Coat of arms of Panama

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Coat of arms of Panama
Coat of arms of Panama.svg
Armiger Republic of Panama
Adopted4 June 1904
Crest In place of a crest, a harpy eagle rising with wings displayed and elevated argent ensigned by an arc of ten stars Or, and holding in its beak an escrol bearing the motto
Shield Quarterly: first argent, a sabre and rifle saltireways proper; second gules, a spade and hoe also saltireways and proper; third azure, a cornucopia with mouth downwards discharging coins Or; fourth argent, a winged wheel Or. Overall, a fess charged with a landscape of the isthmus of Panama with a setting sun and a rising moon, all proper.
Supporters In place of supporters four banners, being quarterly: the first and fourth argent, the second gules, the third azure, with a star azure in the first quarter and another gules in the fourth.
Motto Pro Mundi Beneficio
(Latin: "For the benefit of the World")

The Panamanian coat of arms is a heraldic symbol for Panama. These arms were adopted provisionally and then definitively by the same laws that adopted the Panamanian flag.

Contents

The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), the Panamanian national bird, is the species of eagle on this coat of arms. [1]

Description

The center section contains the Isthmus of Panama. The chief or top part of the coat of arms comprises two quarters. The top left over a field of silver a sword and a rifle. In 1904, the arms were made official by Law 64 of 4 June 1904 signed by the President of Assembly Genaro Ortega, and sanctioned by the President the Republic, Manuel Amador Guerrero.

The official description of the heraldic design is as follows:

Panamanian coat of arms on a green field Coat of arms of Panama (green background).svg
Panamanian coat of arms on a green field

For thirty-seven years the coat of arms of the Republic of Panama was not changed until the Constitution of 1941 was promulgated. The National Assembly dictated in March of that year Law 28 on the coat of arms, in which the following reforms were introduced: the saber and the gun are meant as "attitude of alert in defense of our sovereignty" in place of "abandonment to mean goodbye to the civil wars". 311 projects appeared to change the motto and the Jury named to make the selection decided in favor of: "Solo Dios sobre Nosotros" (Only God Above Us). Nevertheless, the National Assembly when approving the Law 28 already referred to, rejected it and preferred the one of "Justice, Honor and Freedom". Five years later, in 1946, Panama returned to the old symbol with the well-known motto of "Pro Mundi Beneficio".

The formal adoption and regulation of the use of the national flag, anthem and coat of arms were decreed by law 34 of 1949.

Harpy Eagle Law

Adult harpy eagle at the Sao Paulo Zoo Harpia harpyja -Sao Paulo Zoo, Brasil -adult-8a.jpg
Adult harpy eagle at the São Paulo Zoo

Law 34 of 1949 stated, as noted above, that an eagle was to be on the top of the coat of arms. However, it did not specify what species of eagle, even though in most schools the harpy eagle was the eagle species on top of the coat of arms.

Law 18 of 2002 made the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) the national bird; [1] and to specify what species of eagle was to be on the coat of arms, on May 17, 2006, law 50 was approved by the national Assembly to modify law 18 of 2002, and add that the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) was the species of eagle that appears on the coat of arms of the Republic of Panama. [2]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Goldish, Meish (2007). Bald Eagles: A Chemical Nightmare . Bearport Publishing Company, Incorporated. p.  29. ISBN   978-1-59716-505-1.
  2. Text of Modification of law 18, 2002 [ permanent dead link ], Panama's National Assembly (in Spanish)

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