Coat of arms of Spain | |
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Details | |
Armiger | King Felipe VI |
Adopted | 5 October 1981 |
Crest | Spanish Royal crown |
Escutcheon | Quarterly: Castile, León, Aragon, and Navarre; enté en point: Granada; inescutcheon Bourbon (Anjou Branch) |
Supporters | Pillars of Hercules with a top of supporters: Dexter An Imperial crown (Holy Roman Empire, Austrian version); Sinister A Spanish Royal crown |
Motto | Plus Ultra |
The coat of arms of Spain symbolizes the country and the nation; the old kingdoms of Spain, the Royal Crown, the Imperial Crown, the Constitutional monarchy, the Spanish national motto: Plus Ultra, and the Pillars of Hercules with the Spanish geographic situation. The Monarch, the heir to the throne and some institutions like the Senate, the Council of State or the General Council of the Judiciary have their own arms.
The blazon of the Spanish coat of arms is composed as follows:
The contemporary Spanish coat of arms, featured in the national flag of Spain, was approved by law in 1981, in replacement of the interim coat of arms that replaced the official arms of Spain under Franco (1939–75).
The Spanish coat of arms is composed of six other arms and some additional heraldic symbols:
The present version is regulated by:
The official design of the coat of arms of Spain is like a logotype set in linear style: drawing, proportions of elements and colours (CIELAB). This approach has been criticised by Spanish heraldists for three reasons.s
First, the coat of arms pattern is simplified, compared to the usual heraldic usages, which relevantly considers the way of representing the charges and tinctures, because they must be easily identifiable, without error; however, the colours determined by the decree are little visible. In particular, the Or and the Gules have been respectively represented so intensely and too-dark that they do not allow for clear distinction of the charges. The colour chosen to represent Purpure is criticised for being a pinkish hue, unlike the traditional hues of the Kingdom of Leon and heraldic custom.