Australian Research Journal of Humanities, Management and Social Sciences (ARJHMS, Vol.11, No. 1, February 2019 || gubdjournals.org

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF DESIGN CONTENT IN NIGERIAN COAT OF ARM

By Charles G. T. Omuaru (Ph. D) Email: [email protected] Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Rumuolumeni, P. M. B. 5047, Port Harcourt Abstract The Nigerian has existed shortly before the formation of the country but its presence is probably hardly noticed except few, neither are the meaning of the symbols expounded, nor its usefulness catches the attention of many. And often times wrongly used in public gathering, so is the legal injunction unpopular. As a result, wrong assertions have been attributed to some of the symbols in the design. This paper is designed to examine, analyse, interpret and evaluate the design content of the Coat of Arms for information and education of the public. Hence, the methodology employed is content analysis for the education of the public of the component parts. The findings reveal that the symbols do not reflect the entity called , more so, indigenous emblems should have been more appropriate. It is recommended that experts should be drawn from the six geopolitical zones to recreate the Coat of Arms for a more harmonious synergy that would be all inclusive. The Coat of Arms reveals that there is strength in unity.

Keywords: Coat of arm, Critical analysis, Symbols, Meaning and Evaluation.

Introduction: Every nation in the world is identified with some graphic symbols, designed to represent the characteristics of its geographical location, peoples, strength and the philosophy that governs its people and their aspirations. Some of these symbols universally used are the Flag and the Coat– of-arm, Currency, National anthem, Map and the Pledge. These are displayed in international, continental and regional gathering for identification, expression of ideals and symbols of national characteristics. In this paper, the coat-of-arm is identified as a viable instrument of national symbol and cohesion, and it is therefore evaluated based on its concepts, design and signification. The paper therefore is designed to relate the history, describe, analyse, interpret and evaluate the coat of arms.

An Overview of Nigeria’s history and the coat of arm The coat of arm is an insignia, a symbol and instrument of authority that represents the rich culture and diversity of the peoples, the past, present and the splendour of the country. Nigeria is rich and blessed country; these are expressed in certain graphic symbols which form the Coat of Arms. Other symbols that herald the country in its outings include: the Nigerian national Anthem, (the old and the new), the Pledge, Flag, Map and the Nigerian Currency.

The Nigerian National Anthem (Current) Period (1991 to present) Arise, O compatriots, Nigeria's call obey. To serve our fatherland. With love and strength and faith. The labour of our heroes past Shall never be in vain. To serve with heart and might. One nation bound in freedom, peace, and unity.

Oh God of creation, direct our noble cause Guide our leaders right. Help our youth and truth to know In love and honesty to grow

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And living just and true Great lofty heights attain To build a nation where peace and justice shall reign.

The Old National Anthem Period (1960 to 1970) Nigeria we hail thee Our own dear native land Though tribe and tongue may differ In brotherhood we stand Nigerians all and proud to serve Our sovereign motherland Our flag shall be a symbol That truth and justice reign In peace or battle honour And this we count as gain To pass unto our children

A banner without stain O God of all creation Grant this our one request Help us to build a nation Where no man is oppressed And so with peace and plenty Nigeria may be blessed

Pledge I pledge to Nigeria my country To be faithful, loyal and honest To serve Nigeria with all my strength To defend her unity And uphold her honor and glory

So help me God. Plate ii: The Nigerian flag

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Plate iii: The map of Nigeria

Plate iv: Different denominations of the Nigerian currency.

