Coat of arms of Rwanda
Encyclopedia
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
is the national symbol and used by the government. It was restyled in 2001 to match the color scheme of the new national flag
Flag of Rwanda
The flag of Rwanda was adopted on October 25, 2001.The flag has four colours: blue, green, and two forms of yellow . The blue band represents happiness and peace, the yellow band symbolizes economic development, and the green band symbolizes the hope of prosperity...
. The text reads "Republic of Rwanda - Unity, Work, Patriotism" in Kinyarwanda. The central tribal devices are surmounted on a cog
Cog
Cog may refer to:* A part of a gear system* Cog , a small sailing vessel* A tenon that extends all the way through another piece of wood, in joinery* The evil robots in Toontown Online...
wheel
Wheel
A wheel is a device that allows heavy objects to be moved easily through rotating on an axle through its center, facilitating movement or transportation while supporting a load, or performing labor in machines. Common examples found in transport applications. A wheel, together with an axle,...
and encircled by a square knot.
The details of the seal are laid out in Article 3(2) of the Constitution of Rwanda
Constitution of Rwanda
The Constitution of Rwanda was adopted by referendum on May 26, 2003. It replaced the older Constitution of 1991.The Constitution provides for a presidential system of government, with separation of powers between the three branches. It condemns the Rwandan Genocide in the preamble, expressing hope...
.
The previous emblem dated from the 1960s-the colors green, yellow and red represented peace; the nation's hope for future development; and the people. The device and the flag itself were changed because they had become associated with the brutality of the Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
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