The coat of arms of Andalusia is the official symbol of Andalusia

Andalusia

Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...

, an autonomous community of Spain

Autonomous communities of Spain

An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...

. It bears the Pillars of Hercules

Pillars of Hercules

The Pillars of Hercules was the phrase that was applied in Antiquity to the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. The northern Pillar is the Rock of Gibraltar in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar...

, the ancient name given to the promontories

Promontory

Promontory may refer to:*Promontory, a prominent mass of land which overlooks lower lying land or a body of water*Promontory, Utah, the location where the United States first Transcontinental Railroad was completed...

 that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar

Strait of Gibraltar

The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa. The name comes from Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic Jebel Tariq , albeit the Arab name for the Strait is Bab el-Zakat or...

.

Origin

The coat of arms sees its origin in an agreement made by the pro-autonomist Assembly of Ronda

Ronda

Ronda is a city in Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about West from the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is approximately 35,000 inhabitants.-History:...

 in 1918, designed by Blas Infante

Blas Infante

Blas Infante Pérez de Vargas . Blas Infante was an andalusist politician, writer, historian and musicologist, known as the "Father" of Andalusian fatherland ....

, "Father of Andalusia". More than seventy years later, article 3 of the 1982 Statute of Autonomy for Andalusia stated:

Andalusia will have its own coat of arms, approved de jure by its Parliament, in which the following legend shall appear: "ANDALUCÍA POR SÍ, PARA ESPAÑA Y LA HUMANIDAD" (Andalusia by herself, for Spain and for Humankind), taking into account the agreement adopted by the Assembly of Ronda of 1918."

The figure of the mythical Greek

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

 hero Heracles

Heracles

Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...

 , son of Zeus

Zeus

In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

 and the mortal Alcmena

Alcmene

In Greek mythology, Alcmene or Alcmena was the mother of Heracles.-Background:Alcmene was born to Electryon, the son of Perseus and Andromeda, and king of Tiryns and Mycenae or Medea in Argolis. Her mother was Anaxo, daughter of Alcaeus and Astydamia, daughter of Pelops and Hippodameia...

, appears between the columns. He is seen seizing and taming two lions, each representing the power of animal instinct, above the legend: "ANDALUCÍA POR SÍ, PARA ESPAÑA Y LA HUMANIDAD". An arc joins the two columns with the Latin inscription: "DOMINATOR HERCULES FUNDATOR". Many of these elements were adopted from the arms of the city of Cádiz

Cádiz

Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....

.

According to Blas Infante, the creation of the arms can in no way be seen as a meaningless invention, but as that of a series of modifications of traditional Andalusian elements: "We, Andalusian regionalists or nationalists

Andalusian nationalism

Andalusian nationalism or Andalusian regionalism, sometimes referred as Andalucismo in Spanish, is the name given to the political movement in Spain advocating the recognition of Andalusian people as a "nation". It is considered to be represented primarily by the Andalusian Party but there are also...

, have not come to invent anything new. We had simply recognised, in our action, what the people created on its own, hence giving due value to its history ".

In the original coat of arms, Infante included the words "BETICA

Hispania Baetica

Hispania Baetica was one of three Imperial Roman provinces in Hispania, . Hispania Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica was part of Al-Andalus under the Moors in the 8th century and approximately corresponds to modern Andalucia...

-ANDALUS"

Al-Andalus

Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...

, as a reminder of two of the most important periods of the history of Andalusia.

Other versions exist in addition to the official arms. The main difference is the motto, in that it is tied to a more nationalistic version, reading: "ANDALUCÍA POR SÍ, POR LOS PUEBLOS Y LA HUMANIDAD" (Andalusia by herself, for the peoples and for Humankind), as it appeared in a rough draft of the Assembly of Ronda of 1918.