The Nigerian Currency Among the Nigerian national symbols, the Currency has undergone greater number of changes in intervals, denominations, sizes, icons in personality and objects of interest as well as motifs and colours than any other symbol. The first notable currency during colonial presence was the Pounds sterling, which was likened to the British Pound, but was changed after the Nigeria civil war (between Biafra and Nigeria). However, Biafran leaders in order to attain a sovereign state amongst others introduced its currency, used within the territory. Nevertheless, it functioned effectively within Biafra land as long as the war lasted(See plate v). The Biafran Pound notes

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Australian Research Journal of Humanities, Management and Social Sciences (ARJHMS, Vol.11, No. 1, February 2019 || gubdjournals.org were first introduced in 1968 and tendered up to 1970 which included 5-shilling, one pound followed by other denominations(Linzmayer, 2011). The first system of commerce known to the traditional African communities, especially in Nigeria before the coming of the Arabians in the North and the Europeans in the South was trade by barter. Cowries and manilas were the means of exchange for goods and services. To make commerce thrive as it was in Europe, the then colonial administrators established West African Currency Board which was responsible for issuing out the Bank notes that covered the West African region, between 1912 to 1959. The systematic development of the country attracted a lot of attention and business, trade and commerce, therefore the need for a was necessary, and in 1959 it became a reality. Nevertheless, the following year, the country gained her independence which bequeathed responsibility to the Africans and demanded service, therefore implying that there will be necessary changes. The changes were inevitable, from the year 1959 culminating to 1962 and 1968, the beginning of Nigeria and the Biafran civil war gave impetus to changes in the Nigerian currency. The reasons were to strengthen the currency, sustain the economy and prevent misuse (Central bank of Nigeria, 2016). After the civil war, it was expected that the mess must be cleaned up and this affected the banks and it duties, which included issuance of bank notes. Therefore, 1971, 1973 and 1977 saw close changes; these were designed to tag along with the new era and the honour bestowed to the slain military leader, Murtala Mohammed. The changes were made on the bank notes with respect to colour, personalities, objects of national interest and denominations continued and by 1991 new denominations were introduced to enhance commerce. Similarly, in responding to the needs of economic growth, expansion, efficient payment of goods and services higher denominations were introduced in 1991, 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2007. The last of currency change in Nigeria was the N100 (one hundred Naira) to celebrate Nigeria’s 100 years anniversary.

A brief The name Nigeria came from a foreign coinage, to designate the then British protectorates that encompass the Northern and Southern Protectorates, the land mass surrounding the River Niger and the Benue River confluences as well as the ocean and its tributaries in the Delta Region. The peoples of these areas had a long-standing history of organized societies of ancient Kingdoms, Caliphates, Empires and City States. The first foreign incursion was by the Islamists, who carried out several Jihadists expeditions, in the core northern part of the country, extending into some western settlements. The Southern part was through the curios expeditions of the Europeans, who carried out several expeditions and as a result, the African States were discovered; thereafter came traders of several goods including slave trade, evangelism and eventually colonization took place(Abubakar, 2010). The resultant effect was balkanization and distribution of African States to the then world powers. The seeming country, Niger area (the southern and northern protectorates) was therefore allocated to the British. Thereafter, the unification of the northern and southern protectorates was established by Lord Lugard, who later became its first Governor General. Nigeria as it became known was formed out of many nations, with diverse cultures, languages, religions, social background and geographical terrains (Ajayi, 2012).

The Nigerian Coat of Arms As a result of this formation, there was the need for bonding of the ethnic groups, hence, theNational Flag, the Pledge and the Coat of Arms were introduced; and by the year 1960, the ordinance of the Coat-of-Arms was made public and the present design was adopted (See Plate v). However, this was not entirely a new development, Britain has its national flag and Coat of arm, and so many other nations of the world, old and new. As presented in the ordinance, it is a symbol of authority and an instrument of governance. The motifs or elements in the coat of arms

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Australian Research Journal of Humanities, Management and Social Sciences (ARJHMS, Vol.11, No. 1, February 2019 || gubdjournals.org represent the rich cultural diversity along with the past historical splendour of the country. A symbol, by the explanation of Preble (1994) is ‘an identifying mark based on pictorial (rather than topographic)’. By and large, the coat of arm is an insignia and an emblem which gives an insight, graphically, what a country stands for, designed specifically for that country, distinct from other countries’ emblems. The Nigerian coat of arm is a combination of symbols which signify a number of concepts and ideals Nigeria as a country represent. These symbols and their meanings are represented as follows. However, it should be pointed out that, these concepts are not generally agreeable, yet, there are areas of consensus.

