Cantonal Coats Of Arms

Each of the 26 modern cantons of Switzerland has an official flag and a coat of arms.
The history of development of these designs spans the 13th to the 20th centuries.

List

The cantons are listed in their order of precedence given in the federal constitution. This reflects the historical order of precedence of the Eight Cantons in the 15th century, followed by the remaining cantons in the order of their historical accession to the confederacy.

''Standesfarben'' were used to identify the (historical) cantons when the full banner was not available for display, although there is overlap; Unterwalden and Solothurn share the same colours, as do Basel and Appenzell, and with the accession of the modern cantons, Valais and Basel-City, and St. Gallen and Thurgau.Louis, Mühlemann, ''Wappen und Fahnen der Schweiz, 700 Jahre Confoederatio Helvetica'', Lengnau, 3rd ed. 1991.
Swiss Armed Forces, ''Fahnenreglement'', Reglement 51.340 d (2007

.
''Standesfarben'' listed for the ''Tagsatzung'' of 1807:
''Der aufrichtige und wohlerfahrene Schweizer-Bote'' 4 (1807)
190f.
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Heraldic charges

Of the 26 cantons since 1999 (22 cantons in 1848, accession of Jura in 1979, three half-cantons designated "canton" in 1999):
*six flags are simple bicolor designs, ''per fess'' ( Canton of Lucerne, Lucerne, Fribourg, Solothurn, Ticino), ''per bend'' (Zürich) or with a central ''fess'' (Zug). The coats of arms of Ticino and Lucerne have the peculiarity that they are ''per pale'' even though the flags are ''per fess''.
*eight flags with heraldic animals:
**the bear for Bern and for Appenzell (both Innerrhoden and Ausserrhoden)
**the bull for Uri
**the ram for Schaffhausen
**the ibex for Graubünden (at the time only one of three coats of arms shown side by side for the Three Leagues)
**the eagle () for Geneva
**two lions for Thurgau
*three with the bishop's crozier or ''Baselstab'', for Basel ( Basel-City and Basel-Country) and Jura
*three with a key (Keys of Heaven), for Unterwalden (both Obwalden and Nidwalden) and for Geneva
*two cantons show the Swiss cross, for Schwyz on solid red, and for Neuchâtel in the corner of the "revolutionary" tricolour
*two with stars, Valais and Aargau, the latter with additional wavy lines representing rivers
*two with letters for Appenzell Ausserrhoden (VR for ''Ussere Rhoden'') and Vaud (inscription 'Liberté et Patrie').
*the image of a pilgrim ( Saint Fridolin) for Glarus'' for St. Gallen

Distinctively, Swiss cantons use square flags.

History

Historically, the number of cantons was:
* eight from 1352 to 1481, see Eight Cantons
* thirteen from 1513 to 1798, see Thirteen Cantons
* twenty during the time of the Helvetic Republic, from 1798 to 1803, without official flags or coats of arms
* twenty-two from 1848 to 1978, including three cantons divided into two half-cantons each
* twenty-three from 1979 to 1999, due to the secession of the canton of Jura from Bern.

Nidwalden and Obwalden form traditional subdivisions of Unterwalden. Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft, as well as Appenzell Inner- and Ausserrhoden, are half cantons, resulting from the division of Basel and Appenzell, respectively.
The Swiss Federal Constitution of 1999 abandoned the use of the term "half-canton" as an official designation, so that the official number of cantons became 26 - the former half-cantons being now referred to as "cantons with half a cantonal vote" officially, even though they are still commonly referred to as "half-cantons".

With the exception of Lucerne, Schwyz and Ticino, the cantonal flags are simply transposed versions of the cantonal coats of arms. In case of Lucerne and Ticino, whose flags consist of fields of different colours divided per fess (horizontally), the coats of arms are of the same colours divided per pale (vertically). The coat of arms of Schwyz has the cross moved from the (hoist) canton to the sinister canton with respect to the flag.

The coats of arms of the Thirteen Cantons are based on medieval signs, originating as war flags and as emblems used on seals.
For war flags, a distinction was made between ''Banner'' and ''Fähnlein'', the former was the large war flag used only in the case of a full levy of cantonal troops for a major operation. The latter was a smaller flag used for minor military expeditions. The ''Banner'' was considered a sacred possession, usually kept in a church. Losing the banner to an enemy force was a great shame and invited mockery from other cantons.

Pope Julius II in recognition of the support he received from Swiss mercenaries against France
in 1512 granted the Swiss the title of ''Ecclesiasticae libertatis defensores'' and gave them two large banners, besides a blessed sword and hat. Papal legate Matthias Schiner in addition gave to the Swiss cantons and their associates a total of 42 costly silk banners with
augmentations, the so-called ''Juliusbanner''.
Some of these banners survive, of the cantonal ones notably those of Zürich and Solothurn.

The fashion of arranging cantonal insignia in shields ('' escutcheons'') as coats of arms arises in the late 15th century.
The ''Tagsatzung'' in Baden was presented with stained glass representations of all cantons .
In these designs, two cantonal ''escutcheons'' were shown side by side, below a shield bearing the Imperial Eagle and a crown, flanked by two banner-bearers.
Based on these, there arose a tradition of representing cantonal arms in stained glass (''Standesscheiben''), alive throughout the early modern period and continued in the modern state.

