the coat of arms of somalia was adopted on october 10, 1956. the leopards which support the shield and the white star were also found on the coat of arms used in italian somaliland. formerly, the coat of arms of somalia from june 8, 1919 featured a shield divided horizontally by a wavy white line (smith, 1980). the top half of the shield was blue with a leopard in natural color surmounted by a white five-pointed star.