Oberfranken

Heraldry of the World Civic heraldry of Germany - Deutsche Wappen (Gemeindewappen/Kreiswappen)

OBERFRANKEN

State : Bayern

Origin/meaning

The arms combine the arms of the four territories to which the largest part of the area historically belonged. The lion is the lion of the State of Bamberg, the quartered shield the arms of the Margraves of Nürnberg-Ansbach from the House Hohenzollern; the bars and crown are the arms of Sachsen and symbolise the former Duchy of Sachsen-Coburg. The base shows the points, the traditional arms of Franken.

The arms of the Kreis Oberfranken, which existed until 1945 were rather different:

These arms show the eagle of Brandenburg, the lion of the State of Bamberg and in the base the points of Franken. The lion of Brandenburg was added as the Hohenzollern dynasty became Margraves of Brandenburg.

Literature : Image and information taken from here : http://www.stmukwk.bayern.de/blz/bezirke/bezirke.html