The coat of arms of Uganda was adopted three weeks before the proclamation of independence by the Uganda Legislative Council.

The shield and spears represent the willingness of the Ugandan people to defend their country. There are three images on the shield: those on top represent the waves of Lake Victoria and Lake Albert; the sun in the center represents the many days of brilliant sunshine Uganda enjoys; and the traditional drum at the bottom is symbolic of dancing, and the summoning of people to meetings and ceremony.

The above explanation, about the symbolism of the drum, is a distortion that came about after the bloody 1966 national crisis when the Prime Minister of the day, Milton Obote, made a violent military attack on the king of the Kingdom of Buganda in central Uganda, Edward Mutesa II, who was the ceremonial president of the state at the time.

The shield is flanked on the heraldic left side by a crested crane (Balearica regulorum gibbericeps), a subspecies of the grey-crowned crane and the national bird of Uganda. On the right is the Ugandan kob (Kobus kob thomasi), a subspecies of kob that here represents abundant wildlife.

The shield stands on a green mound, representing fertile land, and directly above a representation of the River Nile. Two main cash crops, coffee and cotton, flank the river. At the bottom is the national motto: "For God and My Country".