The
parish of
Askøen (later spelled
Askøy) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see
formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1879, a small area of the neighboring
Fana Municipality (population: 18) was transferred to Askøen. On 1 January 1904, a small area near the village of
Hanevik (population: 32) was transferred from Askøen Municipality to the neighboring
Alversund Municipality. On 1 July 1918, the southern (mainland) portions of Askøy Municipality (population: 6,957) were separated from the municipality to form the new
Laksevåg Municipality. This split left Askøy Municipality with 4,822 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the
Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the
Hanevik area (population: 193) on the island of
Askøy was transferred from
Meland Municipality to Askøy Municipality. Also on that date, the old
Herdla Municipality was dissolved. The parts of Herdla Municipality that were located on the island of Askøy and on the island of
Herdla (population: 1,564) were all transferred into Askøy Municipality. This boundary adjustment put the entire island of Askøy, the island of Herdla, and many tiny surrounding islands in Askøy Municipality.
Name The municipality (originally the
parish) is named after the island of
Askøy. The first element is named after the old
Ask farm () since the first
Ask Church was built there. The name is identical to the word which means "
ash tree". The last element is which means "
island". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled
Askøen. On 3 November 1917, a
royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to
Askøy, removing the
definite form ending
-en. The letter
y was added to the end of the word to "Norwegianize" the name ( is the Danish word for "island" and is the Norwegian word).
Coat of arms The
coat of arms was granted on 28 September 1961. The
blazon is
"Argent, an ash tree on an island vert" (). This means the arms have a
field (background) has a
tincture of
argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The
charge is a large
ash tree on an island with three waves below. The arms are a
canting since the name of the municipality means something like
ash tree island. The arms were designed by Magnus Hardeland. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
Churches The
Church of Norway has five parishes () within Askøy Municipality. It is part of the
Vesthordland prosti deanery in the
Diocese of Bjørgvin. ==Culture==