Chilean coat of arms

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The coat of arms of the Republic of Chile or national coat of arms of Chile is, together with the national anthem, the national flag and the national cockade, one of the four national symbols of Chile. It is also the heraldic emblem that officially represents that country. It was officially adopted 188 years ago, on June 26, 1834.

The design of the shield, original by the English artist Charles Wood, is officially defined in Supreme Decree 1534 of the Ministry of the Interior, published on December 12, 1967, on the use of national emblems, which systematized and recast various legal regulations and regulations on the matter. According to said decree, the coat of arms presents a five-pointed silver star in the center of a cut field, the upper one is turquoise blue and the lower one is red, and its shape is that established by the official model approved by decree 2271 of the then Ministry of War, published on September 8, 1920, in accordance with the law, and which, in addition, has a tricolor plumage of turquoise blue, white and red; by supports, a rampant huemul to his right and a condor to his left —species whose largest area of distribution is in the country— in the position established by that model, each of these animals crowned with a gold naval crown; and for the base a conch crossed by a ribbon with the motto "For reason or force", all in accordance with the aforementioned model.

Every October 18, the "Day of Celebration of the National Shield and Flag" is celebrated, established in 1972.

History

First national coat of arms

Representation of the first Chilean shield (1812).

The first coat of arms, created to replace the Royal Spanish emblem in force at the time, was unveiled by the government of the president of the Provisional Junta José Miguel Carrera on September 30, 1812, during a celebration in the Plaza de Armas de Santiago in commemoration of the First National Meeting. The new coat of arms, displayed on a canvas hanging on the main doorway of the Casa de Moneda, was also incorporated into the center of the Chilean tricolor flag.

Although a real and official representation of the emblem does not exist today, the royalist friar Melchor Martínez described its design in his work Historical Memory of the Chilean Revolution:

At the foot of this canvas was placed another one of an oval figure, whose center occupied a great shield, and in it was portrayed a robust column, in whose top appeared a balloon, and on its top a spear and a cross palm; above all this a radiant star was discovered with some distance. To the sinister of the column was a young gallardo dressed in Indian, and at the right hand a beautiful woman with the same suit; the higher inscription said: Post Tenebras Lux ('After darkness, light'); and the lower: Aut Consilio Aut Ense ('O by counsel or by sword'). Both canvases were inside and outside gracefully illuminated, so that from afar they could be seen and clearly noticed all their peculiarities, and with greater care, the new and characteristic shield adopted in the recent Chilean Republic.

Originally, the symbols of the Old Homeland did not have a national charge, but a purely military one. However, this shield was officially adopted as the national shield on June 15, 1813, when the Spanish symbols were finally replaced. The shield ceased to exist with the advent of the period known as the Spanish Reconquest (1814-1817).

Shield of Transition

1819 Shield painted by José Gil de Castro in a portrait of Bernardo O'Higgins of 1821.

Second Chilean Shield (1818).

Once Chile's independence from Spain was consolidated, with the victory of the Army of the Andes and the signing of the Chilean Independence Act (February 12, 1818), the government of Supreme Director Bernardo O'Higgins he took care to create a new emblem, preserving attributes of the previous shield, adding some new ones and eliminating others, such as the Latin mottos, the crossed palm and spear and the two aboriginal figures.

The legal composition of this shield was promulgated by the Senate of the time on September 23, 1819, and endorsed the next day by the Supreme Director. It stipulated the following:

In the city of Santiago de Chile, 23 days after the month of September 1819, the Excelent Senate was found in its hall of agreements and in ordinary sessions, the need to place the national weapons on the doors of the palace of government was taken into consideration, which were commanded to be pressed by the His Excellency Supreme Director, and His Excellency agreed that in honor of the country this act was executed with the decoration required by the great object to which the Freedomand on this one, a five-point star representing the province of Santiago, presenting on the sides of the column two other stars equal by Concepción and Coquimbo, praying all of two branches of laurel, tied their buds with a ribbon and pink tricolor, appearing on their circuit all armory by the order of cavalry, dragons, artillery and bombardment, sends the other secretaries - Perez. - Mayor. -Rozas. - Cinderfuegos. - Fontecilla. -Villarreal, secretary.

By order of the government, the Chilean sculptor Ignacio Andía y Varela engraved this shield in wood to be exhibited on the front of the Palace of Independence. The artist added to the legal design an indigenous person (who represents Chile and rests his left foot on the horn of fortune) raising the shield high while sitting on an alligator (Hispanic America) that squeezes the Lion of Castile in its jaws (the Spanish Empire) and is in turn perched on a fallen Spanish flag. Accompanying this allegory is a mountain range with erupting volcanoes representing pillanes (powerful spirits in Mapuche mythology).

