Coat of arms of Niger explained

Coat of arms of Niger
Armiger:Republic of the Niger
Year Adopted:1962
Shield:Vert, a sun rayonned or, accosted to dexter with a spear in pale charged with two Touareg swords in saltire, and to sinister with three ears of millet, one in pale and two in saltire, accompanied in point with a head of zebu, all or
Supporters:This shield rests on a trophy formed by four flags of the Republic of Niger
Motto:Republique du Niger
"Republic of Niger"

The coat of arms of Niger shows a trophy of four national flags, in the colors orange, white, and green. In the middle, the state seal is arranged. On a green or gold shield the four golden symbols are shown. In the middle, there is a sun, to the left there is a vertical spear with two crossed Tuareg swords, to the right are three pearl millet heads and underneath is the frontal view of a zebu head. Under the coat of arms, there is a ribbon bearing the name of the country in French: Republique du Niger. While the constitution of Niger stipulates the color of the symbols upon the shield, there is no uniformity on the color of the shield. The 1999 Constitution reproduces the text of earlier constitutions, making a distinction between the Seal of State (Le Sceau de l'État) for which no shield colour is stipulated and the Coat of Arms of the Republic (Les Armoiries de la République) for which Sinople is stipulated as the shield colour.[1] Sinople is analogous to Vert (Green) in heraldry, but official buildings and documents do not display green shields. Embassies and official documents use white, with gold emblems. The website of the President of Niger uses gold or yellow with dark gold or black emblems. The National Assembly of Niger meets below a large coat of arms with the shield coloured gold and the emblems in a darker gold.[2] [3]

Official description

Article 1 of the Constitution of Niger describes the coat of arms as follows:[4]

The coat of arms of the Republic consists of a shield vert, a sun rayonned or, accosted to dexter with a spear in pale charged with two Touareg swords in saltire, and to sinister with three ears of millet, one in pale and two in saltire, accompanied in point with a head of zebu, all or. This shield rests on a trophy formed by four flags of the Republic of Niger. The inscription "République du Niger" is placed underneath

Notes and References

  1. http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_de_la_R%C3%A9publique_du_Niger Constitution de la République du Niger, Adoptée le 18 juillet 1999 et promulguée par le décret n°99-320/PCRN du 9 août 1999
  2. See description and images at The Presidency of Niger and images of the Assembly chamber at The official site of the National Assembly .
  3. see Article 1 of the first section of the 1999 constitution: Constitution Du Niger Du 18 Juillet 1999 (Promulguée par décret N° 99-320 / PCRN du 09 Août 1999), and the website of the Presidency of Niger Symboles du Niger, (consulted 2008-07-25).
  4. http://www.cour-constitutionnelle-niger.org/documents/constitution_7eme_rep.pdf Constitution du Niger