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Coat of arms of Norway
Details
Adopted	1280
Crest	crown
Escutcheon	gules, or crowned or lion rampant holding or axe with argent blade

Royal coat of arms of Norway
Details
Adopted	1905
Crest	crown
Escutcheon	gules, or crowned or lion rampant holding or axe with argent blade

The Coat of Arms of Norway is one of the oldest in Europe. It originated as a personal coat of arms for the royal house.

Magnus Barefoot (1093-1103) was the first king to use the lion as his standard.

Håkon the Old (1217-1263) used a shield with a lion.^{citation needed}

In 1280 King Eirik Magnusson added the crown and silver axe to the lion. The axe is the martyr axe of St. Olav, the weapon used to kill him in the battle of Stiklestad in 1030.

The design of the Norwegian arms has changed through the years, following changing heraldic fashions. In the late Middle Ages, the axe handle gradually grew longer and came to resemble a halberd. The handle was usually curved in order to fit the shape of shield preferred at the time, and also to match the shape of coins. The halberd was officially discarded and the shorter axe reintroduced by royal decree in 1844, when an authorized design was instituted for the first time. In 1905 the official design for royal and government arms was again changed, this time reverting to the medieval pattern, with a triangular shield and a more upright lion. The painter Eilif Peterssen was responsible for the design. The present design was introduced in 1937, but slightly modified with royal approval 20 May 1992.

The coat of arms is always to be displayed surmounted with the royal crown. During the political and constitutional conflicts of the late 19th century, republican anti-union liberal forces could use a uncrowned lion as an emblem, as can be seen on the banner of Kristiania Folkevæpningssamlag in the Oslo City Museum. During World War II the Quisling regime continued to use the lion coat of arms. In 1943 the design of the lion was modified, and the royal crown was replaced with an open medieval type of crown. The legitimate Norwegian government continued to use the coat of arms with the royal crown during exile.

According to the rules of heraldry, any design is acceptable and recognizable as the arms of Norway, provided it fits the blazon "gules a lion rampant or, crowned and bearing an axe with blade argent".

The Norwegian official blazon: "Ei upprett gull-løve på raud grunn med gullkrone på hovudet og gullskjeft sylvøks i framlabbane".

Royal Coat of Arms

The coat of arms of the royal house as well as the Royal Standard uses the lion design from 1905. The shield features the insignia of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav around it.

The shield is framed by a royal ermine robe, surmounted by the crown of Norway.

Gallery

Seal of Jemtland granted by King Magnus VI of Norway in 1274.	Seal of Haakon V of Norway (reigned 1299 - 1319).	Union arms of Haakon VI as king of Norway and Sweden, c. 1380, from the Gelre armorial.	Union seal of Eric III of Pomerania as king of the Kalmar Union, 1398. The coat of arms of Norway in the inescutcheon.
Sigilum secretum of Christian I, 1457-1460. The coat of arms of Norway dexter base.	Seal of King John (reigned 1481 – 1513). The coat of arms of Norway sinister chief.	Seal of Christian III (reigned 1534 - 1559). The coat of arms of Norway sinister chief.	Coat of arms of Christian III as it appeared in the first Danish-language Bible, 1550.
Coat of arms of Frederick II. Engraving by Jens Bircherod, 1581.‎	Coat of arms of Johann der Junge, duke of Sønderborg 1580, in the chapel of Sønderborg Castle, Denmark. The arms of Norway chief dexter reflect Johann's title as heir to Norway.	Eric XIV of Sweden added the Norwegian and Danish arms to the Swedish national coat of arms (the two lower quarters). This was one of the main events leading to the Northern Seven Years War	Coat of arms of Frederick II. 1592 engraving.
Coat of arms of Frederick IV of Denmark and Norway, from the Long Hall of Rosenborg Castle. The coat of arms of Norway sinister chief.	Coat of arms of the city of Kristiansand, showing a twin-tailed Norwegian lion under a pine tree. Based on a seal granted in 1643.	Norwegian coat of arms 1733	Coat of arms from the first issue of Kongelig allene privilegerede Tronhiems Adresse-Contoirs Efterretninger, 1767, showing the arms of Denmark, Norway and the Kalmar Union.
The coat of arms on the hilt of a Norwegian M/1780 cavalry officer's sword (model from 1780). Surrounded by the Order of the Dannebrog and the Order of the Elephant. On display at the Norwegian Defence Museum at Akershus Castle in Oslo.	Coat of arms from Trinity Church, Copenhagen. The coat of arms of Norway sinister chief.	Norwegian coat of arms approved July 10, 1844	Union arms of Sweden and Norway introduced in 1844. Seldom used in Norway and only regularly used by the Royal House and the foreign service. From the frontispiece of the publication "Oscarshal" ca 1852.
Union and royal coat of arms of the Union between Sweden and Norway from 1844 to 1905. The full achievement in the royal flag of Norway.	The Coat of arms on the first Norwegian postage stamp - 1855.	Standard of the buekorps Nordnæs Bataillon. Photo: Nina Aldin Thune.	Norwegian coat of arms as used in 1905.
Painting of the Royal coat of arms of 1905 by Eilif Peterssen.	Royal Standard reintroduced in 1905.	Coat of arms of the Norwegian Police Service.	Emblem of the Norwegian Army.

External links

• On the general use of the arms (Norwegian)
• Use on stamps (Norwegian)
• Pictures of older versions of the arms (German)
• The oldest preserved example (from 1292) (Norwegian)
• Penny issued 1285, the earliest known official use
• History of the arms (English)
• General information and legal definitions of the flag and coat of arms of Norway from the University of Oslo

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 25 September 2008, at 04:04.

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