Coat of arms of Liberia

On 22 July 1974, the Legislature of Liberia passed an act giving authorization to the president to establish a commission to give consideration to possible changes to a number of national symbols, including the national seal and motto. President William Tolbert appointed 51 members to the Commission on National Unity. The commission was headed by McKinley Alfred Deshield Sr., and was also called the Deshield Commission. The commission sought to reexamine the symbols, and remove divisive or uninclusive aspects of them. The commission submitted their report on 24 January 1978. The report recommended changing the motto from "The Love of Liberty Brought Us Here" to "Love, Liberty, Justice, Equality". The proposed change to the motto was never made.^[3]

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  Seal of American Colonization Society
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  circa 1847-1889
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  1847–1889
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  1889–1921
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  1921–1974

The coat of arms of Liberia has no heraldic blazon. According to David Kazanjian's article The Speculative Freedom of Colonial Liberia, the national device of Liberia was adopted at the 1847 constitutional convention. The article quotes the following description as the design guidelines:^[4]

Seal: A dove on the wind with an open scroll in its claws. A view of the ocean with a ship under sail. The sun just emerging from the waters. A palm tree, and in its base a plough and spade. Beneath the emblems, the words REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA and above the emblems, the national motto: "THE LOVE OF LIBERTY BROUGHT US HERE".