|
Coat of arms of Costa Rica
|
Coat of Arms since May 5, 1998
The Coat of Arms of Costa Rica depicts an essential simplification of the nation. The two ships on either side represent the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, both of which border Costa Rica. The ships also represent the maritime history of the country. The three mountains represent the three major mountain ranges of Costa Rica, and also stand to show the location of the country relative to the two bodies of sea. The current coat of arms has seven stars on it to represent the seven provinces of Costa Rica. On the sides, small golden beads can be seen; these were put here in representation of the Costa Rican coffee, which for a long time was the largest line of production and exportation in the country. They are golden because in Costa Rica, coffee is sometimes referred to as "El Grano de Oro" or "The Bead of Gold". The above arms are older, and have five stars that represent the nations that had made up the United States of Central America in the early 19th century; the Costa Rican design is modified after the old Central American Federal coat of arms. The name of the nation is on a white banner at the top of the shield, above this is another blue scroll that says "America Central". It symbolizes the beauty of Costa Rica with the clear blue water and the mountains. This is not the actual Costa Rican coat of arms. The new coat of arms has volcanoes instead of mountains, has no dutch ships and the blue ribbon is not that close to the center.