File:Ingeram Codex 082.jpg, Depiction of the coat of arms of six of the Eight Cantons (omitting Zürich and Bern, but adding Solothurn and Appenzell) in a 1459 manuscript made for Albert VI, Archduke of Austria. The text denounces "the Swiss" as "faithless vassals" who hold their territories illegally.
File:Patenpfennig Stampfer 1547 obv.jpg, The coats of arms of the Thirteen Cantons as shown on the "baptismal medal" or ''Patenpfennig'' presented by the Confederacy to Princess Claude of Valois (by Jacob Stampfer of Zürich (1547).
File:Muzeum Sułkowskich - Zabytkowy Witraż.jpg, ''Standesscheibe'' of Unterwalden (1564)
File:13 cantons 1577.png, Depiction of the coats of arms of the Thirteen Cantons (title page of ''La Republique des Suisses'' by Josias Simmler, printed in 1577)
File:Siebmacher222.jpg, Coats of arms of the Thirteen Cantons as part of a larger collection of coats of arms of free cities by Johann Siebmacher (1605).
File:Merian Topographia 1642 title.png, Depiction of the coats of arms of the thirteen cantons and their associates, printed in 1642.
File:Zentralbibliothek Solothurn - SCHWEIZERISCHE EIDGENOSSENSCHAFT MDCCCXV - aa0710.tif, Print of a ''Wappenscheibe'' of the 22 coats of arms of the restored Swiss Confederacy (1815)
File:Stammbaum CH Kantone.jpg, Depiction of the coats of arms (including half-cantons) as they stood in 1912.

Zürich

The flag of Zürich is derived from a blue-and-white design attested since the 1220s, the diagonal division of the flag is first attested 1389.

The flag of Zürich was adorned by a red Schwenkel since 1273. This was regarded as a mark of sovereignty and honour by the people of Zürich, but the Schwenkel was otherwise used as a mark of "shame", identifying replacement flags used after a real flag was captured by an enemy
This led to a misunderstanding after the Battle of Nancy, when the Duke of Lorraine removed the Schwenkel from the Zürich flag, stating that with the present victory, Zürich had "erased its shame". The perplexed Zürich troops later quietly re-attached the Schwenkel.

Zürich attached the Swiss cross in the red Schwenkel rather than in the main flag, and this may have contributed to the development of the flag of Switzerland (placing the white cross in a red field by default).

File:Banner Zuerich 1585.jpg, Depiction of the flag with Schwenkel (Humbert Mareschet, 1585)
File:Wappen Zuerich farbig.jpg, Heraldic depiction of Zürich as an imperial city (Murerplan, 1576)

Bern

The city of Bern is a Zähringer foundation of 1160. In the 13th century, its flag showed a black bear in a white field, changed to the current red-and-yellow diagonal arrangement in 1289.
Bern also had a war flag with a simple red-and-black horizontal division. The cantonal colours remain red and black.

Lucerne

The blue-and-white flag is attested from 1386.
The vertical division of the coat or arms has been explained as due to a gonfalon type of banner used by Lucerne, hung from a horizontal crossbar, which was also used as a flagstaff, so that the flag was turned by 90 degrees when carried in battle.

Uri

The flag originates in the 13th century. It was carried in the battles of Morgarten (1315) and Laupen (1339). One 14th century flag is preserved in the town hall of Altdorf.

Schwyz

Schwyz used a solid red war flag (Blutbanner) from 1240.

From the 14th century, a depiction of the crucifixion was sometimes shown on the flag.

Pope Sixtus IV confirmed this addition in 1480, stating explicitly that the crown of thorns and the nails (Arma Christi) should be shown.
The coat of arms remained solid red throughout the 16th to 18th centuries, but from the 17th century in depictions in print (in black and white), the cross was sometimes shown.

The modern design of flag and coat of arms with the cross in one corner dates to 1815. The precise definition of the proportions of the cross dates to 1963.

File:Blutfahne.svg, The Blutbanner
File:Museum SH Wappenscheibe 5.jpg, Standesscheibe of Schwyz (1586), showing the solid red coat of arms

Unterwalden

The flag Unterwalden, as the canton itself, has a complicated history, on one hand due to the rivalry of the constituent half-cantons Obwalden and Nidwalden, and on the other because its historical flag was identical to that of Solothurn.

The war flag of Obwalden was plain red and white, first recorded in 1309.
Nidwalden tended to be dominated by Obwalden and usually fought under the same banner.

A single key was used in the seal of Nidwalden from the mid 13th century.
This seal was used for both Obwalden and Nidwalden (i.e. the united canton of Unterwalden) during the early 14th century. The addition et vallis superioris "and the upper valley" was scratched into the seal to reflect this.
At this point, there was a seal (with the key) and a war flag (red-and-white), but no coat of arms.
From , Obwalden and Nidwalden were separated into two independent territories, while keeping a single vote in the confederate diet. Because of the "and the upper valley" addition scratched into the seal, Nidwalden began using a new seal of its own, and the seal of Unterwalden, formerly the seal of Nidwalden, now was used by Obwalden. The seal of Nidwalden now showed St. Peter with his keys.

Nidwalden began using the double-key as a design on its war flag from the early 15th century.
The red-and-white flag of Unterwalden was now also the flag of Obwalden if both half-cantons were to be represented separately.
This was the situation as the fashion of coats of arms was introduced in the late 15th century.
The early Standesscheiben of the first decade of the 16th century show
the double-key as the coat of arms and flag of Nidwalden, while Obwalden has the red-and-white design in both its flag and its coat of arms.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the coat of arms of the combined canton of Unterwalden came to be depicted as a superposition of the red-and-white flag of Obwalden and the double-key of Nidwalden.

Only in the mid 18th century does the single-key symbol (taken from the 13th-century seal) appear occasionally in coats of arms of Obwalden.
This design was introduced as the official coats of arms of Obwalden in 1816, and the same design came gradually into use also for the flag of Obwalden, which also resolved the problem of the Obwalden flag being identical to that of Solothurn.

Glarus

The flag of Glarus

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