National Arms of Cyprus

Heraldry of the World Civic heraldry of Cyprus

National arms of CYPRUS

Origin/meaning

The arms show a pigeon and an olive branch, both symbols of peace. The year 1960 is the year of independence from Great Britain.

The arms on a coin

Colonial arms

The British Crown Colony of Cyprus used until the early 20th century a single red lion, and later, until 1960, two lions based on the arms of England. Both were used by the authorities, but none was ever officially granted.

The arms on a cigarette card, 1910s.	The arms on a coin, 1901.
The arms with two lions.	The arms on a coin, 1901.

North Cyprus

These arms were adopted on March 12, 2007.

The de-facto independent, but not recognised, Republic of North Cyprus uses the same design as Cyprus, but with the addition of a crescent and star (taken from the arms of Turkey) and the date 1983; the date of 'independence'.

The arms on a coin

Literature : Pedersen, 1979; old image provided by Mike Oettle, South Africa; arms of North Cyprus from http://www.kktcb.eu/index.php