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| Coat of arms of Lower Saxony | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Armiger | Government of Lower Saxony |
| Adopted | 1952 |
| Blazon | A white Saxon steed (Sachsenross) on a red background |
The coat of arms of the German federal-state of Lower Saxony shows a white Saxon Steed (German : Sachsenross) on a red background.
It is used on the flag of Lower Saxony. [1]
According to German folklore the banner of Widukind, the last pagan King of the Old Saxons, was a jumping black horse on a yellow field. After the defeat of Saxony and his conversion to Christianity, the banner was changed to a jumping white horse on a red field. This device was adopted by Henry the Lion, the Duke of Saxony (r. 1142–1180). The Archbishop of Cologne also used the device on his seal for his possessions which were in the former lands of the Saxons. In the 17th century, these territories in Westphalia came into the possession of the House Saxe-Lüneburg which continued the use of this device. The Sachsenross is also found in the arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, Kingdom of Hanover and Duchy of Brunswick and today used in the contemporary arms of the federal-state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The white horse became the coat of arms of the Province of Hanover as a province of the greater Kingdom of Prussia in 1866 after it had been in use for both the Duchy of Brunswick and the Kingdom of Hanover since 1814. It was even in use after the abolition of German monarchy after World War I until 1935. From that year, the use of state flags was prohibited by the Nazi government; only the Flag of Nazi Germany was to be used under this totalitarian system where any form of regionalism was shunned upon and the traditional German states were abolished and replaced with the Nazi Party inspired Gau .
After World War II, the Province of Hanover and the Free State of Brunswick both adopted the white horse as their coat of arms. Subsequently the British occupation regime merged these two states with Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe to create the modern state of Lower Saxony. However, there was no coat of arms because of disagreement over the inclusion of the heraldic arms for Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe. Finally, it was agreed that a simple motif would be the best solution and the Saxonian white horse became the coat of arms for all Lower Saxony. The Arms of Hanover and East Frisia are still used on a regional level.
The white horse is similar to the one used in the coat of arms for the county of Kent in England which is likely to have originated from the Rhineland area.
On 3 April 1951, the government of Lower Saxony made the decision which was written down in the preliminary constitution of the State of Lower Saxony dated on 13 April 1951. The "Act about coats of arms, flags and seals", dated 13 October 1952, stated that the prototype drawn by the German heraldic Gustav Völker should be used in the future. [1]
The new constitution of Lower Saxony from 19 May 1993, adopted this settlement:
Lower Saxony adopts a white horse on a red field as its arms
— „Niedersächsische Verfassung“ vom 19. Mai 1993 [Lower Saxony constitution of 19th May 1993] [2]
A special law of 2007 confirmed this:
The parliament of Lower Saxony has decided the following law:
§1 Symbols of the state
- (1) The state uses a half round shield with a jumping white horse (charge) on a red field according to annex 1.
- (2) The state uses within the state flag the state colours black-red-gold with the coat of arms of the state according to annex 2.
— Federal Government, Coat of arms law of Lower Saxony (NWappG) of March 8, 2007 (Nds. GVBl. Nr.7/2007 S.117) - VORIS 11410 [3]
Lower Saxony is a German state (Land) situated in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with 47,624 km2 (18,388 sq mi), and fourth-largest in population among the 16 Länder federated as the Federal Republic of Germany. In rural areas, Northern Low Saxon and Saterland Frisian are still spoken, albeit in declining numbers.
Westphalia is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of 20,210 square kilometres (7,800 sq mi) and 7.9 million inhabitants.
Schaumburg is a district (Landkreis) of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Nienburg, Hanover and Hamelin-Pyrmont, and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The states of the German Confederation were member states of the German Confederation, from 20 June 1815 until 24 August 1866.
The Duchy of Brunswick was a historical German state. Its capital was the city of Brunswick . It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. In the course of the 19th-century history of Germany, the duchy was part of the German Confederation, the North German Confederation and from 1871 the German Empire. It was disestablished after the end of World War I, its territory incorporated into the Weimar Republic as the Free State of Brunswick.
The Province of Hanover was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1868 to 1946.
The Free State of Brunswick was a state of the German Reich in the time of the Weimar Republic. It was formed after the abolition of the Duchy of Brunswick in the course of the German Revolution of 1918–19. Its capital was Braunschweig (Brunswick).
This is a list of coats of arms of Germany.
The coat of arms of North Rhine-Westphalia is the official coat of arms of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
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Both the civil and state flag of the German state of Thuringia feature a bicolour of white over red. Introduced with the formation of the state of Thuringia within the Weimar Republic in 1920, it is the reverse of the flag of Hesse, both flags ultimately reflecting the heraldic colours of the Ludovingian rulers of the medieval Duchy of Thuringia. The flag's similarity to that of Poland is coincidental.
Both the civil and state flag of the German state of Saxony feature a bicolour of white over green, similar to the Austrian province of Styria although they are historically not related to each other. The state flag is similar to the civil flag, except it is defaced in the centre with the coat of arms of Saxony. The colours of both flags were officially decided as state colours in 1815. The aristocracy used mostly and in first time the quadrangular version and later the rectangular.
The Saxon Steed is a heraldic motif associated with the German provinces of Lower Saxony and Westphalia, and the Dutch region of Twente.
The coat of arms of Oldenburg is the coat of arms associated with the state of Oldenburg, a county, duchy and then grand duchy that existed between 1101 and 1918. The arms are also associated with the parts of the House of Oldenburg that ruled the state.
The State of Hanover was a short-lived state within the British Zone of Allied-occupied Germany. It existed for 92 days in the course of the dissolution of the Free State of Prussia after World War II until the foundation of Lower Saxony in 1946. The state saw itself in the tradition of the former Kingdom of Hanover, annexed by Prussia in 1866, reflected in the Saxon Steed state emblem. After Lower Saxony was founded by merging Hanover with several smaller states, it continued to use the Hanover emblems.
The Minister-President of Lower Saxony, also referred to as Premier or Prime Minister, is the head of government of the German state of Lower Saxony. The position was created in 1946, when the states of Brunswick, Oldenburg, Schaumburg-Lippe and the State of Hanover were merged to form the state of Lower Saxony. The current Minister President is Stephan Weil, heading a coalition government between the Social Democrats and the CDU. Weil succeeded David McAllister following the 2013 state election.
The flag of Lower Saxony consists of the flag of the Federal Republic of Germany in Schwarz-Rot-Gold, with the coat of arms of Lower Saxony, shifted slightly toward the hoist. This flag is the civil and state flag. A double tailed version in 3:5 ratio is used as the state ensign.
The North German Confederation Treaty was the treaty between the Kingdom of Prussia and other northern and central German states that initially created the North German Confederation, which was the forerunner to the German Empire. This treaty, and others that followed in September and October, are often described as the August treaties, although not all of them were concluded in August 1866.
The House Order of Henry the Lion In German: Hausorden Heinrichs des Löwen, was the House Order of the Duchy of Brunswick. It was instituted by William VIII, Duke of Brunswick on 25 April 1834. The ribbon of the Order was red with yellow edges. It had five grades: Grand Cross, Grand Commander with Sash, Commander, Knight 1st Class, Knight 2nd Class, plus Medal of Merit for Science and Arts, the Cross of Merit and the Medal of Honour. The Order was named in honour of Henry the Lion, who remains a popular figure to this day.
