The coat of arms of Amsterdam is the official

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

symbol of the city of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. It consists of a red

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of ...

and a

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

pale with three

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

Saint Andrew's Crosses, the

Imperial Crown of Austria The Imperial Crown of Austria (german: Österreichische Kaiserkrone) is a crown formerly in use by the monarchs of the Habsburg monarchy. The crown was originally made in 1602 in Prague by Jan Vermeyen as the personal crown of Holy Roman Emperor ...

, two golden

lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large 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 dimorphic; ad ...

, and the

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. M ...

of Amsterdam. Several

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

elements have their basis in the history of Amsterdam. The crosses and the crown can be found as decorations on different locations in the city.

Heraldic elements

Escutcheon

In the coat of arms of Amsterdam, the field of the escutcheon (

shield) is red. The field is charged with three vertically ordered

or white Saint Andrew's Crosses on top of a

pale. The field and the pale result in three vertical bands in the colours red and

. The crosses probably have their origin in the shield of the

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...

Persijn. The knight Jan Persijn was lord of Amstelledamme (Amsterdam) from 1280 to 1282. In the escutcheons of

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after ...

and

Delft Delft () is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, and The Hague, to the northwest. Together with them, it is part of both the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolita ...

, two other cities in

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former Provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

, the pale refers to

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

. In analogy with this, the black pale in the escutcheon of Amsterdam would refer to the river

Amstel The Amstel () is a river in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It flows from the Aarkanaal and Drecht in Nieuwveen northwards, passing Uithoorn, Amstelveen, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, to the IJ in Amsterdam. Annually, the ri ...

. Both the colours and the crosses are also found in the escutcheons of two towns near Amsterdam: the village of

Ouder-Amstel Ouder-Amstel () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Population centres The municipality of Ouder-Amstel consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Duivendrecht, Ouderkerk aan de Amstel ...

on the banks of the river Amstel to the southeast, and Nieuwer-Amstel (now the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

Amstelveen Amstelveen () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands with a population of 92.353 as of 2022. It is a suburban part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area. The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the historical villag ...

) to the southwest. Both villages were also the property of the Persijn family. The escutcheon forms the basis for the flag of Amsterdam, but the bands and crosses are positioned horizontally on the flag instead of vertically. The three Saint Andrew's Crosses are used in the logo of the city government and also as decorations on the typical Amsterdam bollards called ''

Amsterdammertje An ''Amsterdammertje'' () is the typical red-brown steel traffic bollard that is used to separate the pavement from the street in Amsterdam. ''Amsterdammertje'' is Dutch for 'little one from Amsterdam'. The bollards bear the three Saint Andre ...

s''.

Imperial Crown

During the

Hook and Cod wars The Hook and Cod wars ( nl, Hoekse en Kabeljauwse twisten) comprise a series of wars and battles in the County of Holland between 1350 and 1490. Most of these wars were fought over the title of count of Holland, but some have argued that the un ...

in the 15th century, the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

Maximilian I supported the

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. Th ...

in the cities (Cod) in their fight against the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

in the countryside (Hook). During these wars Amsterdam loaned large amounts of money to Maximilian I. In 1489, the emperor gave Amsterdam the right to use his personal imperial

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

in its coat of arms, out of gratitude for these loans. When his successor

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Ho ...

created a new personal crown, Amsterdam changed the crown accordingly. After the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Amsterdam continued to use the crown of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

emperor. In 1804, the crown of Rudolf II became the

. In the coat of arms of Amsterdam, the Imperial Crown is positioned on top of the escutcheon. The Imperial Crown can be found independently at several locations in Amsterdam. The tower of the Protestant church

Westerkerk The Westerkerk (; en, Western Church) is a Reformed church within Dutch Protestant Calvinism in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the most western part of the Grachtengordel neighborhood ( Centrum borough), next to the Jordaan, betwe ...

is crowned with the Imperial Crown and the bridge

Blauwbrug The Blauwbrug (English: Blue bridge) is a historic bridge in Amsterdam, Netherlands over the river Amstel. It connects the Rembrandtplein area with the Waterlooplein area, and lies south to the Stopera. The bridge owes its name to a wooden "b ...

is decorated with several Imperial Crowns.

Golden lions

The

supporters In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. However, unlike the c ...

of the escutcheon are two

rampant In heraldry, the term attitude describes the ''position'' in which a figure (animal or human) is emblazoned as a charge, a supporter, or as a crest. The attitude of an heraldic figure always precedes any reference to the tincture of the figure ...

golden

. The compartment the lions stand on is a stone

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

. The lions were added to the coat of arms in the 16th century.

Motto

Trams krijgen nieuw stadswapen, Bestanddeelnr 903-1191

During the 1941

February strike The February strike ( nl, Februaristaking) was a general strike in the German-occupied Netherlands in 1941, during World War II, organised by the then-outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands in defence of persecuted Dutch Jews and agains ...

in Amsterdam, non-Jewish people protested against the persecution of Jews by the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Wilhelmina wanted to remember the role of the citizens of Amsterdam during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and created a

consisting of the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

words ''"Heldhaftig, Vastberaden, Barmhartig"'', meaning "Valiant, Steadfast, Compassionate". On March 29, 1947, Wilhelmina presented the motto as part of the coat of arms of Amsterdam to the city government.

Never will I forget the emotion that overwhelmed us, when eyewitnesses first notified us in London of how the entire population had actually turned against the inhumanity of the cruel tyrant.

—
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...

In the coat of arms of Amsterdam, the motto is written on a silver

scroll A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. Structure A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papyrus ...

. This scroll is positioned on top of the compartment under the escutcheon.

Usage

As a coat of arms of a Dutch

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

, the coat of arms of Amsterdam is registered with the Hoge Raad van Adel (cf.

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sover ...

). These coats of arms are all effectively in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

, as the municipalities cannot claim copyright. In contrast, actually using the coat of arms to suggest any kind of official endorsement is restricted, more comparable to a trademark than a copyright. The coat of arms may only be used by others than the city with the explicit permission of the municipal government. In general permission is not granted to others, because the coat of arms designates the city of Amsterdam. Individual elements, such as the three Saint Andrew's Crosses or the escutcheon may be used by others without permission.

Notes

# Original quote in Dutch: ''"Nooit zal ik de ontroering vergeten, die zich van ons meester maakte, toen ooggetuigen ons te Londen het eerste bericht brachten, hoe gans een bevolking zich in daadwerkelijk verzet gekeerd had tegen de onmenselijkheid van een wrede dwingeland."''

References

{{Amsterdam Culture in Amsterdam History of Amsterdam