The Nigeria Coat of Arms Designer: Unknown Date of use: 20 may, 1960 Plate v

The uses of the Nigerian Coat of Arm The country by any standard is above any set of people, organisations, group of peoples and therefore should be respected and its laws obeyed without preferences or favour.However, any individuals or group of persons who are elected to fill these positions are accorded this respect and responsibilities. Nonetheless, it is noteworthy that such persons might not be always at position to represent the office of the nation; hence a symbol was needed for this purpose. This symbolic representation is not totally offline with the African traditional means of identification of the chiefs and kings of the people in the past and present, where certain natural objects or animals’ characteristics are directly linked to such personality and taken as a totem as a symbol of the people who are his followers. Therefore, the Coat of Arm is taken to depict the presence of government in the public, in addition to the personal portrait of the President of the country, the Commander-in-Chief. The valid positioning of these must be in this order, especially when it is hung on the wall; the Coat of Arm must be at the centre, while the President’s portrait is placed at the right and the Governor’s portrait is on the left. This order must be maintained in any public display of government presence, especially, where the President is addressing the public. Perhaps, to the ignorance of many, the improper use of the Coat of Arms as well as the President’s Portrait, especially in its placement is an offence, so is its absence in any Government offices.

The Coat of arms as a work of art

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The generic concept of work of art could be summed up to mean an aesthetic object created to appeal to man’s sensibility. However, overtime, the limitation of this concept has generated fierce criticism, thereby allowing for more liberal and all-inclusive ideas of what maybe included to mean. It is that piece of object, that is aesthetically seen (depending on one’s taste), a creation with an intent, which may include; a fine art, such as sculpture, and painting, an object of adornment, for example, a piece of jewelry, interior decoration, folk art, photograph, film, video game, computer programming such as animation and installation and conceptual arts. The coat of arms as a work of art falls under the graphic arts, which exhibits major characteristics of art, such as elements and principles. For clarifications, the Prebles(1994) define art as the aesthetic expression of an idea or experience formed with skill through the use of a medium. The medium in this context is the graphic arts, through which several symbols were used, adopted by the artist to communicate these ideals to his audience. To Egonwa (1987), a work of art is the result of the manipulative skill applied by man, usually a gifted person to express an idea in a chosen medium, which is divorced from any uses to which it may be put, has the sole purpose of giving a rewarding emotional expression.

A critical examination of the two definitions reveal that the coat of arms is created by a skillful person, an artist, through the medium, graphic art, which expresses an idea of certain emotions of a people. A simple analysis of the coat of arm shows that, it has inherent elements and principles of art, which includes, lines, colours, forms and the principle of balance (symmetric), to mention a few. It is therefore, necessary to convey the need for the production of a work of art, whilst the coat of arm; knowing that human perceptions and thought processes are considered generally as mysterious, while its conveyance is confusing and complicated, whether in healthy or chaotic relations. Therefore, the need for communication is ever increasingly desired, be it verbal or visual. Nonetheless, verbal or oral communication has given room for misconceptions and misconstrued expressions, hence, the visual and virtual mode of communication have been adopted as ideal long before written history; because, it expresses the peoples’ emotions especially in symbols they can relate with. This is particularly viable, for a country like Nigeria with multiple culture, traditions and languages.

Description of the Coat of arm The coat of arm is made up of the ‘red ’, ‘two white horses’, ‘wreath’, ‘black shield’ divided by a white, wavy ‘Y’- shaped river’. At the base, is a ‘lush green grass’ with red flowers (Cocsusspectabilis) and finally, ‘a ribbon’ commonly refers to as banner, on which, the national captioned; ‘Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress’ rests (Braide, 2002). The coat of arm is rendered in colours of green, white and green, the red the eagle and yellow flowers; it consists of the ribbon, the black shield, grass, and the wreath presented in green, white and green. The coat of arm formation is hierarchical. At the base is a grass (littered with the national flower (Cocsusspectabilis) wrapped round by a ribbon, it provides a platform for the motto; ‘Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress’. The shield and the wavy Y shaped river stand on the grass in a tip- toed pose. On this same grass the chargers (white Stallions) stand with their hind hooves, while their fore limbs rest on the shield. On the shield appears the wreath on which the red eagle elegantly stands, looking into its far right.

