What Does Costa Rica's National Shield Represent

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Costa Rica is a country located in Central America between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, with Nicaragua to the North and Panama to the South. The official name of the country is, the Republic of Costa Rica and its name literally translated means, “Rich Coast”. All of the features of Costa Rica’s pabellon nacional, or their flag that displays the country’s national shield, have rich meaning and symbolism. Each of the features of the pabellon nacional of Costa Rica were chosen for their historical and symbolic meanings. The base colors of the flag represent Costa Rican ideals and two of the main illustrations on the shield represent important geographical features of their country.

The base of the Costa Rican flag features five horizontal stripes, two are blue, two are white and center stripe is red. In 1848 the First Lady of Costa Rica chose the colors of the flag after being inspired by The French Revolution. The colors are also the same colors that are in the flag of France. Each of the colors in the flag were chosen to represent the ideals of the Costa Rican people. Blue stands for the sky, opportunities within reach and intellectual thinking. The white symbolizes peace, wisdom and happiness. Finally the color red, located in the center of the flag expresses the warmth of the Costa Rican people, their love of life and the blood they lost when they …show more content…

The most noticeable trait of the shield are the three volcanoes that are pictured in the center. The volcanoes represent the nation’s three main volcanic mountain ranges, Irzu, Poas and Arenal. The volcanoes in the shield are sitting on top of a green valley which represents the valley between the mountain ranges of Costa Rica. These geographical traits were displayed in the National Shield to represent some of the beautiful features of the

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