Greater coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden | |
---|---|
Versions | |
Armiger | Kingdom of Sweden |
Adopted | 1448 17 November 1905 |
Crest | Royal Crown of Sweden |
Shield | Azure, quartered by a cross Or with outbent arms, and an inescutcheon containing the dynastic arms of the Royal House. In the first and fourth fields three open crowns Or, placed two above one. In the second and third fields three sinisterbendwise streams argent, a lion crowned with an open crown Or armed gules. The inescutcheon is party per pale the arms for the House of Vasa (Bendwise azure, argent and gules, a vasa (sheaf of wheat) Or); and the House of Bernadotte (Azure, issuant from a wavy base a bridge with three arches and two towers embattled argent, in honour point an eagle regardant with wings inverted resting on thunderbolts Or, and in chief the Big Dipper constellation of the same). |
Supporters | two lions regardant, crowned and with forked tails (queue fourchée) Or armed gules, standing on a compartment Or |
Compartment | Pedestal Or |
Order(s) | Order of Seraphim |
Other elements | All surrounded by ermine mantling, crowned with a royal crown and tied up with tasseladorned strings Or |
Lesser coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden | |
---|---|
Versions | |
Armiger | The Riksdag Government of Sweden King of Sweden |
Adopted | 1336 [1] 17 November 1905 |
Crest | Royal Crown of Sweden |
Shield | Azure, three coronets Or, placed two above one |
Order(s) | Order of Seraphim |
The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish : Sveriges riksvapen) is the arms of dominion of the King of Sweden. It has a greater and a lesser version. The shield displays the "Three Crowns of Sweden" quartering the "Lion of Bjelbo", with an inescutcheon overall of the House of Vasa impaling the House of Bernadotte.
The usage of the coats of arms is regulated by Swedish Law, Act 1970:498 Archived 2008-05-19 at the Wayback Machine , which states (in unofficial translation) that "in commercial activities, the coats of arms, the flag or other official insignia of Sweden may not be used in a trademark or other insignias for products or services without proper authorisation. This includes any mark or text referring to the Swedish State which this can give the commercial mark a sign of official endorsement. This includes municipal coats of arms which are registered."
Any representation consisting of three crowns ordered two above one are considered to be the lesser coat of arms, and its usage is therefore restricted by law 1970:498.
The arms of Sweden were first formally codified by law in 1908. [2] This law also formally codifies the differences between the "greater" and "lesser" arms. The present law prescribing the two arms dates from 1982.
The greater coat of arms is blazoned in Swedish law as follows:
A shield azure, quartered by a cross Or with outbent arms, and an inescutcheon containing the dynastic arms of the Royal House. In the first and fourth fields three open crowns Or, placed two above one. In the second and third fields three sinisterbendwise streams argent, a lion crowned with an open crown Or armed gules. The inescutcheon is party per pale the arms for the House of Vasa (Bendwise azure, argent and gules, a vasa Or); and the House of Bernadotte (Azure, issuant from a wavy base a bridge with three arches and two towers embattled argent, in honor point an eagle regardant with wings inverted resting on thunderbolts Or, and in chief the Big Dipper constellation of the same). The main shield is crowned by a royal crown and surrounded by the insignia of the Order of the Seraphim. Supported by two lions regardant, crowned and with forked tails Or armed gules, standing on a compartment Or. All surrounded by purpure mantling doubled ermine, crowned with a royal crown and tied up with tasseled strings Or. [3]
The greater arms may also be displayed only with the crowned escutcheon. While the arms have undergone significant changes over the years, such as changing the inescutcheon with the ruling dynasty, they are based on arms created by King Charles VIII in 1448. [4]
The escutcheon used in the greater blazon has in total five elements: 4 quarterings on the main escutcheon (two coats of arms duplicated), and three coat of arms incorporated into an escutcheon of pretense. However, Bernadotte never used any stars in the arms of Pontecorvo (neither as Prince of Pontecorvo, nor as King of Sweden and Norway). The stars were introduced as an element in the royal coat of arms in the 19th century, [5] chosen as a symbol of Sweden's eternal existence, as in the poem by Esaias Tegnér:
As long as Charles's Wain still turns,
Its golden wheels around the Northern zone,
As long as the land still produces iron and heroes,
Intact shall stand the ancient Swedish throne.
This symbol became especially popular through its allusion to the name that had been borne by so many famous Swedish kings. The Big Dipper, or as it is called in Swedish, Karlavagnen (Charles' Wain), adds a Swedish accent to the Bernadotte dynastic coat of arms much in the same way as do the Vasa arms. [6]
The three crowns | House of Bjelbo | House of Bernadotte | |||||||||||||||||||||||
The House of Vasa | Arms of Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte as Prince of Ponte Corvo and Marshal of France (later Charles XIV of Sweden) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Big Dipper/Charles' Wain | Napoleon I | Ponte Corvo | |||||||||||||||||||||||
The arms are supported by two lions with forked tails (queue fourchée), facing away from the shield and crowned with Royal Crowns. For centuries, the lion has been an important element in Swedish heraldry and especially for the State Coat of Arms. The shield may be surmounted by the Collar of the Order of Seraphim, the foremost order in Sweden, and the highest honour the Swedish state can bestow on an individual. [7]
Besides being the official national coat of arms, the greater coat of arms is also the personal coat of arms of the king, and as such he can decree its use as a personal coat of arms by other members of the Royal House, with the alterations and additions decided by him.
Blazon: "The greater state arms consist of a head shield azure, quartered by a cross or with outbent arms, and an inescutcheon containing the dynastic arms of the Royal House.
