Information about effigy: Coat of Arms of Bulgaria

The Coat of Arms of Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Герб на България]) consists of a crowned golden lion rampant over a dark red shield; above the shield is the Bulgarian historical crown. The shield is supported by two crowned golden lions rampant; below the shield there is compartment in the shape of oak twigs and white bands with the national motto "Съединението прави силата" (unity makes strength) inscribed on them.

The current Coat of Arms of Bulgaria was adopted in 1997. The current arms are a slightly redesigned version of the Coat of Arms of Bulgaria from the period 1927 - 1946. Those arms were based on a similar earlier form, used by Tsar Ferdinand I (1887 - 1918), which was in turn based on the Coat of Arms of 1881 (and this was an expansion of the first Coat of Arms adopted in 1879, shortly after the liberation of the country in 1878).

The differences are:
- the 1879 - 1880 variant has the crowned shield over a mantle, with another crown above the mantle
- the 1881 - 1927 variant has two supporters added - crowned rampant lions holding the shield, and there is a ribbon with the national motto below; on earlier coinage, the supporters also hold flags
- from 1927 to 1946, there is no crowned mantle
- the 1946 - 1947 variant (not used in coinage, as no coins were issued then), the crown above the shield is removed, and the supporters are not crowned either

Between 1947 and 1991, a totally different Coat of Arms was used (the Coat of Arms of the People's Republic of Bulgaria).

After 1991, the overall description of the Coat of Arms is the same, but the shape of the large crown is different (and it is no longer a symbol of monarchy), and the supporting lions have smaller crowns. An additional element are the oak twigs with acorns, between the shield and the ribbon with the motto.

It has to be noted that on Bulgarian coinage, the use of the symbol is inconsistent. During the reign of Prince Alexander I Battenberg, only the full form of the Coat of Arms was used. During the reign of Ferdinand I - as Prince, and then as King - some denomination had his portrait, and some had the lesser version of the Coat of Arms (crowned shield only). King Boris III had either his portrait on some coins, or the full version of the Coat of Arms on others.

The People's Republic of Bulgaria consistently used its emblem on the obverses of circulating coins, but after 1991 - when the original Coat of Arms was restored - it was not put on coinage, which carried other symbols instead. In 2023, it was decided that Bulgarian Euro coins (when Bulgaria joins the Eurozone) would preserve the same obverses as the Lev coinage of the time, i.e. with no Coat of Arms.