Emblem of the African Union
Encyclopedia
The emblem of the African Union
features a golden, boundary-less map of Africa
inside two concentric circles, with stylised palm leaves shooting up on either side of the outer circle.
Although when the AU was formed, a competition was announced for designing a new emblem and flag, the Assembly of the African Union decided at the Addis Ababa session of 2004 to retain the emblem and flag of its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, and adopt them as the new AU flag and emblem.
circle symbolises Africa
's wealth and bright future, while the green circle
represents African hopes and aspiration for unity. The map of Africa, without boundaries, signifies African unity, while a series of small interlocking red rings at base of the emblem stand for African solidarity and the blood shed for liberation of Africa.
African Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
features a golden, boundary-less map of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
inside two concentric circles, with stylised palm leaves shooting up on either side of the outer circle.
Although when the AU was formed, a competition was announced for designing a new emblem and flag, the Assembly of the African Union decided at the Addis Ababa session of 2004 to retain the emblem and flag of its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, and adopt them as the new AU flag and emblem.
Symbolism
The palm leaves stand for peace. The goldGold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
circle symbolises Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
's wealth and bright future, while the green circle
Circle
A circle is a simple shape of Euclidean geometry consisting of those points in a plane that are a given distance from a given point, the centre. The distance between any of the points and the centre is called the radius....
represents African hopes and aspiration for unity. The map of Africa, without boundaries, signifies African unity, while a series of small interlocking red rings at base of the emblem stand for African solidarity and the blood shed for liberation of Africa.