The coat of arms of Norway is the

arms of dominion Arms of dominion are the arms borne both by a monarch and the state in a monarchy. In this respect they are both the national arms and the arms of the nation's monarch, who is the monarchy's sovereign, and are thus simultaneously the personal arm ...

of king

Harald V of Norway Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the li ...

, and as such represents both the monarch and the

kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

(nation and the state). It depicts a standing

golden Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall * Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershi ...

lion 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 ...

background, bearing a golden crown and axe with silver blade (

blazon 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 vi ...

ed ''Gules, a lion rampant Or, crowned Or, holding an axe Or with a blade argent''). The coat of arms is used by the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

(including the King's Council), the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, and the Supreme Court, which are the three powers according to the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

. It is also used by several national, regional, and local authorities that are subordinate to the aforementioned, for example the County Governors and both the district courts and the courts of appeal. Since 1905, two parallel versions exist: the more elaborate version used by the King and the simpler one used by the State. The arms in banner form serve as basis for the monarch's flag, known as the

Royal Standard In heraldry and vexillology, a heraldic flag is a flag containing coats of arms, heraldic badges, or other devices used for personal identification. Heraldic flags include banners, standards, pennons and their variants, gonfalons, guidons, and ...

. In addition, there are former and existing lands (e.g. the Earldom of Iceland and the Orkney Islands), cities (e.g.

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporati ...

), organisations (e.g. the Museum of Cultural History), companies (e.g.

Adresseavisen ''Adresseavisen'' (; commonly known as ''Adressa'') is a regional newspaper published daily, except Sundays, in Trondheim, Norway. The paper has been in circulation since 1767 and is one of the oldest newspapers after Norske Intelligenz-Seddele ...

), and families (e.g. the Counts of Gyldenløve and Gudbrand Gregersen) who have been granted the right to bear the coat of arms or derivations of this. Unless officially granted, it is illegal to use the coat of arms. The arms has its origin in the 13th century, at first just as a golden lion on a red shield, with the silver axe added late in the century, symbolising Olaf II as the Eternal King of Norway. In origin the arms of the

Sverre dynasty The House of Sverre ( no, Sverreætten) was a royal house or dynasty which ruled, at various times in history, the Kingdom of Norway, hereunder the kingdom's realms, and the Kingdom of Scotland. The house was founded with King Sverre of Norway, ...

, the coat of arms became quartered with that of the Bjälbo dynasty when the Sverre lineage was extinct in 1319, and the Sverre coat of arms figured as part of the further divisions of the coats of arms of Norwegian kings during the early modern period. The Sverre coat of arms was regarded as representing the

Norwegian monarchy Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

in the late 15th century, and it came to be used to represent Norway on coins and in seals during the

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

with Denmark (1523−1814) and the 19th-century personal union with Sweden, its 13th-century origins placing it among the oldest state coats of arms which remain in contemporary use. The axe tended to be depicted as a curved

pollaxe The poleaxe (also pollaxe, pole-axe, pole axe, poleax, polax) is a European polearm that was widely used by medieval infantry. Etymology Most etymological authorities consider the ''poll''- prefix historically unrelated to "pole", instead mea ...

halberd A halberd (also called halbard, halbert or Swiss voulge) is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The word ''halberd'' is cognate with the German word ''Hellebarde'', deriving from ...

from 1500 until 1844. The 1844 design approved by king Oscar I reverted to the depiction of a

battle-axe A battle axe (also battle-axe, battle ax, or battle-ax) is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were specialized versions of utility axes. Many were suitable for use in one hand, while others were larger and were deployed two-h ...

as shown in medieval designs. After the dissolution of the union with Sweden in 1905 a medieval-type escutcheon and charge was designed by

Eilif Peterssen Hjalmar Eilif Emanuel Peterssen (4 September 1852 – 29 December 1928) was a Norwegian painter. He is most commonly associated with his landscapes and portraits. Biography Hjalmar Eilif Emanuel Peterssen was born in Christiania, now Osl ...

. Peterssen's design would be used until 1937 when it was re-designed by state archivist

Hallvard Trætteberg Hallvard Trætteberg (1898 in Løten – 21 November 1987 in Oslo) was the leading Norwegian heraldic artist and the expert adviser on heraldry to the Government of Norway and the Norwegian Royal Family for much of the 20th century. From about ...

