Guns on Flags, Coins and Coats of Arms Around the World

Firearms don’t just win wars, they end up woven into the very symbols of the nations that carried them, right there on flags, coins, and coats of arms. A few countries put a gun front and center in their official identity, and the stories behind those choices are fascinating. Here are the guns hiding in plain sight on the world’s flags and emblems, with a couple of common mix-ups cleared up.

Mozambique: The Only Flag With an AK-47

Mozambique holds a genuine world record: it’s the only national flag on Earth that features a modern firearm. Front and center sits an AK-47 with a fixed bayonet, crossed with a hoe and laid over an open book, symbolizing defense, agriculture, and education. The country loved it enough to keep it. In a 2005 redesign contest with 169 entries, parliament voted 155 to 79 to leave the AK exactly where it was.

Guatemala: Crossed Remingtons

Guatemala’s coat of arms, which sits in the center of its national flag, carries two crossed rifles paired with two swords. And these aren’t generic muskets: they’re specifically Remington rifles, honoring the 1871 Liberal Revolution they helped win. That makes Guatemala one of the very few countries with an identifiable firearm brand woven into its national symbol.

Haiti: A Trophy of Muskets

Haiti’s coat of arms is a full “trophy of arms,” a fan of six muskets and two cannons flanking a palm tree, commemorating the armed struggle for independence. Because Haiti prints that emblem in the middle of its flag, firearms literally fly over the country. The motto beneath says it all: L’Union fait la force, unity makes strength.

Bolivia: Muskets and Cannon

Bolivia’s coat of arms, shown on the state flag and its coinage, stacks a small arsenal on each side: a cannon, a pair of muskets with bayonets, an axe, and three flags, all framing a condor and the famous silver mountain of Potosí. It’s a monument to the independence fight, cast in national heraldry.

Zimbabwe: The Rifle and the Hoe

Zimbabwe’s coat of arms crosses an AK-47 with an agricultural hoe, a deliberate image of the transition from war to peace under the motto “Unity, Freedom, Work.” Note the important detail: the gun is on the coat of arms, not on the flag itself, which shows the Zimbabwe Bird on a red star and no firearm at all.

East Timor and Burkina Faso: Symbolic Kalashnikovs

East Timor’s coat of arms carries a Kalashnikov alongside a traditional spear and bow, honoring a long liberation struggle. Interestingly, historians note the fighters didn’t actually use AK-47s in that war, so the rifle is symbolic homage, likely borrowed from Mozambique’s example. Burkina Faso went further in its 1984 revolutionary emblem under Thomas Sankara, crossing an AK with a traditional hoe as a deliberate local remix of the Soviet hammer and sickle.

Kentucky’s Official State Gun

Closer to home, in 2013 Kentucky named the Kentucky long rifle its official state gun, honoring the flintlock frontier rifle of Daniel Boone’s era. Here’s the fun twist: the “Kentucky rifle” was actually born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It just earned its name from its fame on the Kentucky frontier. If frontier iron is your thing, our best lever-action rifles guide carries the tradition forward.

The Mix-Ups Worth Knowing

Two things people get wrong. First, “lots of flags have AK-47s” is a myth. Only Mozambique’s flag shows a modern rifle; the AKs on Zimbabwe, East Timor, and 1980s Burkina Faso all live on coats of arms, not flag fields. Second, plenty of people swear Venezuela’s arms show muskets, but they don’t. Venezuela’s emblem carries a sword, a sabre, and lances, bladed weapons only, no firearms at all. When you know where to look, guns are hiding on more national symbols than you’d guess, and almost never where the internet says they are.