Origin The design of the coat of arms is derived from that of the
Sverre dynasty.
Hallvard Trætteberg suggested that
Sverre, who was king between 1184 and 1202, had a lion in his coat of arms, although there is no direct attestation. Snorre Sturlason claims that a golden lion on a red background was used already in 1103 by King Magnus III, the son of King Olav III.
Gustav Storm in 1894 concluded that this is ahistorical. Storm explained that the claimed lion in King Magnus's coat of arms is unknown both in the older
Saga literature and in other contemporary sources. It is possible that Snorre, who wrote under the instruction of the King, attributed King Sverre's coat of arms to earlier Kings of Norway. A lion is shown on the coat of arms in the seal of Earl Skule Bårdsson, dated 1225, who had relations to the royal family.
Haakon Haakonson the Old had a lion in his seal, shown as lying between the feet of the seated king. A royal coat of arms with a lion is finally seen on the seal of
Haakon Haakonson the Young, dated 1250. The first instance of the lion bearing an axe is found in a seal of
Eric II (1285).
Medieval seals Approximately in 1280, either King Magnus VI (dead in 1280) or the guardianship of his son Eric Magnuson let the lion be equipped with a crown of gold and in the foremost paws an axe of silver. The axe was a symbol of Saint Olav, i.e. King Olav II, and by inserting it into the coat of arms it symbolised that the King was the rightful heir and descendant of the "
Eternal King of Norway" (Latin:
Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae).
Late medieval coats of arms With the death of King
Haakon V in 1319, the reign of the
Sverre dynasty came to an end. The Throne and thus the Royal Coat of Arms was inherited by Magnus VII, who was a maternal grandson of Haakon V and who himself belonged patrilineally to the family known as the Bjälbo dynasty. Subsequently, Norway remained in
personal union with neighbouring countries. When acting as the ruler of one particular country, the sovereign would normally use the arms of that kingdom. When acting as sovereign of the united kingdoms, he would
marshal the escutcheon by
quartering. This was a tendency in Europe in general. The first union kings placed the Royal Coat of Arms in the first quarter of the quartered coat of arms. At the beginning of the
Kalmar Union, Norway as a hereditary kingdom was considered more important than Sweden and Denmark, which were still electoral kingdoms. Consequently, King Eric III of
Pomerania placed his Norwegian Coat of Arms in an
inescutcheon, superimposed on the coats of arms of his other realms. However, the Norwegian Coat of Arms would later be degraded, so that the
coat of arms of Denmark would occupy the first field, whilst Norway's was placed in the second.
Marshalled versions from 1450 until 1814 and
equestrian arms, depicted in the
15th-c. armorial of the
Order of the Golden Fleece. In 1450, Count
Christian of
Oldenburg and of
Delmenhorst became
King of Norway. He was already
King of Denmark since 1448, and in 1457, he became
King of Sweden as well. Norway's coat of arms was placed in the lower dexter field and, when
Sweden left the
Kalmar Union in 1523, in the upper sinister field. The latter lasted until 1814. Varying from time to time, the Kings between 1450 and 1814 bore the coats of arms of the following kingdoms, peoples, and lands: •
County of Oldenburg •
Kingdom of Denmark •
Kingdom of Sweden •
Kingdom of Norway •
Goths •
Wends •
Duchy of Schleswig •
Duchy of Holstein •
Stormarn •
Dithmarschen •
Delmenhorst • etc.
Marshalled versions from 1814 until 1905 On 4 November 1814, the Norwegian
Storting elected King
Charles XIII of Sweden as King of Norway. This
personal union with Sweden lasted until the
dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905. Without legitimate
heirs of the body, King Charles adopted the French marshall Bernadotte,
Prince of Pontecorvo, who took the name Carl Johan. The union arms introduced by King Charles XIII and Crown Prince Carl Johan were never used officially in Norway. Only the lion coat of arms of Norway appeared on coins and on seals of official documents signed by the King in his capacity as Norwegian king. The union arms introduced by King Oscar I in 1844 was used by members of the royal family, by the common diplomatic service of both kingdoms, and on official documents concerning both countries. In Norway, the union arms was never used on coins or official documents. In Sweden, Crown Princes and Princes bore the coat of arms belonging to his duchy. See
Duchies in Sweden (but these titles and arms were never used in Norway).
Since 1814 The halberd was officially discarded and the shorter axe reintroduced by Royal Order in Council 10 July 1844, when an authorised design was instituted for the first time. On 14 December 1905 the official design for royal and government arms was again changed, this time reverting to the medieval pattern, with a triangular escutcheon and a more upright heraldic lion. The painter
Eilif Peterssen was responsible for the design. File:Coat of arms of Norway (1924).svg|A variant with additional lion rampant Or, crowned and bearing axe Or with blade Argent in crest. Never used by royal or state authorities. File:Quisling coat of arms 1944.tif|During the
Quisling regime under the
German occupation of Norway a new design by Harald Damsleth (1906–1971) was introduced in 1944. File:NS riksvåpen.jpg|Quisling's version was used on a postage stamp 1n 1944. Through centuries and following changing fashions in heraldry and arts, the coat of arms has appeared in several ways in the matter of design, shape, and so on. In the late
Middle Ages, the axe handle gradually grew longer and came to resemble a
halberd. The handle was usually curved in order to fit the shape of the escutcheon (or the changing union
quarterings) preferred at the time, and also to match the shape of coins. The coat of arms has also been used by subordinate state authorities and in semi-official contexts, such as on bank-notes. ==See also==