The modern emblem was adopted 24 May 1993, the date of the declaration of independence from Ethiopia. It shows a scene of a dromedary camel in the desert, which is surrounded by an olive wreath.
The camel was the beast of burden used during the war of independence from Ethiopia to transport supplies and goods, and was seen as being instrumental to the movements success and the symbol of the nationalists.
The name of the country appears on a scroll towards the bottom of the emblem threefold, in Tigrinya, English and Arabic, the three official languages of the state.