The state emblem of India is adapted from which ancient sculpture?

The Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro

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Flags & Emblems Medium ⚡ 10 Questions ⏱️ ~8 Mins +100 XP

National Emblems Beyond the Flag

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A flag is only part of how a country presents itself. Ten questions on the arms, animals and plants that turn up on passports, coins and official seals.

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About this topic

Flags are for flying. Emblems are for stamping: on a passport, a coin, a court document, an embassy door. That is why they tend to be far more detailed than flags, and why they change far less often — a coat of arms can survive several redesigns of the flag above it. The symbols themselves come from all over. Some are ancient sculpture, some are mythical animals inherited from medieval heraldry, and some are plants that became national by long habit rather than any law. These ten are the ones worth knowing.

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National Emblems Beyond the Flag: all 10 questions and answers

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1Which flower is the emblem of the Japanese imperial family?
- A The cherry blossom
- B The lotus
- C The plum blossom
- D The chrysanthemum Correct
Answer: D. The chrysanthemum

Why: A stylised sixteen-petal chrysanthemum serves as the imperial seal, and the monarchy is known as the Chrysanthemum Throne. A version of it appears on the cover of Japanese passports.
2Which mythical animal is the national animal of Scotland?
- A The dragon
- B The phoenix
- C The unicorn Correct
- D The griffin
Answer: C. The unicorn

Why: The unicorn has appeared in Scottish royal heraldry since the fourteenth century. It is shown chained, on the grounds that a free unicorn was considered dangerous.
3Which plant is the long-standing emblem on New Zealand sports uniforms and coinage?
- A The flax
- B The silver fern Correct
- C The kowhai
- D The kauri
Answer: B. The silver fern

Why: The underside of the silver fern frond is pale enough to catch the light, which is where the name comes from. New Zealand teams have used it since the 1880s.
4Which two plants are traditional emblems of Wales?
- A The leek and the daffodil Correct
- B The thistle and the heather
- C The shamrock and the rose
- D The oak and the ivy
Answer: A. The leek and the daffodil

Why: The leek is the older of the two and is worn on Saint David's Day. The daffodil grew popular in the twentieth century, helped by the fact that both share a similar name in Welsh.
5The state emblem of India is adapted from which ancient sculpture?
- A The Iron Pillar of Delhi
- B The Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro
- C The Great Stupa at Sanchi
- D The Lion Capital of Ashoka Correct
Answer: D. The Lion Capital of Ashoka

Why: The original stands at Sarnath and shows four lions seated back to back. The motto beneath it, Satyameva Jayate, comes from the Mundaka Upanishad and means truth alone triumphs.
6Which two animals support the coat of arms of Australia?
- A A dingo and an emu
- B A koala and a black swan
- C A kangaroo and an emu Correct
- D A kangaroo and a koala
Answer: C. A kangaroo and an emu

Why: The kangaroo and emu were adopted in 1908 and confirmed in the 1912 version still used. They are often said to have been chosen because neither animal moves backwards easily.
7The national emblem of Indonesia is built around which mythical bird?
- A The simurgh
- B Garuda Correct
- C The phoenix
- D The roc
Answer: B. Garuda

Why: Garuda Pancasila shows the bird carrying a shield with five symbols for the five founding principles. The numbers of feathers on its wings, tail and neck encode the independence date of 17 August 1945.
8Which animal appears on the coat of arms of Peru, alongside a cinchona tree and a cornucopia?
- A The vicuña Correct
- B The jaguar
- C The condor
- D The llama
Answer: A. The vicuña

Why: The three quarters of the shield stand for animal, plant and mineral wealth, with the vicuña representing the first. The cinchona tree is the natural source of quinine.
9Which country uses a harp as its official state emblem?
- A Scotland
- B Iceland
- C Malta
- D Ireland Correct
Answer: D. Ireland

Why: Ireland is the only country to use a musical instrument this way, and the harp appears on the presidential seal and on Irish euro coins. The state harp faces the opposite direction to the Guinness one, which is why the brewery could not block its use.
10Which female figure has been used for centuries as the personification of Britain?
- A Albion
- B Victoria
- C Britannia Correct
- D Boudicca
Answer: C. Britannia

Why: Britannia was a Roman personification of the province and was revived under the Stuarts. She appeared on British coinage for well over three hundred years.

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