Coat Of Arms Of Denmark
The national coat of arms of Denmark (Danish: Danmarks rigsvåben) consists of three crowned blue lions accompanied by nine red hearts, all in a golden shield. The oldest known depiction of the insignia dates from a seal used by King Canute VI c. 1194. The oldest documentation for the colours dates from c. 1270. Historically, the lions faced the viewer and the number of hearts was not regulated and could be much higher. Historians believe that the hearts originally were søblade (literally: sea-leaves) but that this meaning was lost early due to worn and crudely made signets used during the Middle Ages. A royal decree of 1972 specifies these figures as søblade but Danes normally refer to them as hearts. The current version was adopted in 1819 during the reign of King Frederick VI who fixed the number of hearts to nine and decreed that the heraldic beasts were lions, consequently facing forward. A rare version exists from the reign of king Eric of Pomerania in which the three lions jointly hold the Danish banner, in a similar fashion as in the coat of arms of the former South Jutland County. Until c. 1960, Denmark used both a "small" and a "large" coat of arms, similar to the system still used in Sweden. The latter symbol held wide use within the government administration, e.g., by the Foreign Ministry. Since this time, the latter symbol has been classified as the coat of arms of the royal family, leaving Denmark with only one national coat of arms, used for all official purposes.
The crown on the shield is a heraldic construction based on the crown of King Christian V, not to be confused with the crown of King Christian IV. The main difference from the real crown is that the latter is covered with table cut diamonds rather than pearls. Both crowns, and other royal insignia, are located in Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen.
The blazon in heraldic terms is: Or, three lions passant in pale Azure crowned and armed Or langued Gules, nine hearts Gules.
This insignia is almost identical to the coats of arms of Estonia and Tallinn which can both be traced directly back to King Valdemar II and the Danish rule in northern Estonia 1219-1346. The main differences are as follows: In the Danish coat of arms the lions are crowned, face forward, and accompanied by nine hearts. In the Estonian coat of arms, the "leopards" face the viewer, they are not crowned, and no hearts are present. The coat of arms of Tallinn resembles the Estonian arms, but the leopards in the former arms are crowned with golden crowns similar to the ones in the Danish arms. It shows great similarities with the contemporary insignia of England's Richard the Lionheart and the current arms of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The Danish coat of arms has also been the inspiration for the coat of arms of the former Duchy of Schleswig, a former Danish province (two blue lions in a golden shield.) The hearts of the coat of arms also appear in the coat of arms of the German district of Lüneburg.
Read more about Coat Of Arms Of Denmark: Royal Coat of Arms, Territories and Titles Formerly Represented in The Danish Arms, Gallery, Related Symbols
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