Coat of arms of the Nguyễn dynasty
The national coat of arms of the Nguyễn Dynasty
The coat of arms of the Nguyễn dynasty (Vietnamese: Quốc huy triều Nguyễn; Hán-Nôm: 國徽朝阮), officially the national coat of arms of Đại Nam (Vietnamese: Quốc huy Đại Nam; Hán-Nôm: 國徽大南), was the national coat of arms of the Nguyễn dynasty adopted during the reign of the Thành Thái Emperor to be used when accepting diplomatic missions and foreign dignitaries at the Imperial City of Huế.
The coat of arms of the Nguyễn dynasty would later also be used as a personal symbol of its emperors replacing the characters 大南 with their reign era, with the latest of these variants being used in official correspondence during the State of Vietnam period. Khải Định's imperial seal contained a version of the imperial coat of arms but with the six Chinese characters Khải Định Đại Nam Hoàng đế (啟定大南皇帝) on the scroll instead of the country's name. During the Bảo Đại period the scroll only contained two Chinese characters bearing the reign era of the emperor.
Description
A sword per fess charged with a scroll, inscribed with two traditional Chinese characters Đại Nam (大南) and supported by a single five-clawed dragon.
The dragon depicted on the coat of arms has five-claws, which is a sign of imperial authority in imperial China and imperial Vietnam. During the Later Lê and Nguyễn dynasties four-clawed and three-clawed dragons were reserved for subjects as strict regulations existed in how many claws a dragon may have based on the status of the person, only the emperor and his government were allowed to use five-clawed dragons. The scroll depicts the Hán characters 大南 (Đại Nam) as it was the quốc hiệu (國號, 'national name') of Vietnam during most of the Nguyễn dynasty period.
History
According to historians Trần Đức Anh Sơn and Philippe Trương, in 1903 emperor Thành Thái ordered from the Alfred Hache & Co. porcelain factories in Vierzon, Cher department and Paris approximately 310 ceramic items, including four dining sets, four dessert sets, and four tea sets.
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