Coat of arms of Rwizikuru

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Coat of arms of Rwizikuru
File:CoatOfArmsOfRwizikuru.png
Adopted1968
CrestA wooden crown with a Rwizi eagle
TorseNone
BlazonA Vert field on an Gaullican-style escutcheon
SupportersTwo zebras
CompartmentA mount vert
MottoUnity In Trinity
OrdersNone
Earlier versionsFile:RwiziRepCOA.png

The coat of arms of Rwizikuru is the coat of arms of Rwizikuru, having been adopted in 1968, to replace the old coat of arms, which was used from 1897 to 1957 and from 1964 to 1968, with only minor alterations in 1946 to remove the naval crown that was associated with Estmerish rule over Rwizikuru.

History

The first colonial seal was designed by Governor Dugald Harpham in 1897, when the first colonial flag was adopted. It depicted the head of a Bahian elephant, facing dexter, on a green shield. Above that was the naval crown, which indicated Riziland's status as a colony of Estmere.

Despite the end of the Kingdom of Estmere in 1937, the seal was not altered, despite proposals to remove the naval crown on the basis of representing monarchism.

However, when Rwizikuru obtained independence from Estmere in 1946, the naval crown was removed, in a move that President Zophar Bohannon said "represents our liberation from the bondage of Estmerish rule." This left the seal just depicting the elephant's head on a green shield.

In 1956, President Vudzijena Nhema commissioned Peter Madhuku to design a new emblem, calling the continued use of the emblem "inconsistent with the ideals of a Bahian socialist society." Thus, Madhuku took inspiration from other socialist states in designing a new emblem, while presenting Bahian characteristics to make the emblem promote Bahian socialism. After weeks of design, he submitted the design to Vudzijena Nhema, who approved of it.

Thus, after a vote to amend the constitution to replace the seal with the emblem that Peter Madhuku designed, the emblem was formally adopted on 2 July, 1957.

After a coup d'etat in 1964, the old coat of arms was restored by the Council of National Salvation, which used it until the proclamation of the Rwizikuran monarchy in 1968 by Izibongo Ngonidzashe, when a new coat of arms was designed to reflect Rwizikuru becoming a monarchy.

Gallery