El Salvador station

Neighbouring stations

• 4S Line 4S San LazaroEje Central ← El Salvador → El Salvador

The story behind the icon

The station icon represents the Coat of Arms of the Republic of El Salvador. The station takes its name from standing in the Centro neighbourhood, on Calle República de El Salvador. The coat of arms of El Salvador was created together with the present National Flag by the Legislative Decree of 17 May 1912. It was designed by the calligrapher Rafael Barraza Rodríguez. The arms are composed of an equilateral triangle: each of its angles represents one of the three Branches of Government (Legislative, Executive and Judicial). It contains a range of five volcanoes set on land surrounded by two seas: this represents the volcanic nature of Salvadoran soil; the five volcanoes stand for the five nations that resulted from the Independence of Central America; and the seas for the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. We also find a rainbow: a symbol of peace. There is a cap of liberty, or Phrygian cap, casting out light: it proclaims freedom, and its rays "the ideals of the Salvadoran people". The written legends read: "15 de septiembre de 1821", the date of El Salvador's independence; "República de El Salvador en la América Central", placed around the triangle in golden letters; and "Dios, Unión, Libertad", placed at the base of the triangle. There are five flags of El Salvador arranged around the triangle: they represent the five nations that resulted from the Independence of Central America. Lastly, there are two laurel branches interlaced with a blue and white ribbon, made up of fourteen clusters representing the fourteen departments into which El Salvador is administratively divided.