Flags With a Coat of Arms

Why put a coat of arms on a flag?

A coat of arms lets a nation show its history, values and symbols in one image. Flags with arms are common in Latin America, in southern Europe and among territories with a link to the United Kingdom, such as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands.

Colors and details are specific to each country, so the arms are also a quick way to tell similar tricolors apart. For example, Mexico and Italy both have green, white and red vertical stripes, but only Mexico has the arms in the middle.

Most flags place the arms in the center on a white or colored band. Others, mainly territories, put a shield in the fly and keep the Union Jack in the canton, which is why Falkland Islands, Pitcairn Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands look so alike at first glance.

Examples by region

• Europe: Spain (arms with the Pillars of Hercules), Portugal (a shield and an armillary sphere), Croatia (a red and white checkerboard), Slovakia (a double cross over three hills), Slovenia (Mount Triglav), Serbia, Montenegro, Moldova, Andorra, San Marino and the Vatican City.
• Latin America: Mexico, Ecuador, Paraguay, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Belize.
• Elsewhere: Oman (a khanjar dagger and crossed swords), Brunei (a crescent and parasol), Equatorial Guinea (a silk-cotton tree) and Fiji (a shield with a lion and a cocoa pod).

Facts about coat of arms flags

Paraguay is famous for its flag having a different design on each side: the national arms on the front and the treasury seal on the back. The flag of the Dominican Republic is the only national flag to include a Bible in its arms. Nicaragua's emblem shows a triangle, a rainbow and five volcanoes, while Guatemala's includes the quetzal on a scroll and crossed rifles.

Because the arms are detailed, they are often left out of simple versions, as on the civil flags of some countries.