, resulting in a markedly different, more simplified design style. Peterssen's design has, however, been retained in the Royal Standard and coat of arms.

Usage

Royal decree of 20 May 1927 states: The coat of arms of the Realm may be used only by the state's authorities in the exercise of their official activity. The coat of arms may be used by the Royal Court, by the government and its ministries, by the parliament, by the law courts, and by some others. Matters of the coat of arms are treated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The state coat of arms has no achievement save the surmounting crown. The royal coat of arms is defined in the resolution of 30 December 1905. In the coat of arms of the realm, a heraldic royal crown is placed directly on top of the shield. In the royal coat of arms, the shield of the arms of the realm is on a mantle

purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, ...

lined ermine with a royal crown on top. Three sides of the shield are surrounded by the collar of the Royal Order of St. Olaf. The following coats of arms are displayed with the collar of the Order of St. Olaf. However, not all Princes and Princesses are Grand Cross holders or, for that sake, members of this order at all, wherefore their respective coats of arms do not include this achievement. The

Royal Standard of Norway The Royal Standard of Norway ( no, Kongeflagget) is used by the King of Norway. Of historical origin, it was introduced by Cabinet Decision of 15 November 1905, following the plebiscite confirming the election of Prince Carl of Denmark to the ...

is the Norwegian arms in banner form. Achievements including the royal arms: File:Coat of arms of the Norwegian Armed Forces.svg, Armed Forces File:Coat of arms of the Norwegian Police Service.svg, Police Service File:Coat of arms of the Norwegian Border Guard.svg, Border Control and Arrest Service File:Badge of the Royal Norwegian Air Force.svg,

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

pilots File:Coat of arms of the Norwegian Customs Service.svg,

Customs Service Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

File:Emblem of the Norwegian State Railways.svg,

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

(1923-1996) File:Coat of arms of the Norwegian Telegraph Administration.svg, Telegraph Administration (1924) File:Coat of arms of the Geographical Survey of Norway.svg, Geographical Survey (1910) File:Coat of arms of the National Rifle Association of Norway.svg, Rifle Association File:Det militære skarpskyttermerke.svg, Military Marksmanship Mark

History

Origin

The design of the coat of arms is derived from that of the

suggested that Sverre, who was king between 1184 and 1202, had a lion in his coat of arms, although there is no direct attestation. Snorre Sturlason claims that a golden lion on a red background was used already in 1103 by King Magnus III, the son of King Olav III. Gustav Storm in 1894 concluded that this is ahistorical. Storm explained that the claimed lion in King Magnus's coat of arms is unknown both in the older Saga literature and in other contemporary sources. It is possible that Snorre, who wrote under the instruction of the King, attributed King Sverre's coat of arms to earlier Kings of Norway. A lion is shown on the coat of arms in the seal of Earl Skule Bårdsson, dated 1225,Rigsarkivet i København, 860, Håndskriftssamlingen I, Terkel Klevenfeldt (1710–1777), Dokumenter vedr adelige familier, pakke 48. who had relations to the royal family. Haakon Haakonson the Old had a lion in his seal, shown as lying between the feet of the seated king.Brinchmann, Chr. "Norske Konge-sigiller og andre Fyrste-sigiller fra Middelalderen" (1924) A royal coat of arms with a lion is finally seen on the seal of Haakon Haakonson the Young, dated 1250. The first instance of the lion bearing an axe is found in a seal of Eric II (1285).

Medieval seals

Approximately in 1280, either King Magnus VI (dead in 1280) or the guardianship of his son Eric Magnuson let the lion be equipped with a crown of gold and in the foremost paws an axe of silver. The axe was a symbol of Saint Olaf, i.e. King Olaf II, and by inserting it into the coat of arms it symbolised that the King was the rightful heir and descendant of the 'Eternal King of Norway' (Latin: ''Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae'').

