Nigeria Coat of Arms & Nigerian Flag: All Facts You Should Know

Nigeria celebrates her Independence Day every October 1st each year. Nigeria will be 60 on October 1, 2020. To help make more Nigerians familiar with some historical facts, we have decided to talk about the two Nigeria symbols which are⭐Nigeria Coat of Arms and the Nigeria Flag⭐.

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Nigeria Coat of Arms

The Nigeria coat of arms was created in line with the National Flag and Coat-of-Arms Ordinance number 48 of 1960. Before 1975, each of the country’s constituent political units had its coat-of-arms. The Nigeria coat of arms was approved by the Queen of England Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II on 7 September 1971 and officially adopted in 1975. It represents the country’s symbol of national unity, state power.

Who Designed The Nigerian Coat of Arms?

Though the designer of the Nigeria Coat of Arm is not officially documented. The Nigeria Coat of Arm is believed to be designed by Bahamian Icon, the Reverend Doctor Hervis L Bain Jr MBE JP who also designed the Bahamas Coat of Arms and the National Flag of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. It is also wrongly believed that Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi who designed the Nigeria Flag was also the designer of the Nigeria Coat of Arms. Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi informed the researcher that he only designed the Nigeria flag and did not design the Nigeria Coat of Arms.

According to a research carried out Dr Raphael James the DG of the Center For Research, Information and Media Development (CRIMMD) in collaboration with the United Kingdom Representative Mr John Redhead in an article published on Authorityngr.com, the Nigerian Coat of Arms was designed by Messrs Beverley Pick Associated, London. This Coat of Arms draft was used in Nigeria for its Independence day on October 1, 1960. The first Nigeria Coat of Arms draft had the motto ‘Unity and Faith’. By 1978, the motto “Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress” was adopted in Nigeria after using the motto “Peace, Unity, and Freedom”.

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All Features of The Nigeria Coat of Arms and Meaning

The Nigeria coat of arms has seven permanent features, symbolizing a particular entity or virtue about Nigeria:

• A black shield which represents the fertile soil in Nigeria.
• Two white wavy bands on the shield, which form the letter “Y” represent rivers Niger and Benue, the country’s main inland waterways.
• Two horses on either side of the shield represent the dignity of Nigeria.
• Some flowers which are yellow flowers at the base is the Coctus spectabilis, a specie of flower that grows in all parts of Nigeria.
• An eagle standing on the shield represents the strength of Nigeria
• The wreath (with green and white bands) which the eagles stands upon represents the rich agricultural produce of Nigeria.
• The nation’s motto on the band around the base of the shield is written, “Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress”.

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The Nigerian Flag: Design, Designer, History & Meaning

The Nigeria flag is one of Nigeria national symbols designed by a Nigerian in 1959. You can read more about the colour, designer, history and what it represents below.

Nigeria Flag Original Design, Designer Name & History

The Nigerian flag was designed by Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi in 1959. The Ibadan-born Akinwumi who was studying engineering as a student at Norwood Technical College in London at that time while reading in a library saw a newspaper advert calling for the Nigerian flag design by interested individuals in a competition. He submitted his design by mailing it to Lagos that same year. His design had a red radiating sun badge in the middle of the white vertical band with two green bands supporting the white by the sides.

Akinwumi’s design was chosen to be the Nigerian flag with the removal of the red radiating sun badge from his original design. In October the following year (1960), he got a letter inviting him to the London office of the Commissioner for Nigeria in the United Kingdom where he got to know his design was accepted and was paid 100 pounds which was equivalent to 281 dollars in 1959. Michael Taiwo Akinwunmi received a national honour from then-president Goodluck Jonathan at Abuja, the country capital in 2014. He is still alive and will always be remembered as the person who designed the Nigerian flag. Nigeria’s history books.

Nigeria Flag Colour, Proportion & Meaning

The Nigerian flag has 2 colours which are green and white. The width to length ratio was 1 to 2. The flag has three vertical bands of green, white, green. The two green stripes represent Nigeria’s natural wealth with the white stripe representing peace.