Analysis and Interpretation The analysis and interpretation of the Coat of Arms is based on semiotic analysis to bring out the latent content of each symbol. This is presented below for easy elucidation. The red eagle signifies Nigeria’s strength, agility, as well as foresight, expected quality for its leaders. The black shield trisected with the white ‘Y’ represents Nigeria Protection which is erroneously interpreted as ‘the fortuitous qualities of the land in agriculture, mineral…..’

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The ‘Y’ represents the River Niger by the tail, and River Benue by the branches. These are the major rivers that run through the country. The two white horses signify strength and dignity. The flowers (Cocsusspectabilis) are the national flowers, found growing wildly in many parts of the country.

S/N NAME SYMBOL LATENT CONTENT

1. Red Eagle Eagle signifies Nigeria’s strength, agility and foresight. This is what is expected of its leaders to move the country into prosperity

2. Black This is the background on which Shield the various symbols form the logo component. It represents protection. Simply put, every citizen of the country is expected to protect the unity and ideals of the nation.

3. White Symbolizes strength, dignity, Stallions heroism and nobility. This is what is expected of the citizens of the country.

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4. The letter This represents the Niger and Benue River, which is a source of wealth to the nation, and a sea route to the hinterland

5. Cocsusspe The predominant and special ctabilis kind of flower in the country and flower and the low grass land. It signifies the green agricultural growth and grass prosperity.

6. Ribbon This is one of the major elements of design in a logo or coat of arm which usually contains specific information. The ribbon in its brilliant colour directs the eyes to the vital message. It creates awareness and appeals for support.

The base of the coat of arm represents the vegetation, fertile land for agriculture. Nigeria is a rich and blessed country with several mineral resources discovered throughout the land. The images in the coat of arm are reduced to flat shapes, simplified with unmistakable symbols, devoid of depths and protrusion in order to illustrate graphic form, without losing the form it was designed to convey.

Evaluation / Judgment Aesthetically, the design is noteworthy. In order to examine the coat of arm to make clarifications on the ideals of the concepts applied in this design, the theory of instrumentalist as highlighted by Carroll (1994) is apt in this discourse. It implies that an art is devoted to disseminating certain information the artist wants to put across. Does the coat of arm, effectively put across elements that inform people what the designer has in mind? The answer is affirmative. The next theory is Formalist Theory (Bell, 1977); this emphasizes the relationships of various elements to form a coherent body of art. By this we mean the artist’s ability to manipulate these basic elements and principles to produce a work of art. By the nature of graphic arts, it is two dimensional; the concepts, forms and symbols are appropriate and convey the information clearly. Various types of lines, colours, shapes and space are arranged in special manner to convey the message. In the coat of arm, the principle of balance (symmetric design) is ideally displayed, just as values and texture are creatively employed.

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Nevertheless, there are very salient questions to ask about its content, for example, do the symbols truly represent the peculiarity of the Nigerian nation? Many have questioned the true nationhood of this country, ‘was it formed on the basis of tribe, language, culture or common aspiration agreed upon through dialogue?’ Clearly, none of these was a reason for its formation; rather, it was the desire of the colonizers to group these peoples together for administrative convenience (Braide, 2002). So was the coat of arm. In spite of its significance, (may be at the time of its presentation) it was a gift by the same colonial masters, who dictated for the people for as long as they remained in the country, a people of different background, tribes, desires and aspirations The design should have been conceived and developed by the indigenous people, based on their socio-cultural needs, their aspirations that can be shared from generations to generations. Olowo (2012) postulates that the red eagle by its position represents the north, the horses and the grasses and flowers at the base represent the west and the east respectively. This is indeed a personal opinion, which may be shared by many; however, it is a generous misrepresentation and misinterpretation to which this paper disagrees. Rather, the design should be viewed as a holistic representation of the nation, showing foresight for its leaders, strength, and viable natural resources. Nevertheless, the defects of the design are seemingly overwhelming, perhaps unintentionally represented - if Olowo’s assertion were to be upheld, it does imply that the vegetation represents the Eastern region, then, where lies the Delta region and its resources? The very important oil rich region is left out. Let us assume, the elements used are taken for the characteristics of the land and peoples, it is therefore probable that when the design was made, petroleum was not produced in commercial quantity, or so, other produce such as cocoa and groundnuts where left out, hence its inclusion was unnecessary. It is therefore pertinent to state that mineral resources of the country were not relevant to be included in the design. The forms are too realistic and do not conform to any known African style of representation, hence, the submission that the design was influenced by Western concept of design.

