The coat of arms of Guatemala comprises:
- A wreath of bay laurel branches, the symbol for victory;
- The Resplendent Quetzal, a bird that symbolizes liberty;
- A scroll on which is written LIBERTAD 15 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 1821 (15 September 1821 is the date of Central America's independence from Spain);
- Two crossed Remington rifles with bayonets indicating Guatemala's willingness to defend itself by force if need be;
- Two crossed swords, representing honour.
The emblem was designed by Swiss artist and engraver Johan-Baptist Frener, who lived in Guatemala from 1854 until his death in 1897.
The coat of arms also appears on the flag of Guatemala. The quetzal previously appeared in the flag of Los Altos, Central America in the 1830s.
Famous quotes containing the words coat of, coat and/or arms:
“Want is a growing giant whom the coat of Have was never large enough to cover.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“He will watch you while you work, and always has a good word to say or a quip to snap at you to keep you cheered up, but when it comes to taking off his coat and lending a hand,... he is an Oriental incense-holder on the guest-room mantle.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.”
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969)