During its modern history, variousnational symbols have come to representSomalia. Due to the country's instability, many of these are only used in areas under theFederal Government of Somalia, and may not apply to breakaway regions such asSomaliland.
TheConstitution of Somalia mentions three symbols: the flag, the coat of arms and the national anthem.[1]
The flag of Somalia consists of a single white five-pointed star on a cyan field representing the five regions in which Somalis reside (at the time:British Somaliland,Italian Somaliland,French Somaliland,Ogaden and the north ofKenya[2]), making it also theethnic flag of theSomali people. Designed byMohammed Awale Liban in preparation for independence, it was first adopted by theTrust Territory of Somaliland on October 12, 1954.[3]
The coat of arms of Somalia depicts the flag on a golden shield, supported by twonatural leopards standing on spears. It was adopted on October 10, 1956.
The national anthem,Qolobaa Calankeed ("Every nation has its own flag"), was adopted on August 1, 2012 with the newConstitution of Somalia.[1] Composed byAbdullahi Qarshe in 1959, it replacedSoomaaliyeey toosoo ("Somalis, wake up"), which had been in use since 2000.[4]
The national animal of Somalia is theleopard (Panthera pardus), while its national bird is thesuperb starling (Lamprotornis superbus). Its national plant is theking protea (Protea cynaroides).[5] However, none of them are directly mentioned in the Constitution.