Coat of arms of the Ottoman Empire
ArmigerSultan Abdul Hamid II
Adopted1882
Order(s)Medals of five of the Ottoman decorations
Other elementsCornupia, anchor and scale
UseOttoman dynasty

Every sultan of the Ottoman Empire had his own monogram, called the tughra, which served as a royal symbol. A coat of arms in the European heraldic sense was created in the late 19th century. Hampton Court requested from the Ottoman Empire a coat of arms to be included in their collection. As the coat of arms had not been previously used in the Ottoman Empire, it was designed following this request, and the final design was adopted by Sultan Abdul Hamid II on 17 April 1882.

Design

The emblem features an ornate cartouche ensigned by a tughra. The cartouche is surrounded by various elements of the state, including two flags: the red star and crescent flag of the Anatolian and Asian eyalets,[1] and the green flag of the Rumelia Eyalet,[1] largely obscured by a cornucopia. The North African provinces are not represented. Behind the flags are a number of spears and other weapons.

At the top, golden light rays radiate from the sun with the tughra seal of the sultan inscribed in golden letters on a green disk background. The tughra reads in Arabic, "Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid, forever victorious", written out as: محمود خان بن عبد الحميد مظفر دائماً (Mahmūd Ḫān bin Abdulhamīd muẓaffar dāʾimā). The inscription in the large green crescent reads in Arabic: "Relying on Divine success, the king of the Sublime Ottoman State", written out as: المستند بالتوفيقات الربانية ملك الدولة العلية العثمانية (al-Mustanidu bi't-Tawfiqāti'r-Rabbānīyah Malik ad-Dawlatu'l-Alīyati'l-Uthmāniyah).[2]

Hanging beneath the lower flourish are the medals of five Ottoman military decorations. In the main image, from left to right they are: the Order of Charity, the Order of the Medjidie, the Order of the Crescent, the Order of Osmanieh, and the Order of Distinction. Other than the number of medals, the arrangement and type of medals featured were never standardised.

In keeping with the Islamic proscription against depicting animate beings, no animals such as supporters are included in the design.

Symbols

The symbols in the coat of arms represent the following:[3][4][5]

Different designs

There are several different versions of the 1882 coat of arms:

Pre-1882 coats of arms

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sosyal Medyada Şeriat Bayrağı Diye Paylaşılan Bayrağın Aslında Rumeli'den Gelmesi Archived 2020-06-27 at the Wayback Machine (in Turkish)
  2. "Ottoman Archive: Ottoman Coat of Arms". Archived from the original on 2022-05-29. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  3. "The Ottoman Military Sign | All About Turkey". Archived from the original on 2021-04-20. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  4. 1 2 Tugberk. "OSMANLI TUĞRASINDA BULUNAN 30 SEMBOLÜN SIRRI – Kitap Özeti" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  5. "Osmanlı Arması ve Anlamı". Tarihi Olaylar. Archived from the original on 2022-02-21. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  6. I.A.Tyroff, Wappenbuch der regierenden Monarchen Europas (Nürnberg 1846)
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