National emblem, date at left, denomination upper left.

The national emblem of Cape Verde contains a circle within which is written the name of the nation in Portuguese; also in this circle are a torch and triangle, symbols of freedom and national unity. The circle is ringed with ten stars, that represent the islands of Cape Verde, and is similar to the symbolism on the flag of Cape Verde. At the top of the shield is a plumbob, a symbol of righteousness; three chain links are at the bottom.

The grey-headed kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala) has a wide distribution from the Cape Verde Islands off the north-west coast of Africa to Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia, east to Ethiopia, Somalia and southern Arabia and south to South Africa.

The first formal description of the grey-headed kingfisher was by the German zoologist Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller in 1776. He coined the binomial name Alcedo leucocephala. The current genus Halcyon was introduced by the English naturalist and artist William John Swainson in 1821. The name of the genus is from the classical Greek alkuōn, a mythical bird, generally associated with the kingfisher. The specific epithet leucocephala is from the classical Greek leukos meaning "white" and -kephalos for "-headed".