Early Modern Switzerland - Thirteen Cantons

The Old Swiss Confederacy between phases of expansion consisted of Eight Cantons (Acht Orte) during 1352–1481, and of Thirteen Cantons from 1513 until its collapse in 1798.

The Thirteen Cantons thus correspond to the sovereign territories of Early Modern Switzerland. They were listed in a fixed order of precedence, first the Eight Cantons of the 14th century Confederacy, then the five cantons which joined after the Burgundian Wars, and within these two groups, the more powerful urban cantons were listed first, with Zürich heading the list as the de facto Vorort of the Eight Cantons prior to the Swiss Reformation. The order of precedence, similar but not identical to the modern order (which lists Zug after Glarus, and Basel after Solothurn), was as follows:

1. Zürich, city canton, since 1351
2. Berne, city canton, since 1353; associate since 1323
3. Lucerne, city canton, since 1332
4. Uri, founding canton (Pact of Brunnen 1315)
5. Schwyz, founding canton (Pact of Brunnen 1315)
6. Unterwalden, founding canton (Pact of Brunnen 1315)
7. Zug, city canton, since 1352
8. Glarus, rural canton, since 1352
9. Basel, city canton, since 1501
10. Fribourg, city canton, since 1481; associate since 1454
11. Solothurn, city canton, since 1481; associate since 1353
12. Schaffhausen, city canton, since 1501; associate since 1454
13. Appenzell, rural canton, since 1513; associate since 1411

Symbolic depictions of the Confederacy consisted of arrangements of the thirteen cantonal coats of arms, sometimes with an additional symbol of unity, such as two clasping hands, or the "Swiss Bull" or (from the later 17th century), the Three Confederates or the Helvetia allegory.

The cantonal coats of arms were often accompanied by the coats of arms of the close associates of the confederacy, including Biel, the Imperial Abbey of St. Gallen, Imperial City of St. Gallen, the Sieben Zenden (Valais), the Three Leagues (Grisons), the Imperial City of Mulhouse, the Imperial City of Geneva and the Imperial City of Rottweil.