Norwegian heraldry
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Norwegian heraldry has roots in early medieval times, soon after the use of
coats 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 wh ...
first appeared in continental
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. Some of the medieval coats of arms are rather simple of design, while others have more naturalistic charges. The king-granted coats of arms of later times were usually detailed and complex. Especially in the late 17th century and the 18th century, many ennobled persons and families received coats of arms with shields containing both two and four fields, and some even with an inescutcheon above these. There are very few civic arms dating from before 1900, and most of today's governmental and civic arms are from the last decades of the 20th century. Today the public arms are popular in Norway and are used extensively by the official authorities. The
Norwegian Heraldry Society Norwegian Heraldry Society ( no, Norsk Heraldisk Forening, NHF) is a heraldry society located in Oslo, Norway, which was founded in 1969. The first chairman was Herman Leopoldus Løvenskiold, and other founding members include C. S. Schilbred and ...
is a private heraldic organisation.


Private heraldry and coats of arms


History

Coats of arms in early medieval times were quite simple and of a rather basic design, when they were to be used in tournaments and other battles. The eldest Norwegian personal arms are known only from seals of the late 13th and the early 14th centuries. Most of the arms in the seals are not simple and have several
charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqua ...
s combined, e.g. a
griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...
holding a bird (Bjarne Erlingsson 1288), two crossed axes and a
fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...
(Jon Kollr 1297), and a fleur-de-lis between two roses on a
fess In heraldry, a fess or fesse (from Middle English ''fesse'', from Old French ''faisse'', from Latin ''fascia'', "band") is a charge on a coat of arms (or flag) that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the centre of the shield.Wo ...
(Baron Snare Aslaksson 1303). The Dano-Norwegian union kings started to grant nobility and personal arms in the 15th Century. In the late 17th Century and during the 18th Century, many ennobled persons were granted arms with shields having two and four fields (e.g.
Peter Tordenskiold Peter Jansen Wessel Tordenskiold (28 October 1690 – 12 November 1720), commonly referred to as Tordenskjold (), was a Norwegian nobleman and flag officer who spent his career in the service of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy. He rose to the rank ...
), a few even with an
escutcheon Escutcheon may refer to: * Escutcheon (heraldry), a shield or shield-shaped emblem, displaying a coat of arms * Escutcheon (furniture), a metal plate that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder on a door * (in medicine) the distribution of pubic ha ...
over all (e.g.
Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy. He was influenced by Humanism, ...
) and some with two supporters (e.g.
Bernt Anker Bernt Anker (22 November 1746 – 21 April 1805) was a Norwegian merchant, chamberlain and playwright. He was born in Christiania, the son of Christian Ancher and a brother of Peder Anker and cousin of Carsten Anker. His business included ...
). Arms were self-assumed in Norway and not a privilege for nobles. When nobility was granted by the union kings, even new arms were granted, often being the ennobled person's former arms with some additional charges (e.g. Herman Løvenskiold in 1739). Many of the ennobled person had direct influence on their new arms, especially those who paid a considerable amount of money to the king himself for the ennoblement (e.g.
Gyldenkrantz Gyldenkrantz was a Danish and Norwegian noble family of Dutch descent. The family became patrilineally extinct after some generations. History Before the ennoblement Joachim Christian Gertsen Geelmuyden (1730-1795) was born in Nordhordaland ...
).


Noble heraldic privileges

The
Norwegian nobility Aristocracy of Norway refers to Modern history, modern and Medieval Ages, medieval Aristocracy (class), aristocracy in Norway. Additionally, there have been economical, political, and military elites thatrelating to the main lines of History of N ...
had no real heraldic privileges, as it was allowed for all citizens to assume their own coats of arms. In letters patent to the nobility, however, it was expressly granted a legal protection for their new arms. After 1814 there has been no such granting of nobility and arms in Norway. Unlike in Sweden, the use of open helmets was not reserved for the nobility. Coronets and supporters were formally reserved for the nobility, but they were used also by a number of others, without any protests from the public authorities. Supporters were normally granted to counts and higher ranks, but they were also granted to untitled nobility (e.g. Anker) and barons (e.g.
Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy. He was influenced by Humanism, ...
). Noble coronets (Norwegian: ''adelskrone'' or ''rangkrone'') were in principle for the nobility only. There were specific coronets for counts, barons, and untitled nobles. In addition, the
Gyldenløve Gyldenløve, was a surname for several illegitimate children of House of Oldenburg, Oldenburg kings of Denmark-Norway in the 17th century. Kings The surname Gyldenløve was given to the sons of the following Dano-Norwegian kings: * Christian I ...
r ("Golden Lions"), who were illegitimate royal descendants, had an exclusive coronet. The coronets for the nobility were, however, also used in arms and monograms by many burghers and peasants, e. g. in seals on the Norwegian Constitution of May 17, 1814, for the peasants Syvert Eeg and Christopher Hoen. The use of physical coronets is not known in Norway.


