The
parish of
Fitje (later spelled
Fitjar) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1863 when it was separated from the large
Stord Municipality. Initially, the population of Fitje Municipality was 2,313. On 1 January 1868, a small area of
Finnaas Municipality (population: 10) was transferred to Fitje Municipality. In 1900, the name was changed to
Fitjar Municipality. The original municipality included all of the land surrounding the
Selbjørnsfjorden (on the north side and south side of the fjord). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the
Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the area of Fitjar located north of the Selbjørnsfjorden on the islands of
Huftarøy and
Selbjørn (population: 696) was transferred to the neighboring
Austevoll Municipality. On 1 January 1995, the islands of Aga, Agasystra, Gisøya, Vikøya, Selsøy, Risøya, and many smaller surrounding islands (population: 225) were transferred from Fitjar Municipality to the neighboring
Bømlo Municipality. These islands had recently been connected to Bømlo by road bridges which precipitated the municipal transfer.
Name The municipality (originally the
parish) is named after the old
Fitjar farm () since the first
Fitjar Church was built there. The name is the plural form of which means "meadow along the water" or "lush meadow". Before 1900, the name was written
"Fitje".
Coat of arms The
coat of arms was adopted during the late 1940s, but they have never been formally granted since they did not meet the formal government design requirements. In 2018, the municipal council of Fitjar formally approved the arms after a change to a national law. The
blazon is
"Azure, a Viking helmet Or within a orle argent". This means the arms have a blue
field (background) and the
charge is a
Viking helmet with a thin border around the edge of the shield. The charge 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 arms often have a
mural crown depicted above the
escutcheon. The helmet and the color are derived from the belief that
King Haakon the Good wore a golden helmet at the
Battle of Fitjar in 961, which was fought in this municipality. King Haakon died from his wounds. His death and reception in
Valhalla are described in the
skaldic poem , composed by the
Eyvindr skáldaspillir. The arms were designed by Magnus Hardeland. The municipal flag is orange with a depiction of coat of arms in the centre along with the name of the municipality below the arms.
Churches The
Church of Norway has one parish () within Fitjar Municipality. It is part of the
Sunnhordland prosti (
deanery) in the
Diocese of Bjørgvin. ==History==