How does Spain's coat of arms reflect the history of the country?

Answer 1

The coat of arms of Spain represent the five constituent kingdoms of Spain. Until the dinastic union with the marriage between Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, the current Spain was divided in several kingdoms. The castle in the coat represents the kingdom OS Castile, and the lyon the kingdom of Leon (they were united under the same crown by the times of Isabel). The red and yellow strips represents the Crown of Aragon (the dinastic union of Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia and Balearics, under the rule of Ferdinand by 1492. The legend sais that this stripes represents the blood of Raimon Berenguer, the first count of Barcelona, after hi felt oer the sand of the beach fightin the moors. The red quarter of the coat, with a round chain in his center represents the Kingdom of Navarre. This kingdom become parto of the united Crown of Spain in 1507. After the death of Isabel, Ferdinand married with Germana de Foix, heir of Navarre and inherited the rights over this kingdom. The chain in the coat of Navarre refers to the battle of the Navas de Tolosa, in 1212, between a coalition of hispanic christians and the moor empire ofthe Almohads. It's a key battle in the history of the Reconquista, because this victory allowed the Christians to enter in the current Andalusia. In this battle, the king of Navarre, Sancho el Fuerte (Sancho the Strong) took the chains that the legend sais that tied the personal guard of the moor leader (the Miramamolin) to himself. In the bottom of the coat there is a pomegrenate, a fruit called Granada in spanish the represents the kingdom of Granada, the last kingdom of the moors in Spain, taken by Isabel and Ferdinand in 1492. In the center of the coat is the coat of the Bourbon dinasty (three "fleur de lis over blue) , the family of the current king of Spain.

In the sides fo the coats there are two columns that represents the Heracle's columns, that is as the Greeks and Romans called the Straigh of Gibraltr. Between the two columns is the motto of Spain, "Plus Ultra" that means "Beyond". In the antiquity was belived that the straight of Gibraltar was the end of the last sure place to sail because the edge of the world would be somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. For that reason was said Non plus ultra, "no go Beyond", more or less. The motto "Plus ultra" reflects the voyage of Columbus through the Atlantic ocean and the foundation of the spanish empire overseas.