The Maldivian

Maldives

The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...

 National Emblem consists of a coconut palm, a crescent

Crescent

In art and symbolism, a crescent is generally the shape produced when a circular disk has a segment of another circle removed from its edge, so that what remains is a shape enclosed by two circular arcs of different diameters which intersect at two points .In astronomy, a crescent...

, and two criss-crossing National Flags with the traditional Title of the State.

Interpretation

The depicted coconut palm represents the livelihood of the Nation acording to Maldivian folklore

Maldivian Folklore

Maldive Mythology or Maldive Folklore is the body of myths, tales and anecdotes belonging to the oral tradition of Maldivians. Even though some of the Maldivian myths were already mentioned briefly by British commissioner in Ceylon HCP Bell towards the end of the 19th century, their study and...

 and tradition. The inhabitants believe it to be the most beneficial tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

 to them as they utilize every part of the tree on various applications ranging from medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

 to boat-building. The Crescent (a universal Islamic symbol) and its accompanying star

Star

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

 embodies the Islamic faith

Faith

Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...

 of the State and its authority respectively.

The words of the scroll Ad-Dawlat Al-Mahaldheebiyya are written in the Arabic naskh

Naskh (script)

Naskh is a specific calligraphic style for writing in the Arabic alphabet, thought to be invented by the Iranian calligrapher Ibn Muqlah Shirazi . The root of this Arabic term means "to copy". It either refers to the fact that it replaced its predecessor, Kufic script, or that this style allows...

 style of script. They were used by Sultan

Sultan

Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...

 AI-Ghazee Mohamed Thakurufaanu Al-Azam one of the most illustrious heroes of the nation. The title Ad-Dawlat Al-Mahaldheebiyya means the "State of the Mahal Dibiyat", which is the name Ibn Battuta

Ibn Battuta

Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta , or simply Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad–Din , was a Muslim Moroccan Berber explorer, known for his extensive travels published in the Rihla...

 and other Mediaeval Arab travellers used to refer to the Maldives.

Modern Usage

The Coat of Arms is a symbolic representation of the Maldivian Government

Government

Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

 and is used frequently in official documents (on the header right underneath the Bismillah

Bismillah

There are multiple uses of Bismillah :* Bismillah is first word of the Basmala phrase of Islam.* Bismillah , born in Oruzgan, Afghanistan, in 1952...

) and other Governmental Representations.

Former version

The crescent and star in the middle of the Maldive Coat of Arms used to be pale blue and white (silver) at the time of its first design in the 1940s during Muhammad Amin Doshimēna Kalēgefānu's regency. The color of the crescent and star was changed to gold in the 1990s.