Coat of arms of Gothenburg consists of images from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

's great

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

and is meant to symbolize the city as Sweden's western defence. The

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

is from the arms of the

Folkung In modern Swedish, Folkung has two meanings, which appear to be opposites: # The medieval "House of Bjelbo" in Sweden, which produced several Swedish statesmen and kings. # A group of people (singular ''Folkunge'', plural ''Folkungar''), who wer ...

a dynasty, which in the 17th century was considered to be the arms of

Götaland Götaland (; also '' Geatland'', '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, wit ...

and it holds the arms of Sweden,

three crowns Three Crowns ( sv, tre kronor, links=no) is the national emblem of Sweden, present in the coat of arms of Sweden, and composed of three yellow or gilded coronets ordered two above and one below, placed on a blue background. Similar designs are f ...

, defending this with a sword. The oldest description of the arms is from a

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

from 1607. Clara Nevéus and

Bror Jacques de Wærn Bror is a Scandinavian masculine given name which simply means 'brother'. The name has been found as early as in runestones in the form Brodhir. The name form Bror is known since the year 1536. It is also used heavily in a colloquial sense in the c ...

: ''Ny svensk vapenbok'', Streiffert, Stockholm 1992, p. 70 The lion in the arms of Gothenburg is turned to heraldic left. This was originally probably made by mistake, but due to its long tradition the lion has remained in this position. An animal facing left is symbolizing someone fleeing, while one facing right would symbolize attack. The left facing version was eventually decided by Royal decision in 1952, in spite of protests from Riksheraldikerämbetet. It may be noted that the Gothenburg-based football club

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

has the lion turned to the other side in its logo which is based on the city arms.{{cite book , editor-last=Jönsson , editor-first=Ingemar , editor2=Josephson, Åke , title=IFK Göteborg 1904–2004: en hundraårig blåvit historia genom elva epoker , publisher=IFK Göteborg , year=2004 , location=Göteborg , isbn=91-631-4659-2, page=241

References

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

Gothenburg