Late medieval coats of arms

With the death of King Haakon V in 1319, the reign of the

came to an end. The Throne and thus the Royal Coat of Arms was inherited by Magnus VII, who was a maternal grandson of Haakon V and who himself belonged patrilineally to the family known as the Bjälbo dynasty. Subsequently, Norway remained in

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...

with neighbouring countries. When acting as the ruler of one particular country, the sovereign would normally use the arms of that kingdom. When acting as sovereign of the united kingdoms, he would marshal the escutcheon by quartering. This was a tendency in Europe in general. The first union kings placed the Royal Coat of Arms in the first quarter of the quartered coat of arms. At the beginning of the Kalmar Union, Norway as a hereditary kingdom was considered more important than Sweden and Denmark, which were still electoral kingdoms. Consequently, King Eric III of

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

placed his Norwegian Coat of Arms in an

inescutcheon In heraldry, an escutcheon () is a shield that forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms. The word can be used in two related senses. In the first sense, an escutcheon is the shield upon which a coat of arms is displayed. In the s ...

, superimposed on the coats of arms of his other realms. However, the Norwegian Coat of Arms would later be degraded, so that the

Coat of arms of Denmark The coat of arms of Denmark ( da, Danmarks rigsvåben) has a lesser and a greater version. The state coat of arms () consists of three pale blue lion (heraldry), lions attitude (heraldry)#Passant, passant wearing crown (heraldic charge), crowns ...

would occupy the first field, whilst Norway's was placed in the second.

Marshalled versions from 1450 until 1814

In 1450, Count Christian of Oldenburg and of

Delmenhorst Delmenhorst (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Demost'') is an urban district ('' Kreisfreie Stadt'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of 74,500 and is located west of downtown Bremen with which it forms a contiguous urban area, whereas the ...

became

King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty kingd ...

. He was already King of Denmark since 1448, and in 1457, he became

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument ...

as well. Norway's coat of arms was placed in the lower dexter field and, when Sweden left the Kalmar Union in 1523, in the upper sinister field. The latter lasted until 1814. Varying from time to time, the Kings between 1450 and 1814 bore the coats of arms of the following kingdoms, peoples, and lands: *

County of Oldenburg The County of Oldenburg was a county of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1448 Christian I of Denmark (of the House of Oldenburg), Count of Oldenburg became King of Denmark, and later King of Norway and King of Sweden. One of his grandsons, Adolf, Duk ...

* Kingdom of Denmark National Coat of arms of Denmark no crown

Kingdom of 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 ...

Kingdom of Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...

Coat of arms of Jutland or the King of Goths

Wends Wends ( ang, Winedas ; non, Vindar; german: Wenden , ; da, vendere; sv, vender; pl, Wendowie, cz, Wendové) is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various people ...

* Duchy of Schleswig Coat of arms of Schleswig

Duchy of Holstein The Duchy of Holstein (german: Herzogtum Holstein, da, Hertugdømmet Holsten) was the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It originated when King Christian I of Denmark had hi ...

* Stormarn Wappen Kreis Stormarn

Dithmarschen Dithmarschen (, Low Saxon: ; archaic English: ''Ditmarsh''; da, Ditmarsken; la, label=Medieval Latin, Tedmarsgo) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Nordfriesland, Schle ...

* etc.

Marshalled versions from 1814 until 1905

On 4 November 1814, the Norwegian Storting elected King

Charles XIII of Sweden Charles XIII, or Carl XIII ( sv, Karl XIII, 7 October 1748 – 5 February 1818), was King of Sweden from 1809 and King of Norway from 1814 to his death. He was the second son (and younger brother to King Gustav III) of King Adolf Frederick of S ...

as King of Norway. This personal union with Sweden lasted until the

dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden The dissolution of the union ( nb, unionsoppløsningen; nn, unionsoppløysinga; Landsmål: ''unionsuppløysingi''; sv, unionsupplösningen) between the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden under the House of Bernadotte, was set in motion by a resolu ...

in 1905. Without legitimate

heirs of the body In English law, heirs of the body is the principle that certain types of property pass to a descendant of the original holder, recipient or grantee according to a fixed order of kinship. Upon the death of the grantee, a designated inheritance such ...

, King Charles adopted the French marshall Bernadotte, Prince of Pontecorvo, who took the name Carl Johan. The union arms introduced by King Charles XIII and Crown Prince Carl Johan were never used officially in Norway. Only the lion coat of arms of Norway appeared on coins and on seals of official documents signed by the King in his capacity as Norwegian king. The union arms introduced by King Oscar I in 1844 was used by members of the royal family, by the common diplomatic service of both kingdoms, and on official documents concerning both countries. In Norway, the union arms was never used on coins or official documents. In Sweden, Crown Princes and Princes bore the coat of arms belonging to his duchy. See

Duchies in Sweden Duchies in Sweden have been allotted since the 13th century to powerful Swedes, almost always to princes of Sweden (only in some of the dynasties) and wives of the latter. From the beginning these duchies were often centers of regional power, wh ...

