Swedish Heraldry - Municipal Heraldry

Municipal Heraldry

There are 290 municipalities in Sweden, each with its own coat of arms. A local government reform in the 1960s–1970s made all cities part of a municipality. The city arms often—but not always—became the coat of arms of the new municipality. As some municipalities were created at this time by merging smaller communities, this led in some cases to arms consisting of two parts, each derived from one of the communities. Some new municipalities also lacked historical cities within, and therefore created wholly new coats of arms. Municipalities which carry the name of a city (with a few exceptions—see below) traditionally display a mural crown on top of their coat of arms. While no law forbids other municipalities from using the mural crown, it is customarily reserved for those bearing former city arms. Kalmar was the first to establish city arms in 1247, and Stockholm, Skara and Örebro were also among the first cities in Sweden to establish city arms. As recently as 2007, Härryda Municipality was among the last municipalities in Sweden to replace its logo with a newly registered coat of arms. Municipal arms may not use any colors (tinctures) other than argent, Or, gules, azure, sable and vert. As in other heraldic traditions, the rule of tincture applies and it is the blazon—not the image—that is legally registered.