Usage before and now

Coats of arms were in older times relatively frequent, used by nobles as well as citizens and farmers. There are today comparatively few personal coats of arms in Norway, especially in active use, and many of them are of foreign origin. Many Norwegian family arms have been created and established by private individuals and needed no grant or confirmation by any official authorities. Not many Norwegian family arms are those of former noble families.


Gallery

File:Coatofarms-galtung.jpg, Galtung in medieval style by
Anders Thiset Anders Thiset (25 February 1850 -14 July 1917) was a Danish historian, genealogist, heraldic artist, archivist and encyclopedist. Biography Thiset was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was a student of H.E. Melchior (1881-1927) and completed Melchio ...
, Denmark File:1524 biskop Oskuld i Stavanger.JPG, Bishop Oskuld's seal of 1524 from
Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...
File:Kane Ulv.JPG, Kane on a tombstone from 1616 File:Benkestok.JPG, Benkestok in 17th Century style in Birgitte Seeblad's
Armorial A roll of arms (or armorial) is a collection of coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms. The oldest extant armorials date to the mid-13th centur ...
File:Slægten Løvenskiolds våben.jpg, Løvenskiold in 18th Century style on a pew in Solum Church File:Falsen.JPG,
Falsen Falsen, also ''de Falsen'', is a Danish and Norwegian noble family. History The family descends from Falle Pedersen (1625–1702), who lived on the farm Østrup on Sealand, Denmark. The Falsen family share the same roots as the famous Scanian fa ...
in early 19th Century style File:Wedel.JPG,
Wedel-Jarlsberg The Count of Wedel-Jarlsberg (also ''Wedel Jarlsberg'') is a title of the Norwegian nobility and of the Danish nobility. The family of Wedel-Jarlsberg is a branch of the larger family von Wedel, which comes from Pomerania, Germany. Family members ...
in 19th Century style above an entrance to Sem Church. File:Treschow.JPG,
Treschow Treschow may refer to: *An alternative spelling of Tresckow, a family belonging to the German ''Uradel'' * Treschow (Dano-Norwegian family), a Dano-Norwegian family originally from Næstved Næstved () is a town in the municipality of the same n ...
in 20th Century style on the portal to the manor house Fritzøehus. File:Brodtkorb_wax_seal.jpg, Brodtkorb in a seal from 2011.


Official heraldry and coats of arms


Regulation

New private coats of arms need no official sanction and there is no legislation, official regulation or registration of such arms. The situation is different with the national and royal arms, the arms of military and civil governmental bodies, counties and municipalities; they are sanctioned by the King and they are protected by the Norwegian Penal Code. For royal sanction of new coats of arms, the municipalities must apply to the Ministry of Local Government. This will then consult with the National Archives Office, which must recommend it to the government for the municipality to obtain the required Royal Decree. Official and public coats of arms may only be used in official duties by offices of state, counties, and municipalities. There are several regulations for such use, i.a. that the arms must be placed at the top of the page on which they are printed. There is no special Norwegian heraldic authority but the government uses the National Archives of Norway as expert consultant for municipal arms. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the heraldic authority for use of the national coat of arms and the symbolic royal crown.


