The municipality of Beiarn was established in 1853 when it was separated from the large
Gildeskål Municipality. Initially, Beiarn had 1,164 residents. The municipal boundaries have not changed since that time.
Name The municipality (originally the
parish) is named after the
Beiar Fjord ( or ). The meaning of the name is uncertain. It may be derived from the
plural form of the word which means "bedding" (in the sense of a "river bed". Another option is that it is the past participle of the word which means "to pray" or "to ask". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled
Beieren. On 6 January 1908, a
royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to
Beiara. This spelling, however, was not well-liked. On 19 August 1908 (a few months later), another
royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to
Beiarn.
Coat of arms The
coat of arms has been used in Beiarn since 1988. The
blazon is
"Vert, a pine tree uprooted Or" (). This means the arms have a green
field (background) and the
charge is a
pine tree. The pine tree has a
tincture of
Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The pine tree was chosen to symbolize the mighty pine forests for which Beiarn has historically been well-known. This is mentioned both by
Petter Dass' "
Nordlands Trompet" and in Lars Hess Bing's "Description of the Kingdom of Norway, the Isles of Iceland and the Faroe Islands, as well as Greenland". There are remains of giant pine trees that are likely over one thousand years old. The green color of the field was chosen to represent the lush green forests and the gold/yellow color was chosen because the forest is "worth its weight in gold" for the municipality. The arms were designed by Erik Gabrielsen, who was a cultural consultant in Beiarn municipality. In 1995, the municipality applied to have the arms formally approved for use by the
National Archives of Norway, but they were not approved because it did not meet the heraldic standards for coats of arms in Norway. The National Archives told the municipality that they can use the unapproved arms in some circumstances, but they cannot be put on a flag, road sign, or public buildings.
Churches The
Church of Norway has one parish () within Beiarn Municipality. It is part of the
Salten prosti (
deanery) in the
Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland. A privately owned
stave church was built in 2006 at Savjord, about east of
Moldjord. The
Savjord Stave Church was modeled after the
Gol Stave Church. ==Geography==