Göteborg
 |
Heraldry of the World Civic heraldry of Sweden > Sveriges Kommunvapen |
|
GÖTEBORG
Province (Landskap): Västergötland, Bohuslän
County (Län): Västra Götalands län
Additions : 1868 Karl Johan; 1906 Lundby; 1922 Örgryte; 1931 Nya Varvet; 1945 Västra Frölunda; 1948 Backa; 1966 Torslanda (1952 Björlands); 1967 Angered, Stora Lundby (partly, 1952 Bergum, Östad), Säve, Tuve; 1971 Ytterby (partly); 1974 Askim, Rödbo (from 1952-1974 part of Kungälv), Styrsö
Official blason
I blått fält tre av vågskuror bildade ginbalkar av silver, överlagda med ett vänstervänt, gyllene, med sluten krona krönt lejon med svansen kluven och tunga, tänder och klor röda, svingande med högra framtassen ett gyllene svärd och hållande i den vänstra en blå sköld, vari tre gyllene kronor, ordnade två och en.
Origin/meaning
The arms were officially granted in 1952 and again in 1974.
The arms are based on the national arms, showing the lion and wavy bends, as well as the three crowns, but in a different composition. The lion holds a sword, which in the arms is shown pointed backwards. The national symbols as well as the sword indicate that Göteborg was an important border town, as the area south of the city (Halland and Bohuslän) were part of the Danish Kingdom.
There has been a very long debate on two elements of the arms of Göteborg, the position of the lion and the crown. In the national arms the lion is facing right, the normal heraldic position. The arms were first mentioned in 1607 for the old city of Göteborg, and again in 1621 for the new city (which was burned down in between). These documents describe the lion as facing left. The city thus wants the lion to face left, whereas the national heraldic committee wanted the lion to face right. Finally the city won the debate, which means that in the official image, as shown above, the lion is facing left (remember that in heraldry the shield is read from behind, heraldic left is right to the viewer). At the same time a right-facing lion is used in military banners and symbols, which has been the case for several centuries...
The second point of debate is the crown. In historical documents and images the lion bears a normal crown, with three golden leaves, as in the national arms. On special request of the city the crown was changed to a Royal crown, to indicate the importance of the city, which historically used a royal crown on the shield, instead of the more common mural crown. Since crowns are no longer used on Swedish city arms, the city wanted to have the royal crown for the lion, instead of the more common crown.
 The arms as shown by Liljeblad, 1878 |
 The arms in the Kaffe Hag album +/- 1935 |
 The arms in the town |
 The arms in the town |
 The arms in the town |
 The arms in the town |
 The arms in the town |
Contact and Support
Partners:
Your logo here ?
Contact us
© since 1995, Heraldry of the World, Ralf Hartemink 
Index of the site
Literature : Nevéus and de Waern, 1992