The

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 ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

is used by the German city state as well as the city itself. Introduced in 1954 for

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

, it shows a black bear on a white shield. On top of the shield is a special crown, created by the amalgamation of the

mural crown A mural crown ( la, corona muralis) is a crown or headpiece representing city walls, towers, or fortresses. In classical antiquity, it was an emblem of tutelary deities who watched over a city, and among the Romans a military decoration. Later ...

of a city with the so-called

people's crown A ( en, People's crown) is a heraldic crown seen in Germany after the First World War. When the German monarchy had been overthrown following the defeat in the war, this crown was created to replace the old coronets of rank in the arms of the Ger ...

(), used in Germany to denote a republic. Berlin's various boroughs use their own emblems. The bear has been used as a charge in the Berlin coat of arms since 1709, formerly alongside the eagles of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

and

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. A bear occurs on seals, coins and signet rings from as early as the late 12th century (but not as heraldic charge before 1709), presumably due to a

canting ' (IPA: , VOS Spelling: ''tjanting'', jv, ꦕꦤ꧀ꦛꦶꦁ, Tjanting) is a pen-like tool used to apply liquid hot wax ( jv, ) in the batik-making process in Indonesia, more precisely ''batik tulis'' (lit. "written batik"). Traditional '' ...

association with the city's name.

History

The oldest preserved and known seal of Berlin is from 1253. It depicts the Brandenburg Eagle spreading its wings in a clover-shaped archway. The text on the seal is "" (seal of Berlin's citizens). It supposedly was the seal of Berlin's first

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Marsilius. A later seal dated to 1280 shows bears as supporters of the Brandenburg coat of arms. The bear appears to have risen in popularity during the 17th century, with an early depiction on a coat of arms in a signet ring dated 1603, and it was adopted as a heraldic charge in 1709. The shield was now divided in three parts, showing the bear below the eagles of Brandenburg and Prussia. Heraldist Adolf Matthias Hildebrandt in 1883 designed a number of proposals for a new coat of arms. One of these was the simplified ''azure a bear rampant sable'' with a

in the crest. This was in use as minor coat of arms from 1920, and was adopted as the only coat of arms of

in 1954, while East Berlin continued to use the design of 1935. File:Klippe Medal Town Seal Berlin 1253, obverse.jpg, The oldest known Berlin town seal of 1253 copied to the obverse of a Klippe medal by Deutscher Kulturbund, the cultural association of the GDR. File:Seal Berlin 1280.png, Guild Seal of Berlin, 1280 File:Seal Berlin 1338.png, Seal of 1338 File:Signet ring of Berlin 1603.png, Signet ring of Berlin, 1603 File:Coat of arms Berlin 1709.png, The arms of Berlin, 1709 File:Coat of arms Berlin small 1883.png, Lesser coat of arms (1883) File:Wappen Preußische Provinzen - Stadt Berlin.jpg, Coat of arms of the city of Berlin as rendered by Hugo Gerhard Ströhl, '' Deutsche Wappenrolle'', 1897 File:Wappen Groß-Berlin.png, Coat of arms of

Greater Berlin The Greater Berlin Act (german: Groß-Berlin-Gesetz), officially Law Regarding the Creation of the New Municipality of Berlin (german: Gesetz über die Bildung einer neuen Stadtgemeinde Berlin), was a law passed by the Prussian state government i ...

1920–1934 File:Seal of Berlin 1920.png, Seal of Berlin as the capital of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...

File:Coat_of_arms_of_Berlin_(1935).svg, Coat of arms 1935–1954 and of East Berlin, 1954-1990. File:Coat_of_arms_of_Berlin.svg, Coat of arms of

, 1954-1990.

State logo

To enable civilians and non-governmental institutions to express their affinity with Berlin, the Senate of the Interior and Sports provided a logo which features the arms' shield without the crown in black and white or coloured versions.

Legal status

The coat of arms was laid down in a law of 1954:

Symbol of Berlin

The bear has come to be used as the mascot of Berlin, and was used almost excessively by local authorities, so that Hans Brendicke, editor of the journal of the Historical Society of Berlin, in 1896 remarked on the ubiquity of badly designed bears in Berlin. A member of the Historical Society went on to collect a total of 273 different representations of bears in Berlin. Hildebrandt in 1915 again complained about the excesses of variation in the bear, especially deviation from the Prussian tincture of black on white. The bear has remained the city's mascot,Eva Soirova
"The Bear- the symbol of Berlin" (berlindividedcity.wordpress.com)
6 March 2013. and in 2001 has been developed into the so-called '' Berlin Buddy Bears'', fiberglass sculptures of bears first introduced in 2001, have been used to promote the qualities of "tolerance" and ''Weltoffenheit'' (cosmopolitanism) associated with the city. File:Berlin, Germany (8000955399).jpg, Giant Romeo Britto Friendship Bear File:Buddybear Athen.jpg, The Berlin Buddy Bear File:Two Berlin-themed T-shirts, one showing occupation map, 1984.jpg, Bear themed T-shirts, from 1984. File:Bearlin Graffiti.jpg, Graffiti in Berlin File:Statute of bear holding shield, Berlin, Germany.jpg, Statute of bear with eagle on shield, Berlin

References

External links

{{German coats of arms