State and civic heraldry

A few Norwegian cities were granted arms (or seals with similar emblems) by the union kings:
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 incorporation ...
1643,
Halden Halden (), between 1665 and 1928 known as Fredrikshald, is both a town and a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The municipality borders Sarpsborg to the northwest, Rakkestad to the north and Aremark to the east, as well as the Swedish muni ...
1665,
Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...
and
Molde Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the m ...
1742,
Holmestrand is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Holmestrand. The town was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). ...
and
Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...
1898. Today practically all Norwegian municipalities and all counties have their own coat of arms and corresponding banner of arms as their flag. They usually have just one tincture and one metal, they are very simple in design, easy for blazoning, and very strong in symbolism. Some coats of arms are allowed to break from these rules if they are a revival of an old coat of arms with connection to the area. Other institutions, like churches and some schools, also use coats of arms.Norwegian heraldry
''Scandinavian heraldry society''. Accessed 2009-06-20.
The military also uses heraldry, and for this purpose, Major General Torbjørn Bergersen designed arms for all units in the
Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army ( no, Hæren) is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway ...
. Air force insignia, arms and badges all bear similarities to the United Kingdom's
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
as a result of close ties during the
Second World War 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.


Gallery

File:Den_norske_kirkes_våpen.svg, The Norwegian Church File:Coat of arms of the Norwegian Defence Staff.svg, Defence Staff Norway File:Coat of arms of the Norwegian Army.svg, The Norwegian Army File:Luftforsvaret-emblem.gif, The Norwegian Air Force File:TBSheraldisk.jpg, The Navy's tactical boat squadron File:Coat of arms of the Norwegian Ranger Battalion GSV.svg, Sør-Varanger Garnison of the Norwegian Army File:Coat of arms of the Norwegian Police Service.svg, Norwegian Police Service File:Østfold_våpen.svg, Østfold County File:Trondheim komm.svg, City of
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
File:Ørskog_komm.svg, Ørskog Municipality


Features

Norwegian heraldry belongs historically and basically to German-Nordic heraldic tradition. However, foreign impressions have found their way into modern heraldry. Norwegian heraldry uses traditionally the five main colours. Orange is not used.. Accessed 2009-06-20


House marks and monogrammes

''Bumerke'' (plural: ''bumerker''), rarely spelled ''bomerke'', are
house mark A house mark was originally a mark of property, later also used as a family or clan emblem, incised on the facade of a building, on animals, in signet and similar in the farmer and burgher culture of Germany and Scandinavia. These marks have ...
s with some relations to coats of arms,Hans Cappelen: «Bumerker i Norge – en oversikt», in Anders Bjønnes et al.: ''Segltegninger fra hyllingene i Norge 1591 og 1610'', ed by Norsk Slektshistorisk Forening, Oslo 2010. as they were frequently used instead of arms, often displayed within an escutcheon or a shield. House marks were used for several purposes and like coats of arms, they were often used on private
seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...
and
signet ring A seal is a device for making an impression in wax, clay, paper, or some other medium, including an embossment on paper, and is also the impression thus made. The original purpose was to authenticate a document, or to prevent interference with a ...
s. Coats of arms consist of coloured fields whilst house marks consist of simple lines only, suitable for carving on e.g. wooden utensils. They are renditions of very simple runic-like letters and other graphic symbols which signify a specific person or family. They may be passed down through generations with some changes from person to person. This custom has mostly died out. Before literacy became widespread, a bumerke would often be used instead of a signature. Some bumerkes consist of monogrammes which are owner's name initials. Most bumerkes are not monogrammes, and a monogramme is not automatically a bumerke. However, monogrammes were often used for the same purposes as bumerkes, e.g. when signing documents or marking personal belongings.


Gallery

File:Christliche Symbolik (Menzel) I 193 1.jpg,
Chi Rho The Chi Rho (☧, English pronunciation ; also known as ''chrismon'') is one of the earliest forms of Christogram, formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters— chi and rho (ΧΡ)—of the Greek word ( Christos) in such a way t ...
monogram (
labarum The labarum ( el, λάβαρον) was a ''vexillum'' (military standard) that displayed the "Chi-Rho" symbol ☧, a christogram formed from the first two Greek letters of the word "Christ" ( el, ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, or Χριστός) – ''Chi'' (χ ...
) popular as Norwegian house mark File:Steinhoggermerke 58 C Nidaros.jpg,
Stonecutter Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...
mark
Nidaros Cathedral Nidaros Cathedral ( no, Nidarosdomen / Nidaros Domkirke) is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county. It is built over the burial site of Olav II of Norway, King Olav II (c. 995–1030, reigned 1015–102 ...
12th Century:
Ave Maria The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary's s ...
monogram was also a popular house mark File:Pentagram (fixed width).svg,
Pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle aroun ...
popular as house mark with many variants File:Hour glass half and two feet up.GIF, Popular house mark:
hour glass An hourglass (or sandglass, sand timer, sand clock or egg timer) is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated flow of a substance (historically sand) ...
variant called the ''slut'' (''førkja'') File:Norsk-bumerke.jpg, Popular house mark: hour glass variant File:Yr rune.svg, Popular house mark called a ''cock's foot'' File:Threefold-Symbol.png, Popular house mark:
triquetra The triquetra ( ; from the Latin adjective ''triquetrus'' "three-cornered") is a triangular figure composed of three interlaced arcs, or (equivalently) three overlapping '' vesicae piscis'' lens shapes. It is used as an ornamental design in ar ...
variant File:Venus symbol (fixed width).svg, Popular house mark:
Venus symbol A planet symbol (or ''planetary symbol'') is a graphical symbol used in astrology and astronomy to represent a classical planet (including the Sun and the Moon) or one of the modern planets. The symbols were also used in alchemy to represent the me ...


