The coat of arms of Middelburg is a canting coat of arms. It stands for the castle (Dutch: Burcht / Burg) of Middelburg, which was in the middle-ages located between two other castles, Domburg and Souburg. The tower in the coat of arms is also present in the flag of Middelburg. The colours probably originate from the coat of arms of the viscounts of Zeeland, they carried a coat of arms of a golden lion on a red background in the 13th century.
The coat of arms of Middelburg (Zeeland) was used on a seal in 1299, this is the oldest known seal with the coat of arms of the city. Presumably this coat of arms descends from the coat of arms of count Willem II van Holland. The seal shows a different tower and gate than the current one. It shows a gate with merlons and a ringwall with two side towers, also with merlons. On the center tower there stands a tower keeper with a fork in one hand and a horn in the other. There are birds sitting on both spires of the side towers.
After the year 1500 a coat of arms appears with a double-headed eagle, this version probably originates from Emperor Maximiliaan I. The Holy Roman Empire had located a court of justice in Middelburg. This court presumably carried the double-headed eagle, while the city carried a single-headed eagle.
Dutch: De Rijksadelaar, houdende op deszelfs borst een schild van keel, beladen met een dubbelde tooren van goud. English: The Reichsadler, holding on its breast a shield of gules, loaded with a doubled tower of gold.
This insignia has since 31 July 1817, despite various municipal mergers, remained unchanged. On the drawing in the register of the Hoge Raad van Adel (cf. College of Arms), it appears that the eagle is brown and that it has an imperial crown on its head, on top of that it is armed with silver nails. (A Reichsadler is black, with a red beak and nails.)
Crown
Middelburg is one of the ten Dutch municipalities that carry the Rudolfinic imperial crown. This crown has however never officially been granted to the city. The crown was, since 1515, allowed to be carried on a banner, but not on the city's coat of arms. Only the crown of Medemblik is in azure (blue). The other eight: Amsterdam, Bolsward, Deventer, Hulst, Kampen, Nijmegen, Tiel and Zwolle are red.
The coat of arms of Germany displays a black eagle with a red beak, a red tongue and red feet on a golden field, which is blazoned: Or, an eagle displayed sable beaked langued and membered gules. This is the Bundesadler, formerly known as Reichsadler. It is one of the oldest coats of arms in the world, and today the oldest national symbol used in Europe.
Each of the 26 modern cantons of Switzerland has an official flag and a coat of arms. The history of development of these designs spans the 13th to the 20th centuries.
The coat of arms of Russia derives from the earlier coat of arms of the Russian Empire. Though modified more than once since the reign of Ivan III (1462–1505), the current coat of arms is directly derived from its medieval original, with the double-headed eagle having Byzantine and earlier antecedents. The general tincture corresponds to the fifteenth-century standard.
The eagle is used in heraldry as a charge, as a supporter, and as a crest. Heraldic eagles can be found throughout world history like in the Achaemenid Empire or in the present Republic of Indonesia. The European post-classical symbolism of the heraldic eagle is connected with the Roman Empire on one hand, and with Saint John the Evangelist on the other.
The double-headed eagle is an iconographic symbol originating in the Bronze Age. A heraldic charge, it is used with the concept of an empire. Most modern uses of the emblem are directly or indirectly associated with its use by the late Byzantine Empire, originally a dynastic emblem of the Palaiologoi. It was adopted during the Late Medieval to Early Modern period in the Holy Roman Empire, Albania and in Orthodox principalities, representing an augmentation of the (single-headed) eagle or Aquila associated with the Roman Empire. In a few places, among them the Holy Roman Empire and Russia, the motif was further augmented to create the less prominent triple-headed eagle.
Tuyll is the name of a noble Dutch family, with familial and historical links to England, whose full name is Van Tuyll van Serooskerken. Several knights, members of various courts, literary figures, generals, ambassadors, statesmen and explorers carried the family name.
Brouwershaven is a small city on the Grevelingen in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, lies about 45 km southwest of Hellevoetsluis and 10 km north of Zierikzee.
The coat of arms of Amsterdam is the official coat of arms symbol of the city of Amsterdam. It consists of a red shield and a black pale with three silver Saint Andrew's Crosses, the Imperial Crown of Austria, two golden lions, and the motto of Amsterdam. Several heraldic elements have their basis in the history of Amsterdam. The crosses and the crown can be found as decorations on different locations in the city.
The biscione, less commonly known also as the vipera, is in heraldry a charge consisting of a divine serpent in the act of giving birth to a child. It is a historic symbol of the city of Milan, used by companies based in the city.
The Reichsadler is the heraldic eagle, derived from the Roman eagle standard, used by the Holy Roman Emperors, later by the Emperors of Austria and in modern coat of arms of Austria and Germany.
The coat of arms of Munich(Münchner Wappen) depicts a young monk dressed in black holding a red book. It has existed in a similar form since the 13th century, though at certain points in its history it has not depicted the central figure of the monk at all. As the German name for Munich, München, means Home of Monks, the monk in this case is a self-explanatory symbol who represents the city of Munich.
The coat of arms of the German state and city of Hamburg is a kind of national emblem. The coat of arms and the flags are regulated by the constitution of Hamburg and law. The colors of Hamburg are white and red. One of the oldest versions of the castle is found on a seal in 1241.
Over its long history, the Holy Roman Empire used many different heraldic forms, representing its numerous internal divisions.
A Frisian eagle is a specific kind of eagle in Dutch heraldry, consisting of half of a black double-headed eagle on the dexter side of a shield parted per pale.
The Dutch Republic Lion was the badge of the Union of Utrecht, the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, and a precursor of the current coat of arms of the Kingdom the Netherlands.
The coat of arms of Hoorn is a coat of arms that has been in use since the Middle Ages. Although over time it underwent some changes, there has been no change to the coat of arms since it was acknowledged in use by the High Council of Nobility in 1816. At present, in the original form, it is the coat of arms of the municipality of Hoorn. The current municipality was formed in 1979 by merging the city of Hoorn with the villages Zwaag and Westerblokker; it was decided to use the old coat of arms as coat of arms of the new municipality.
A national coat of arms is a symbol which denotes an independent state in the form of a heraldic achievement. While a national flag is usually used by the population at large and is flown outside and on ships, a national coat of arms is normally considered a symbol of the government or the head of state personally and tends to be used in print, on armorial ware, and as a wall decoration in official buildings. The royal arms of a monarchy, which may be identical to the national arms, are sometimes described as arms of dominion or arms of sovereignty.
The Lordship of Baarsdorp is a (former) Dutch Lordship situated in the province of Zeeland, in the Netherlands.
Coat of arms of Riga is one of the official symbols of Riga, along with the flag of Riga.
The coat of arms of the municipality and town of Weert in Limburg in the Netherlands was assigned to the municipality on 16 November 1977 by royal decree by the High Council of Nobility. It replaced the first coat of arms from 1918.
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