In the first and fourth fields three coronets or, placed two above one. In the second and third fields three sinisterbendwise streams argent, a lion crowned with an open crown or with armaments gules. The inescutcheon is party per pale the arms for the House of Vasa and the House of Bernadotte. The main shield is crowned by a royal crown and surrounded by the insignia of the Order of the Seraphim. Supported by two lions regardant or crowned, with parted tails and armaments gules, standing on a postament. All surrounded by hermine mantling crowned with a royal crown and tied up with tasseled strings or."
The lesser coat of arms is mainly used by the Government of Sweden and subordinate State authorities. As such it may be joined by insignias symbolising the activity of individual government agencies, following approval by the State Board of Heraldry. It is, for instance, embroidered on all Swedish police uniforms and in various coats of arms of the Swedish Armed Forces, and is displayed on Sweden's passports and embassies.
Blazon: "Azure, with three coronets Or, ordered two above one." Crowned with a royal crown. The shield may also be surrounded by the insignias of the Order of the Seraphim."
Småland is a province of Sweden and at the funeral of Gustav Vasa in 1560 the province was granted its arms. Today there are also county arms that are based on the arms of Småland.
Öland is a province of Sweden and, like many of Sweden's provinces, was granted a coat of arms in preparation for the funeral of Gustav Vasa in 1560. Confusion arose between Öland's arms with one deer and Åland's arms with two deer and nine roses, resulting in Öland bearing the wrong coat of arms from the 1880s until an audit in 1944.
In heraldry, an ordinary is one of the two main types of charges, beside the mobile charges. An ordinary is a simple geometrical figure, bounded by straight lines and running from side to side or top to bottom of the shield. There are also some geometric charges known as subordinaries, which have been given lesser status by some heraldic writers, though most have been in use as long as the traditional ordinaries. Diminutives of ordinaries and some subordinaries are charges of the same shape, though thinner. Most of the ordinaries are theoretically said to occupy one-third of the shield; but this is rarely observed in practice, except when the ordinary is the only charge.
The Life Grenadier Regiment, designations I 4 and I 4/Fo 41, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 16th century. It was disbanded in 1997. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the provinces of Östergötland, and it was later garrisoned there.
Swedish heraldry encompasses heraldic achievements in modern and historic Sweden. Swedish heraldic style is consistent with the German-Nordic heraldic tradition, noted for its multiple helmets and crests which are treated as inseparable from the shield, its repetition of colours and charges between the shield and the crest, and its scant use of heraldic furs. Because the medieval history of the Nordic countries was so closely related, their heraldic individuality developed rather late. Swedish and Finnish heraldry have a shared history prior to the Diet of Porvoo in 1809; these, together with Danish heraldry, were heavily influenced by German heraldry. Unlike the highly stylized and macaronic language of English blazon, Swedish heraldry is described in plain language, using only Swedish terminology.
The coat of arms of Luxembourg has its origins in the Middle Ages and was derived from the arms of the Duchy of Limburg, in modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands. In heraldic language, the arms are described as: Barry of ten Argent and Azure, a Lion rampant queue forchée Gules crowned, armed and langued Or.
The coat of arms of Norway is the arms of dominion of King Harald V of Norway, and as such represents both the monarch and the kingdom. It depicts a standing golden lion on a red background, bearing a golden crown and axe with silver blade.
The coat of arms of Denmark has a lesser and a greater version.
The coat of arms of the King of Spain is the heraldic symbol representing the monarch of Spain. The current version of the monarch's coat of arms was adopted in 2014 but is of much older origin. The arms marshal the arms of the former monarchs of Castile, León, Aragon, and Navarre.
In heraldry, an inescutcheon is a smaller escutcheon that is placed within or superimposed over the main shield of a coat of arms, similar to a charge. This may be used in the following cases:
The coat of arms of Napoleonic Italy was the coat of arms used by the Kingdom of Italy (1805–1814) during the reign of Napoleon as King of Italy.
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb to blazon means to create such a description. The visual depiction of a coat of arms or flag has traditionally had considerable latitude in design, but a verbal blazon specifies the essentially distinctive elements. A coat of arms or flag is therefore primarily defined not by a picture but rather by the wording of its blazon. Blazon is also the specialized language in which a blazon is written, and, as a verb, the act of writing such a description. Blazonry is the art, craft or practice of creating a blazon. The language employed in blazonry has its own vocabulary, grammar and syntax, which becomes essential for comprehension when blazoning a complex coat of arms.
The coat of arms of Bavaria has greater and lesser versions.
The Göta Signal Corps, designations S 1 Sk and S 2, was a Swedish Army signal unit, one of the few new formations raised in the 20th century. It was disbanded in 1997. The unit was garrisoned in Västergötland.
The coat of arms of the Extremadura is described in the Title I of the Spanish Law 4 of June 3, 1985, the Law of the coat of arms, flag and regional day of Extremadura.
In heraldry, an orle is a subordinary consisting of a narrow band occupying the inward half of where a bordure would be, following the exact outline of the shield but within it, showing the field between the outer edge of the orle and the edge of the shield.
The Älvsborg Regiment, designation I 15 and I 15/Fo 34, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traces its origins back 1624. It was disbanded in 1998. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the provinces of Västergötland, and it was later garrisoned there in the town Borås.
The Heraldry Society of New Zealand, established in 1962, is the principal New Zealand learned society concerned with the scholarly study of heraldry.
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 Western Army Division, was a division of the Swedish Army that operated in various forms from 1941 to 1997. Its staff was located in Skövde Garrison in Skövde.