Current national coat of arms

First version of the current Chilean shield (1834). The motto "For reason or strength" is still missing, which would only be added in 1920.

Variant of the Chilean shield (1854), used by mistake abroad. It's wrongly supported by a horse instead of a huemul.

The original design of the current Chilean national coat of arms corresponds to the English artist Charles Wood, winner of a contest initiated by the government of President Joaquín Prieto in 1832, being made official by law on June 26, 1834. In 1832 Prieto presented to Congress its intention to sanction the new emblem:

The Republic must have a shield of arms that symbolizes it according to the almost immemorial use of all peoples and nations. It cannot be considered as such that it was introduced in the early times of the revolution, because more than having lacked the sanction of competent authority, it contains no alusive part to the object it must represent. Therefore, the government has believed that the negligible and abortive shield should not be tolerated for a longer time, it is sanctioned once the one who brings to the legality of its origin the ownership of the allusion. To that end, several designs have been presented, and among those that seem to have come closer to the matter, it is the one that has the honour to attach.
In it the congress will obsevate a field of two enamels whose well-known attributes fit perfectly with the nature of the country and the character of its inhabitants. It also refers to the former colonial district of Chile and to the territory of Arauco, a major acquisition of the Republic. The silver star is the blazon that our aborigines always held in their pendoms, and the same one that represents that expensive pavilion whose shadow has girded the homeland of so many glorious laurels; it can also refer to our geographical position, the southernmost of the known orb.
The badge that is seen by a bell is the one that adorns the hat of the President of the Republic, as characteristic of his supreme dignity.
The supports represent a huemul and a condor; this, the strongest, most anointed and corpulent bird that populates our airs, and that the most rare and singular quadruple of our saws, that there is no news that dwells another region of the globe, and whose skin notable for its elasticity and resistance make our natural valiants and war boots.
Finally, the naval crown that surpasses the head of both animals will be the monument that will always remember the glorious triumph of our maritime forces over those of Spain in the various waters of the Pacific, the triumph of eternal name less for the heroic of the event, that by its transcendental and dilated influence, since at the same time it solidly established our independence, it gave way to our weapons so that they carried such an influxable empire.
If, as is to be expected, this idea merits the approval of the congress, the government submits to its deliberation the following draft decree:
The coat of arms of the Republic of Chile will present a silver star in a field cut from azur and gules; it will have a three-coloured plumage of blue, white and incarnated; and a huemul on the right, and a condor on the left, crowned each of these animals with a naval crown of gold.
Santiago, August 22, 1832. -Joaquín Prieto. -Joaquín Tocornal.

Logo of the Government of Chile used between March and November 2010.

That design did not include any motto; however, in various versions of the shield, the motto "For reason or force" was incorporated. Thus, for example, silver coins minted between 1837 and 1852 (1/2, 1, 2 and 8 reales) carried the phrase "For reason and force" and gold coins minted between 1818 and 1834 (1, 2, 4 and 8 shields) the version «For reason, or force». On the other hand, in 1854 it was established that the national shield that carries the presidential flag would have the same legend.

The inclusion in the national coat of arms of the motto "For reason or force" was made official by decree 2271 of the Ministry of War and Navy, published on September 8, 1920. Its formalization was ratified by Supreme Decree 1534 of the Ministry of the Interior, published on December 12, 1967, during the government of President Eduardo Frei Montalva.

In October 2004, Senator Nelson Ávila presented a bill to change the motto of the national coat of arms from "By reason or force" to "By the force of reason", which does not has prospered.

On the other hand, there are some versions of the shield that have a horse erroneously engraved, since they were commissioned from foreign artists who had never seen a huemul, an animal that should have gone in its place. Thus, for example, it occurs in the "Monument to the Heroes of Iquique" in the city of Valparaíso, made by a French artist; the same happens in the Plaza de la Independencia in Concepción, in the Mausoleum of San Martín in the cathedral of Buenos Aires and in some presidential carriages that keep the horse instead of the huemul as a symbol of the Chilean coat of arms.

Legal regulation

The Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile of 1980 determines in its 2nd article that "the national flag, the coat of arms of the Republic and the national anthem are national emblems." Likewise, its 22nd article establishes that "every inhabitant of the Republic owes respect to Chile and its national emblems." For its part, article 6 of the State Security Law (decree 890 published on August 26, 1975) provides that crime against public order [...] b) Those who publicly insult the flag, the shield or the name of the homeland».

Cultural aspects

A version of the national emblem on their jersey is a distinction awarded to the current champion of the First Division of Chilean soccer.

Regional shields

Chile is divided into sixteen regions, whose internal government corresponds to the Mayor. Each regional government, in charge of the superior administration of each one of the Chilean regions, has adopted its own insignia, although they lack for the most part relevance, being mainly used by regional public organizations.