We'd like to use analytics cookies to understand which symbols people look up, so we know what to research next. They are not used for advertising and we set none of them unless you say yes. What we store.
A skeletal globe of intersecting rings on a stand.
Also known as: Armillary sphere, Esfera armilar, Portuguese sphere, Globe of rings
The armillary sphere on Portugal's flag is a navigational instrument, and its presence is a claim about the age of discoveries — it was the personal device of Manuel I, under whom the sea route to India was opened. It is an instrument, not a decorative globe.
Denotes Portugal on its national flag, drawn as a yellow armillary sphere behind the national shield.
Contexts: Public information
Depicts a real astronomical instrument used to model the celestial sphere and to teach and compute positions, not a decorative globe.
Contexts: Public information
Was the personal device of Manuel I and references the Portuguese maritime expansion of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Contexts: Public information
A skeletal sphere formed of several intersecting circular bands set at different angles, mounted on a curved base, drawn in gold.