Tuesday, March 17, 2015

An Emblem to Be Proud of

Creating a good national emblem is no easy task. But I have to say, Nepal has nailed it.

A major focus of the emblem is on the beautiful natural environment of Nepal, for which it is so well known. The image depicts one of the country’s most famous regions: the Himalayas. The green hills symbolise Nepal’s hilly region and the yellow colour is symbolic of the Terai region of Nepal. All of which are areas which I am very keen to visit. 
The Himalayas

The image is bordered by a string of the country’s national flower (the Rhododendron flower). Below the image is a banner with Nepal’s motto written in Sanskrit, which (when translated) reads: “The mother and the motherland are greater than heaven”.

One of my favourite parts of the emblem is the image in the foreground, which depicts male and female hands joining, symbolising gender equality.

The emblem’s focus on Nepal’s natural environment compares to the focus of this blog, which itself is a celebration of the natural environment around us.

The emblem was changed on the 30th of December 2006, during the reconciliation period following the Nepalese civil war.


One could observe the emblem in a critical manner. Is it just a representation of the major tourist industry of the country?  Did they choose an emblem to advertise Nepal as an "adventure holiday destination", and to ultimately make money? Perhaps. Nevertheless, in my opinion the emblem is a beautiful one, which symbolises the positive aspects of Nepal. The symbols represented resonate with my own morals and beliefs: Its celebration of the natural environment and gender equality has definitely made me want to visit Nepal even more!