This article is about the

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 ...

of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

state

Free Hanseatic City of Bremen Bremen (), officially the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (german: Freie Hansestadt Bremen; nds, Free Hansestadt Bremen), is the smallest and least populous of Germany's 16 states. It is informally called ("State of Bremen"), although the term ...

and the city of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

Description

From the Bremen Official Website: :The Coat-of-Arms of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen shows a

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

key on a

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

shield. The key is the attribute of

Simon Petrus ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

, patron saint of the

Bremen Cathedral Bremen Cathedral (german: Bremer Dom or St. Petri Dom zu Bremen), dedicated to St. Peter, is a church situated in the Bremer Marktplatz, market square in the center of Bremen (city), Bremen. The cathedral belongs to the Evangelical Church of Breme ...

, and it was first represented in the seal of the City of Bremen in 1366, after its liberation from the occupation by Prince-Archbishop Albert II, and later became the main element of the city's coat-of-arms.CRW Flags
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History

Bremen's red and white colors derive from the colors of the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

. Starting in the 16th century, the shield was supported by angels, but from 1568, however, they were replaced by lions. In 1617 a helmet was added, but it was never officially part of the coat of arms. The crown on the coat of arms dates from the late 16th century. Wappen Bremen 1811

In 1811,

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

added three bees to the coat of arms. The bees were used to claim that the Napoleonic Empire had Frankish heritage. Representations of bees were 1653 in the grave of

Childeric I Childeric I (; french: Childéric; la, Childericus; reconstructed Frankish: ''*Hildirīk''; – 481 AD) was a Frankish leader in the northern part of imperial Roman Gaul and a member of the Merovingian dynasty, described as a king (Latin ''rex ...

. They are meant to act as a symbol of France's ideals on immortality and rebirth. Napoleon also changed the colors of the coat of arms to the red and gold of his family, this being the only time Bremen used a coat of arms not featuring the historical colors of Bremen, red and white. After the Napoleonic era, Bremen's previous coat of arms, a silver key on red, were restored.

References

{{German Empire coats of arms Bremen (city) Bremen (state)

Culture of Bremen (state) Culture in Bremen (city)

Description

History

See also

References