Which country's national animal is dragon?
2. Dragon – China, Vietnam, Bhutan, and many more. You've no doubt seen dragons used as national symbols in a lot of places, mainly in Asia. But the one that really sticks out is the Druk (“The Thunder Dragon”) of Bhutan.
Chinese tradition has always used the dragon totem as the national emblem, and the "Yellow Dragon flag" of the Qing dynasty has influenced the impression that China is a dragon in many European countries.
The green pheasant is an omnivore species which has been found in Japan for a million years. Surprisingly this species is not found in other places in the world other than Japan. The green pheasant has been the national animal of Japan since 1947 and currently it is a very important iconic sign of Japan.
You probably wouldn't think of a magical horned creature typically seen on children's lunchboxes! But it's true: the unicorn really is the official national animal of Scotland. And our love for this famous mythological creature dates back many centuries.
| Country | Name of animal | Scientific name (Latin name) |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa | Galjoen (national fish) | Dichistius capensis |
| Sri Lanka | Sri Lankan junglefowl (national bird) | Gallus lafayettii |
| Tanzania | Giraffe (national animal) | Giraffa sp. |
| Thailand | Asian elephant (national animal) | Elephas maximus |
However, contrary to the Japanese belief that the three-clawed dragons also originated from China and was introduced in Japan. The three-clawed dragons were the Chinese dragons used in China in the earlier times and were the principal form of dragons which were used on the robes of the Tang dynasty.
| Chinese dragons | Lóng (Lung2 in Wade-Giles romanization.) |
|---|---|
| Japanese dragons | Uwabami |
| Korean dragons | Yong (Mireu) |
| Imoogi | |
| Taiwanese dragons | Han Long |
Mexico's national animal is the majestic golden eagle. The country's arresting coat of arms even depicts a Mexican golden eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus devouring a rattlesnake. This draws on an Aztec legend that said you would know where to build your city once you saw an eagle eating a snake on top of a lake.
It may not surprise you to find out that China's national animal is the giant panda. Panda imagery is synonymous with the country, they are embossed on official gold panda coins, and were one of the mascots of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
What is the national animal of Egypt?
Egypt's national animal is the steppe eagle. Eagles were an important symbol in ancient Egypt, with temples often decorated with them.
The brown bear is Finland's national animal. For ancient Finns the bear was a feared yet revered and respected animal. The importance of the bear in the minds of ancient Finns is demonstrated by the fact that there are over 200 different names for the bear in our language.
The bison is an inspiring symbol of America's strength and resilience, and is revered as sacred by many Native American tribes, whose rich culture and history plays such an important role in South Dakota.
Elephant in Thai Tradition – The national animal of Thailand is the Thai elephant or Chang Thai (ช้างไทย). Elephants and their predecessors are thought to have been in Thailand since approximately 16 million years ago.
A set of animal symbols of the Slavic countries. Wild boar - Poland, pig, crane - Ukraine, bear - Russia.
The three-toed dragons are Japanese. Four-toed dragons are Indonesian or Korean. Five-toed dragons are Chinese. They can be coloured red, yellow, blue, white or black.
Mythical creature. From its origins as totems or the stylized depiction of natural creatures, the Chinese dragon evolved to become a mythical animal. The Han dynasty scholar Wang Fu recorded Chinese myths that long dragons had nine anatomical resemblances.
Today, dragons are celebrated and revered in Buddhist, Taoist and Confucianism traditions as symbols of strength and enlightenment. Dragons also appear in Anatolian religions, Sumerian myths, Germanic sagas, Shinto beliefs and in Abrahamic scriptures.
Revelation 12:3 reads, “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.” Later, in Revelation 20:2, the text calls Satan a dragon.
In real life, probably not. While it makes sense that massive, unidentified bones combined with smaller creatures that look like they could be dragon relatives inspired the legends, we'll have to be satisfied with fictional dragon depictions to fuel the fire of our mythical mentality.
Which culture had dragons first?
One of the earliest depictions portray dragons as giant snakes in the mythologies of the ancient Near East, particularly in Mesopotamian art and literature, where dragon-like creatures are described in the Epic of Creation, the Enuma Elish, from the late 2nd millennium BC.
| Type | Symbol | Image |
|---|---|---|
| National liquor | Horilka | |
| National plant | Kalyna | |
| National flower | Sunflower | |
| National animal | Nightingale | Luscinia megarhynchos - 01.jpg |
National Animal
The magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris is a striped animal. It has a thick yellow coat of fur with dark stripes. The combination of grace, strength, agility and enormous power has earned the tiger its pride of place as the national animal of India.
The coqui, a small tree frog, is Puerto Rico's national animal. Choruses of male coquis can be heard from dusk until dawn all over the island.
The white polar bear adorns Greenland's national coat of arms as the symbol for an extensive country.
