Vestre Toten was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see
formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1875, there was a border adjustment between
Østre Toten Municipality and Vestre Toten Municipality. On 1 January 1908, the municipality was divided into three parts:
Kolbu Municipality (population: 2,412) in the southeast,
Eina Municipality (population: 1,173) in the southwest, and Vestre Toten Municipality (population: 4,027) in the north. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the
Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the following areas were merged to form a new, larger Vestre Toten Municipality:
Name The municipality is named
Vestre Toten after the district of
Toten (). The name is identical with the word which has an uncertain meaning, but it might be from the word which means "the pleasant district" or "something one likes". The
parish of Toten was divided into two parts (eastern and western) in 1825 and the first word, was added to signify that this was the "western" part, thus the name was
Vestre Toten which means "(the) western (part of) Toten".
Coat of arms The
coat of arms was granted on 3 May 1991. The official
blazon is
"Vert, two knives argent in bend sinister points to base dexter" (). This means the arms have a green
field (background) and the
charge is two
knives that are lined up diagonally (specifically a special locally-produced knife known as a
Toten knife). The charge 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 green color in the field symbolizes the local forests and agriculture and the knife was chosen since the area has a long tradition of
wood carving and knife making. The arms were designed by Inge Rotevatn. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
Churches The
Church of Norway has three parishes () within Vestre Toten Municipality. It is part of the
Toten prosti (
deanery) in the
Diocese of Hamar. ==Geography==