Coat of Arms of Iceland - History

History

Iceland has historically had various distinct coats of arms:

• The first one is believed to have been a shield with six blue stripes and six silver stripes, possibly signifying the 12 þings of the Icelandic Commonwealth.
• The second one is believed to be the one that was given to Earl Gissur Þorvaldsson by the King of Norway, Hákon Hákonarson, during 1258. It was patterned on the King's own coat of arms, exchanging the colors of the shield with the color of the lion and adding the blue and silver stripes of the previous coat of arms.
• Around or after 1500, the Icelandic coat of arms became a crowned stockfish on a red shield. It is known as the Þorskmerkið (“the cod markings”) and the fish was depicted occasionally in a variant form.
• On October 3, 1903, the coat of arms of Iceland was changed to a white falcon on a blue shield. It remained in use until the first version of the coat of arms with the landvættir became official on February 12, 1919, representing the Kingdom of Iceland under Danish rule. This lasted until Iceland declared independence.
• When independence was declared on June 17, 1944, the coat of arms was redesigned; removing the Danish crown and improving upon the earlier design of the landvættir.

• The coat of arms of the Icelandic Commonwealth

• The coat of arms of the Earldom of Iceland from 1262

• The coat of arms under Danish rule, ca. 16th – 1903

• The coat of arms of the Home-rule period

• The coat of arms of King Christian X of Iceland 1918 to 1944 and Denmark 1903 to 1947. Iceland is represented by the silver falcon in the lower left corner. The falcon was removed from the Danish arms in 1948.

• The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Iceland 1919 to 1944