(but these titles and arms were never used in Norway).

Since 1814

The halberd was officially discarded and the shorter axe reintroduced by Royal Order in Council 10 July 1844, when an authorised design was instituted for the first time. On 14 December 1905 the official design for royal and government arms was again changed, this time reverting to the medieval pattern, with a triangular escutcheon and a more upright heraldic lion. The painter

was responsible for the design. File:Paris_expo_1937.jpg, Coat of Arms of Norway during the World Expo in Paris (1937). File:Coat of Arms of Norway (1943).svg, During the

Quisling regime The Quisling regime or Quisling government are common names used to refer to the fascist collaborationist government led by Vidkun Quisling in German-occupied Norway during the Second World War. The official name of the regime from 1 February 19 ...

under the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

a new design by Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie (1885 – 1956) was introduced 18 December 1943, rarely used, but depicted on a 1945 postage stamp. Through centuries and following changing fashions in heraldry and arts, the coat of arms has appeared in several ways in the matter of design, shape, and so on. In the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, the axe handle gradually grew longer and came to resemble a

. The handle was usually curved in order to fit the shape of the escutcheon (or the changing union quarterings) preferred at the time, and also to match the shape of coins. The coat of arms has also been used by subordinate state authorities and in semi-official contexts, such as on bank-notes.

References

Literature

* P. Petersen: ''Historisk-heraldisk Fremstilling af Kongeriget Norges Vaaben, og Sammes Afbildning i Bannere, Flag, Mynter og Sigiller'', Christiania 1836 * Gustav Storm
''Norges gamle Vaaben, Farver og Flag''

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

1894 * Chr. Brinchmann: ''Norske konge-sigiller og andre fyrste-sigiller fra middelalderen'', Kristiania 1924 * Poul Bredo Grandjean: ''Det danske Rigsvaaben'',

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

1926 *

: «Norges statssymboler inntil 1814», ''Historisk Tidsskrift'', Vol. 29 No. 8 and 9, Oslo 1933 * Hallvard Trætteberg: ''Norges våbenmerker. Norske by- og adelsvåben'', published by Kaffe Hag, Oslo 1933 * Hallvard Trætteberg: «Norges krone og våpen», i ''Festskrift til Francis Bull på 50 årsdagen'', Oslo 1937 * Hallvard Trætteberg: «The Coat of Arms of Norway», ''The American-Scandinavian Review'', June 1964 * Hallvard Trætteberg: «Det norske kongevåpen i Gelre-våpenboka», ''Heraldisk Tidsskrift'', Vol 3, No 23 p. 126 ff., Copenhagen 1970-74 * Hallvard Trætteberg: «Norges våpen i engelske kilder i middelalderen», ''Heraldisk Tidsskrift'', Vol 3, No 21 p. 29 ff., Copenhagen 1970-74 * Odd Fjordholm: «Om opphavet til det norske løvevåpen. En historiografisk framstilling». ''Heraldisk Tidsskrift'', p. 31-41, Copenhagen 1984 * Hans Cappelen
Heraldikk på norske frimerker
Oslo 1988. * Harald Nissen: «Det norske kongevåpnet», ''Heraldisk Tidsskrift'', Vol10 No 91, Copenhagen March 2005 * Hans Cappelen: «Norge i 1905: Gammelt riksvåpen og nytt kongevåpen», ''Heraldisk Tidsskrift'', Vol 10 No 94, Copenhagen October 2006 * Tom Sverre Vadholm: «Hellig-Olavs øks som norsk symbol», ''Heraldisk Tidsskrift'', Vol 11, No 102, Copenhagen October 2010, p. 59-82

External links

* The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Protocol Section
Riksvåpenet

Official website of the Royal House of Norway
(''Kongehuset'') *

National Archives of Norway The National Archives of Norway (''Riksarkivet'') is the institution responsible for preserving archive material from Norwegian state institutions, as well as contributing to the preservation of private archives. It does this work in cooperation w ...

''Image of a penny issued in 1285.''
{{Coats of arms of Europe

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

National symbols of Norway