culture
National Emblem of Bhutan
The national emblem of Bhutan, also called the state arms, is a circular device depicting two crossed vajras over a lotus, surmounted by a chintamani (wish-fulfilling jewel) and supported by a male and a female druk (thunder dragon). The crossed vajras represent the harmony between secular and religious authority under the dual system of governance, the lotus stands for purity, the jewel embodies sovereign power, and the dragons proclaim the country as Druk Yul, the Land of the Thunder Dragon. The emblem is used on the state seal, on official documents, on Bhutanese currency and on the buildings of Bhutanese diplomatic missions.
The national emblem of Bhutan (Dzongkha: རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ཀྱི་རྟགས་མ་, Gyalkhab kyi tagma), also rendered as the state arms or coat of arms, is the official heraldic device of the kingdom. It is a circular composition combining two crossed vajras over a lotus, a wish-fulfilling jewel above, and male and female thunder dragons as supporters. The motifs are drawn from the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition, and in particular from the Drukpa Kagyu lineage that gives Bhutan its endonym Druk Yul, the Land of the Thunder Dragon.[1]
The emblem is used on the state seal, on the cyphers of the Druk Gyalpo and the offices of the Zhung Dratshang, on the headers of statutes and government notifications, on Bhutanese passports and currency, and on the buildings of Bhutanese diplomatic missions overseas. Like the national flag, the emblem is protected by usage rules that prohibit reproduction in commercial advertising and on consumer goods without permission.[2]
The emblem was commissioned by Ashi Tashi Dorji during the reign of the second king, Jigme Wangchuck, and was rendered in its modern stylised form by a Mongolian artist working with the royal court. It has been used in essentially its present form since the mid-twentieth century, although line drawings and engravings have varied over time according to the medium of reproduction.[1]
Iconography
The central element of the emblem is a pair of crossed vajras (Dzongkha: dorji, the diamond-thunderbolt of Vajrayana Buddhism) resting on a lotus. The two vajras crossed at right angles form the visvavajra, a symbol of indestructible truth. In the Bhutanese reading the crossed vajras stand for the dual order of religious and secular authority — chos srid gnyis ldan — that has structured the state since the seventeenth-century unification under Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel. Within the central circle four small jewels are placed where the vajras intersect, representing the four spiritual undertakings of Vajrayana practice.[2]
The lotus on which the vajras rest is the standard Buddhist symbol of purity, signifying that the temporal and religious orders both rest on a foundation of moral and spiritual cleanliness. Above the vajras is set a chintamani, the wish-fulfilling jewel of Mahayana Buddhist iconography, representing sovereign power and the promise that the Druk Gyalpo's reign will provide for the welfare of the people.[3]
The composition is supported by two thunder dragons, one male and one female. They proclaim the name and identity of the country — Druk, the dragon, and Yul, the country — and represent the harmony of male and female principles in Tantric Buddhism. The dragons' open mouths are read as voicing the great voice of thunder, the natural sign that gives the country its name.[1]
Use in State and Public Life
The emblem appears on the great seal used by the Druk Gyalpo's office on royal kashos (decrees), on the seals of the National Assembly and the National Council, on the masthead of the official Government of Bhutan website, and on the obverse of every denomination of the ngultrum currency issued by the Royal Monetary Authority. Bhutanese passports carry the emblem on their cover. Embassies and missions of Bhutan abroad display the emblem alongside the flag.[3]
Within the country the emblem is engraved on the doors and lintels of major dzongs, on the headers of dzongkhag-administration documents and on the lapel pins worn by senior civil servants on formal state occasions. It also forms a central element of the Bhutanese order of merit and other state decorations conferred by the Druk Gyalpo.[4]
Relationship to Other National Symbols
The emblem is one of a closely related set of Bhutanese national symbols formalised under the Constitution of Bhutan. The others include the national flag, the national anthem Druk Tsendhen, the national language Dzongkha, the national bird the raven, the national animal the takin, the national flower the blue poppy and the national tree the cypress. The emblem and the flag together form the principal heraldic identifiers of the state, while the natural symbols anchor the country's identity in the ecology of the Himalaya.[2]
References
View online: https://bhutanwiki.org/articles/national-emblem-of-bhutan · Content licensed CC BY-SA 4.0