See also

*
Coat of arms of Norway The coat of arms of Norway is the arms of dominion of king Harald V of Norway, and as such represents both the monarch and the kingdom (nation and the state). It depicts a standing golden lion on a red background, bearing a golden crown and axe w ...
*
Flag of Norway The national flag of Norway ( nb, Norges flagg; nn, Noregs flagg; ) is red with a navy blue Scandinavian cross fimbriated in white that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style ...
* List of coats of arms of Norway *
List of flags of Norway The following is a list of flags of entities named or related to Norway. Kingdom of Norway National flags Civil pennant Royal standards Flags of the Government Other flags Flags of the Military Flags of the Navy Flags of the Army T ...
*
Burgher arms Burgher arms or bourgeois arms are coats of arms borne by persons of the ''burgher'' social class of Europe since the Middle Ages (usually called '' bourgeois'' in English). By definition, however, the term is alien to British heraldry, which foll ...
*
House mark A house mark was originally a mark of property, later also used as a family or clan emblem, incised on the facade of a building, on animals, in signet and similar in the farmer and burgher culture of Germany and Scandinavia. These marks have ...
*
Norwegian nobility Aristocracy of Norway refers to Modern history, modern and Medieval Ages, medieval Aristocracy (class), aristocracy in Norway. Additionally, there have been economical, political, and military elites thatrelating to the main lines of History of N ...


Literature and sources

*H.J. Huitfeldt-Kaas et al.: ''Norske Sigiller fra Middelalderen'', Oslo 1899-1950 (Norwegian seals from the Middle Ages - in Norwegian) * Hallvard Trætteberg: «The Coat of Arms of Norway», ''The American-Scandinavian Review'', June 1964 * Hans Cappelen: ''Norske slektsvåpen'', Oslo 1969 (2nd ed. 1976) (Norwegian family coats of arms), with English Summary * Hans Cappelen and Knut Johannessen: ''Norske kommunevåpen'', Oslo 1987 (Norwegian municipal coats of arms), with English Summary * Hans Cappelen: "Norwegian Simplicity. The principles of recent public heraldry in Norway", ''The Coat of Arms,'', Vol. VII, No. 138, London 1988, pp 15-24 * Hans Cappelen: "The Heraldry of the Norwegian Armed Forces", ''Genealogica & Heraldica Lisboa 1986'' (Congress Report), Lisboa 1989, Vol. 2, pp 179-185 * Harald Nissen and Monica Aase
''Segl i Universitetsbiblioteket i Trondheim''
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
1990 (seals in the University Library of Trondheim) * Harald Nissen: «Norwegian Heraldry», ''Heraldry in Canada'' (1-2), 1995
Knut Johannesen: ''Art by Royal Decree'', National Archives of Norway, Oslo 1998
(municipal arms in Norway - in Norwegian)
Hans Cappelen ''Bumerker i Norge: En oversikt'', Oslo 2005 (about house marks - in Norwegian)


* [http://www.genealogi.no/wiki/index.php/Genealogica_%26_Heraldica._Proceedings_of_the_XXXIst_International_Congress_of_Genealogical_and_Heraldic_Sciences_(bok) Elin Galtung Lihaug (editor): ''Report from the International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences'', Oslo 2014 ]


References


External links


Discussion forum with much info on Norwegian military heraldry
{{Heraldry by country