Coat of Arms of Norway - History

History

Two versions of the earliest royal lion coat of arms with axe, reverse of Eric Magnusson's seal, 1280s.

Magnus Barefoot (1093–1103) may have been the first Norwegian king to use an heraldic lion in his standard, but solid evidence for this assumption is lacking. The first lion to appear in a royal seal belonged to king Sverre Sigurdsson (1177–1202). Håkon the Old (1217–1263), an illegitimate grandson of king Sverre, needed to demonstrate his royal ancestry. In his seal he adopted his grandfather's lion within an escutcheon. Although known only from seals, there is reason to believe that the tinctures were the same as in later versions. His son Magnus VI Lagabøte (1263–1280) confirmed the royal lion coat of arms, still without crown or axe. In 1280 a crown and a silver axe was added to the lion in King Eric Magnusson's coat of arms. The axe is the martyr axe of St. Olav, the weapon said to have killed him in the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. By adding this powerful attribute of St. Olav, " Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae", he manifested his exalted ancestry as well as his upper hand in the ongoing struggle with ecclesiastical authorities. His brother Haakon V Magnusson (1299–1319), the last male of the royal line, used the same arms. By carrying on this tradition, kings of later dynasties transformed the formerly dynastic symbol into a territorial coat of arms, signifying the Kingdom of Norway.

The design of the Norwegian arms has changed through the years, following changing heraldic fashions. In the late Middle Ages, the axe handle gradually grew longer and came to resemble a halberd. The handle was usually curved in order to fit the shape of escutcheon (or the changing union quarterings) preferred at the time, and also to match the shape of coins. The halberd was officially discarded and the shorter axe reintroduced by royal decree in 1844, when an authorised design was instituted for the first time. In 1905, the official design for royal and government arms was again changed, this time reverting to the medieval pattern, with a triangular escutcheon and a more upright lion. The painter Eilif Peterssen was responsible for the design. The present design was introduced in 1937, but slightly modified with royal approval 20 May 1992.

The state coat of arms is always to be displayed surmounted with the royal crown. However, during the political and constitutional conflicts of the late 19th century, the republican anti-union liberal movement would sometimes use an uncrowned shield as an emblem, as can be seen on the banner of Kristiania Folkevæpningssamlag exhibited in the Oslo City Museum.

On coins issued under German occupation during World War II the royal cypher was replaced by the 1937 coat of arms, without the royal crown. The Quisling regime continued to use the lion coat of arms, although the emblem of the Nasjonal Samling party on the pattern of the German Nazi Reichsadler was used concurrently as an alternative state insignium. In 1943, the design of the lion was modified, and the royal crown was replaced with an open medieval type of crown. The legitimate Norwegian government continued to use the coat of arms with the royal crown during exile An alternative design by the architect Arnstein Arneberg was depicted on Norwegian banknotes issued between 1945 and 1976.

According to the rules of heraldry, any design is acceptable and recognizable as the arms of Norway, provided it fits the blazon "gules a lion rampant or, crowned and bearing an axe with blade argent". The Norwegian official blazon: "Ei upprett gull-løve på raud grunn med gullkrone på hovudet og gullskjeft sylvøks i framlabbane".