Nigerian heraldry

It dates to the country's pre-colonial period, and due to an absence of a central heraldic authority, it is currently largely unregulated.

Although Nigeria's hereditary signifiers are primarily oral (e.g. oriki) and performance based (e.g. masquerades) in nature, the country nevertheless has a vibrant heraldic tradition.

[1][2][3] By using a colour that many have therefore come to identify with the prophet himself to embody the Sultan of Sokoto, a symbolic continuity between this monarch and the religious leader whom he claimed to succeed was implied.

[4] Even today, they often still serve as symbols for powerful individuals (such as the Oba of the Akure Kingdom amongst the Yoruba people)[5] and associations (such as Ekpe amongst the Efik).

In addition to its usage on regal robes, crowns, stools and sceptres as a result, it also appears in associated court art.

Much of this heraldry (including a great deal of that which is connected to members of the Nigerian chieftaincy system, such as the Erunmu badge rendered here) is composed of similar imagery.

It consists of a black shield with a wavy white pall, symbolizing the meeting of the Niger and Benue Rivers at Lokoja.

Starting with the politician and newspaper publisher Sir Kitoyi Ajasa (who arguably became the first Nigerian to theoretically qualify for British arms when he was knighted by the colonists in 1928),[10][11] many of the country's most prominent figures over the course of the succeeding three decades were awarded membership in the imperial gentry in a de facto sense by way of knighthoods, although their not having had legal achievements assigned to them by the College of Arms or the Court of the Lord Lyon during their lifetimes due to either their indifference or their lack of knowledge of what was due to them meant that this was not enshrined in heraldic law, nor was this gentry status subsequently regularized or otherwise bequeathed to any of their lineal successors.

Since Nigerian independence in 1960, the knights have been supplanted by clerics as the country's largest body of people that are entitled to claim foreign arms.

The flag of the Sokoto Caliphate .
The flag of the Aro Confederacy .
The flag of the Kano Emirate .
A Leopard's Head container, traditionally used for storing kola nuts . The Leopard is a royal totem of the Oba in the Kingdom of Benin .
The Shea tree . A male incarnation of this plant is the hereditary totem of the Aku priestly caste of the Atyap people .
The Nsibidi symbol for a boy named Onuaha.
Solomon's knot , a symbol of Yoruba royalty.
The Dagin Arewa , a symbol of Hausa and Northern Nigerian identity.
The heraldic badge of the Erunmu sub-set of the Owu Egba . Its designers included Niyi Ijaola, the eldest son and heir apparent of Chief Olugbolahan Ijaola, the Oluroko of Erunmu.
The heraldic badge of the Okpe , a people of the Niger Delta.
The coat of arms of Nigeria, which is defined and protected by law.
The seal of Lagos State , which is defined and protected by law.
The arms of Francis Cardinal Arinze .
The arms of Anthony Olubunmi Cardinal Okogie .
The arms of the Thynns of Longleat , Marquesses of Bath .