Merlion Park – Singapore

The Merlion is used mainly to promote Singapore’s national identity. It is an imaginary creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. The lion head symbol was introduced in 1986 as an alternative national symbol of Singapore. Its name combines “mer” meaning the sea and “lion”. The fish body comes from Singapore’s ancient name back when it was a fishing village — Temasek — meaning “sea town” in Javanese. The lion head represents Singapore’s original name — Singapura — meaning “lion city” or “kota singa”.