Danish heraldry
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Danish heraldry has its roots in medieval times when the use of coats of arms first appeared in Europe. Danish heraldry is a branch of the German-Nordic heraldic tradition.
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[edit] Modern heraldry
[edit] Official heraldry
[edit] State heraldry
The National Coat of Arms of Denmark consists of three crowned blue lions accompanied by nine red hearts, all in a golden shield. The national coat of arms was originally the coat of arms of the royal family but by time it became associated with the Danish territory. The oldest known depiction of the insignia dates from a seal used by King Canute VI c. 1194. The oldest documentation of the tinctures of the coat of arms are from a depiction in the Armorial Gelre from 1370-86. From the 13th century to the 1420s the national coat of arms used a horned helmet covered with ermine fur with fans of peafowl feathers[1]. The oldest documentation for the colours dates from c. 1270. Today the coat of arms or derivations of it is used by many state authorities. Only the Folketing use the coat of arms without the crown.
The National Coat of Arms can be found in the first and fourth quarters of the Danish Royal Coat of Arms (sometimes called the greater national coat of arms). This coat of arms is only used by the royal family.
The Danish military has a long tradition for the use of coats of arms. Every regiment and naval vessel have a coat of arms.
[edit] Municipal heraldry
Today most Danish municipalities have their own coat of arms. Until the municipal reform of 2007, where the counties were abolished, all Danish counties had coats of arms. After the municipal reforms some of the new municipalities have chosen to have new coats of arms designed. The new regions are not armigerous but have chosen to use logos instead.
The design of municipal coats of arms can vary but often the designs on medieval seals have been placed inside a shield. This has produced very complex coats of arms that do not always adhere to the rules of heraldry (e.g. the rule of tincture) for instance the coat of arms of Århus. There is no tradition for the use of exterior ornaments on Danish municipal coats of arms. The most widespread tincture is azure (blue) with gules (red) being popular too.
Municipalities display their coats of arms on buildings, on stationery and on traffic signs at the limits of the municipality. The use of armorial banners is not common.
Municipal coats of arms are required to be approved by the National Heraldic Consultant and can be registered at the Danish Patent and Trademark Office. If a municipality chooses to use a logo instead, the approval of the National Heraldic Consultant is not required.
[edit] Private heraldry
Heraldry first appeared among the warrior class and thus became linked to nobility. But oher groups of society quickly took up the heraldic tradition. The first Scandinavian burgher arms is from 1320[2]. Today it is estimated that up to 80 % of Danish private coats of arms are burgher arms[2].
Not only noble families have coats of arms as the assumption of arms is free in Denmark. Although it is unusual for a Danish family or individual to be armigerous, some coats of arms exist.
There is no clear distinction between burgher arms and noble arms but historically while noble coats of arms typically had very abstract designs commoners used very symbolic armorial designs. Often these designs would resemble the profession of the armiger (priests would prefer crosses and chalices, jurists would prefer scales and swords).
Canting coats of arms have been popular in Danish heraldry for a long time. For example a man with a tree for Holzmann (lit. "wood-man") and a unicorn for Langhorn (lit. "long-horn").
Danish heraldry follows the German-Nordic tradition. As opposed to Gallo-British heraldry, where each individual of a family has his own coat of arms, a Danish coat of arms usually is the same for an entire family. A specific trait of German-Nordic heraldry is that the crest usually follows the design of the shield. Traditionally crests are not used alone as they are in British Heraldry.
[edit] Regulation
Official Danish coats of arms have special protection by Danish law. In general they may only be used in official duties by offices of state and municipalities. The unlawful use of an official coat of arms or other official insignia is a criminal offence under section 132 of the Danish penal code.
The National Heraldic Consultant is an office under the Danish National Archive. His job is to oversee that official coats of arms adhere to the rules of heraldry and to approve municipal coats of arms. He has no jurisdiction over private coats of arms.
Private coats of arms are not regulated and need no official sanction. Private coats of arms can be used as trademarks and thus be protected from other commercial use. Specific renditions of coats of arms are protected by copyright law.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Statens Arkiver. Valdemarernes våben (Danish). Retrieved on June 13, 2007.
- ^ a b Allan Tønnesen. Borgerlig heraldik i Danmark (Danish). Retrieved on June 9, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Sociates Heraldica Scandinavica - The Scandinavian Heraldic Sociaty
- The Danish National Archives' page about heraldry (in Danish)
- The homepage of Ronny Andersen, the Danish royal armorial painter
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