained intact until the 1973 coup, when it disappeared during the bombing of

La Moneda Palace Palacio de La Moneda (, ''Palace of the Mint''), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the president of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency, and General S ...

. During the military regime, a replica was made based on photographs of the original. The piocha is only to be used in conjunction with the presidential sash. The "Pioche de O'Higgins" is the element that symbolizes the transfer of power from one president to the next one during the ceremony of change of command.¿Sabías Que?
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References

Heads of state of Chile Political history of Chile {{Chile-gov-stub

See also

References