Conclusion: The thought process as regards the design elements and symbolic representations are indeed speculative. Perhaps, based on the existing circumstances at the time of the design, the motifs were carefully selected to represent what the designer thought people believe and the nation stands for. Hence, an exposition is made on these national property of which citizen will relate and own with a sense of pride. The future, is now, and now is the time for the probing instead of continued speculation. As we expect our country to develop physically, the citizen mental and psychological development is needful for articulation. Therefore, where there is further need for rebranding, as it may affect these national properties such as the coat of arms and the national flag, the citizens are also psychologically ready to show commitment. Perhaps, it should be suggested here that, should the need arise to recreate another coat of arms and flags inputs should be sought from stake holders from across the regions for a design that will be acceptable and inclusive. The elegance, strength and dignity derived from the various elements are resources and ideals to which citizens of this country can draw inspirations from. There is strength in unity, this is demonstrated by the coat of arms.

References Abubakar, N. (2010). Political Conjectures in Nigeria’s National Project. In Nigeria @ 50 Jubilee Celebration. National Cultural & Historical Exhibition The journey in our Independence. Abuja: Federal Ministry of Tourism, Cultural and National Orientation. P.61

Ajayi D. O. (2012). Nigerian Federalism: A Historical Survey. In Issues and Trends in Nigera’s Development. A Festchrist for the Rev. (Fr.) Abiodun F. Akinseye Pp. 1-23

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Braide, K. M. (2002). Deconstructing Nigerian Symbols of National Identity. Online: Nigeria world. Com/feature/publication/kombo/012602.html Retrieved 26/2/2017 Bell, C. (1977). Art as Significant Form: The Aesthetic Hypothesis in Dickie, Sclefan, R. J. (editors), Aesthetics a Critical Anthropology. New York: St. Martins Press Inc. pp.898 Carroll, N (1994). Identifying Art in Yanal, R.J. (Ed.) Institutions of Art: Reconsiderations of George Dicke’s Philosophy Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 250 Central Bank of Nigeria (2016) History of Nigerian Currency Online:file///c:/Documents of Central bank of Nigeria. The currency htm. Retrieved 20/1/2017 Corel Corporation (1995) Corel Draw/6 Guidelines for Clipart Use Canada: Corel Corporation. Pp109-133 and 175-189 Egonwa, (1987) the meaning of Art in Omuaru G. T. (2002) Ground Work of Visual Arts: A source Book. Ibadan: Hope Publications P.19 Katz, E. L., Lankford, E. L. Plank, J. D. (1995). Themes and Foundation of Art. Los Angeles: West Publishing Company. pp. 431 Linzmayer, Owen (2011). "Biafra". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA: www.BanknoteNews.com. Retrieved 2011-08-21. Preble, D. & S. (1994) Artform: An Introduction to the Visual Arts. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers. Pp227-242

Olowo, The Nigerian Coat of Arms: http://www.conservapedia.Com/Nigeria Retrieved January 21, 2013. Olowo in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Nigeria#References Retrieved 21/1/2017 Sierra on Line-Inc. (1997). Print Art Graphics Manual USA: Sierra on Line Inc. Hypperlink.http://www.swyrich.com

Wikimedia; https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=coat of arms of Nigeria & oldid=758200570. Retrieved on 6/7/2010

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