National Symbols of Costa Rica
La Guaria Morada (the purple country girl) is the national flower of Costa Rica characterized by its thin long petals, it represents good luck. The plant thrives in the humid rainforests of Central America, and has long been grown and used to adorn church alters during Lent and Easter, and to decorate courtyards and roofs in colonial cities like Cartago and Escazu.
Chosen on June 15, 1939, as the official national flower, it symbolizes the beauty of the Costa Rican spirit and the fragility of nature, and is held in high regard as a national treasure.
El Venado Cola Blanca (The White-Tailed Deer) is unexpectedly the national symbol of wildlife found mostly in Guanacaste in the Santa Rosa National Park and Puntarenas. It is a medium sized deer characterized by large feet and a white underbelly and tail. The deer prefer tropical pine forest, mountains and swampy areas, and remain within a one-square-mile area during their entire lifetime. Females and their offspring travel together until they are ready to mate. The deer was almost extinct by the end of the 1960’s due to illegal hunting and human expansion into their habitats. Hunted for its fur, meat and antlers as trophies, it was declared the national symbol of wildlife in 1995. Now thanks to conservation efforts, the deer are thriving again in their preferred habitats.
Las Carretas y La Pintura Sarchi
Once the main mode of transporting sugarcane and coffee in the mid-nineteenth century, the traditionally painted oxcarts are now one of the main tourist attractions in the town of Sarchi. Home to the largest replica of an oxcart in the world, this small town is only a thirty-minute drive from the San Jose International Airport.
Originally, the town was best known for its coffee production and the carts were used to bring products to the market to sell. Gradually, the artisans who made and painted the carts began to distinguish their work and compete with their designs, even creating signature chimes or “songs” as the carts rolled along.
There are two main factories that still make the carts in the traditional way. Specialists make the large trademark wheels which each consist of sixteen pieces that are fitted together in a metal ring. The design of the wheel is a mix of the Aztec and Spanish traditions, and are constructed to cut through muddy roads. Once the wheels are fashioned, the painters add their trademark designs which over the years became more intricate, as the geometrical patterns gave way to landscapes and portraits. Although, the need for oxcarts as transportation has long passed, they remain a source of pride and are featured prominently in parades and festivals around the country symbolizing the agricultural past of Costa Rica.
The Guanacaste Tree (Enterolobium Cycloarpum) is distinguished by its shape. The branches extend out in a dome shape like a waterfall of green leaves. The tree is related to the pea family, and during the dry season it sheds its leaves. The small white flowers grow into ear-shaped, green fruits which eventually fall to the ground and spread out creating new trees. Usually, however, there do not grow clustered together and it is common to see only one dramatic tree in a flat field. Declared as the national tree of Costa Rica on August 31, 1959, it can grow up to fifty meters and is revered for its water–resistant wood which used to make many traditional handcrafts.
El Yiquirro was declared the national bird of Costa Rica in 1976, because of its powerful song that signals the coming of rains that can bring a bountiful harvest. The little brown-feathered, yellow-beaked bird is celebrated by many Costa Ricans in song and poems. It was chosen over much brighter colored birds because it is a symbol of humility and the hardworking nature of the Costa Rican peasant, and is a common sight near the houses in the countryside that it habitats.
The Manatee was made a national symbol of Costa Rica in 2014 and is an endangered marine mammal that lives in the Caribbean side the country in predominantly Tortuguero and the Barra del Colorado Wildlife Refuge. Interestingly this sea mammal can live in both fresh and saltwater. They live on average up to seventy years, weigh between two and three thousand kilos and measure up to five meters in length. They give birth to only one offspring in its lifetime, which can explain why they are slow to produce and are easily endangered. The initiative to protect them was started by young school children in the Limoncito district and was made law not only to protect this important species, but to demonstrate to children that they can have an influence in their government and the importance of protecting wildlife. As of 2014, there were only 20 confirmed manatees living in the canals of Tortuguero, making conservation efforts vital to their survival. The Costa Rican Foundation has received a grant to study the Manatee in an effort to develop a plan as to the best manner to help this gentle creature survive and flourish.
Las Esferas de Piedra(Stone Spheres) are locally known as “Las Bolas”(The Balls). These monoliths are sculpted out of granodiorite, a hard igneous stone and range in size from a few centimeters to two meters in diameter. The stone has been sourced to the Talamanca mountain range but they were originally found in the Terrabe River near the towns of Palmar Sur and Palmar Norte. They have since been found all over Costa Rica; Coto Colorado River, Golfito and Isla de Caño. The stones were discovered in the 1940’s and archeologists began investigations shortly after with the first published research written in 1943. Much of the information that could have been obtained is lost however because they were destroyed or moved out of their original location. They became popular as lawn ornaments among the wealthy and were transported all over Costa Rica by train. Two are even in the United States; one at Harvard University and the other at The National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.
Most likely they were made by the Pre-Colombian ancestors of the Boruca, Guyami, and Teribe tribes who were cultivators, fishers and hunters. They favored a round shape to their homes with foundations of rounded river rocks. They made the “Bolas” by reducing large round boulders into a spherical shape pecking, grinding and using a method called “controlled fracturing” until they were spherical and then they were polished to a high luster.
It is not known exactly what they were used for, but speculation abounds from being aligned for some astronomical purpose with the sun to help predict seasonal patterns or a religious ritual. Their exact purpose remains a mystery, but their beauty is eternal.
