National coat of arms

National coat of arms is a symbol which denotes an independent state in the form of a heraldic achievement. While a national flag usually is being used by common people and is flown outside and on ships, the national coat of arms is normally seen as the symbol of the government or in monarchies even rather for the head of state personally and used in print and on porcelain and as wall decorations in parliamentary buildings. The royal arms of a monarchy, which sometimes is identical to the national arms, is sometimes described as arms of dominion or arms of sovereignty.

An important use for national coats of arms is as the main symbol on the cover of passports, the document used internationally to prove the citizenship of a person.

For a symbol to be called national coat of arms, it should follow the rules of heraldry. If it does not, it is not formally a coat of arms but still a national emblem. However, many unheraldic national emblems are colloquially called national coats of arms anyway because they are used for the same purposes as national coats of arms.

The original national coats of arms are heraldic arms, which has a shield with symbols (charges) upon it and often symbols like a crown on top of the shield, supporters etc. In the real sense of the word, these national coats of arms are the only ones which should be called coats of arms, since that term reflects that the emblem used is following the rules of heraldry. Heraldry originated in Western Europe and has now spread to all parts of the world.

The heraldic coat of arms also have differences in between themselves. Up until the 20th century most independent nations in the civilized world were monarchies and therefore used the monarchistic style of coat of arms. This style is illustrated below by the Swedish greater coat of arms, which is still used as coat of arms by the Kingdom of Sweden. Characteristic for this style of coat of arms is the crown on top of the ermine mantling with the coat of arms of both the kingdom and the Monarch within. In Sweden's case the inner coat of arms is upheld by two lions and encircled by the chain of the Order of the Seraphim. This is an often used style by the European kingdoms. Lions is used in all coat of arms of the European kingdoms. The lion is a symbol of power and sovereignty but also a symbol of Jesus as the Lion of Judah.

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