King of The Goths - Denmark's Title

Denmark's Title

The first Danish king to use the title was King Valdemar IV (reigned 1340 to 1375), who adopted it in 1362 after conquering Gotland the previous year. The Danish Kings continued to use the title over the next six hundred years until 1972, when Queen Margrethe II succeeded. She abandoned the use of all her predecessors' titles except her title as Denmark's Queen, which is the royal style today.

First documented 1449, the arms of the Danish monarchs contained until 1972 a subcoat representing the title King of the Goths: on gold, a blue heraldic leopard over nine red hearts. Originally derived from the arms of the dukes of Halland which again was derived from the Danish arms. This symbol is consequently unrelated to Gotland's arms featuring the Agnus Dei, although the latter symbol was also formerly represented in the arms of Denmark.