Zug

ZUG (City and Canton)

Zug city

Zug canton

Origin/meaning

The arms of the City and Canton of Zug are identical. The only difference is the use of the crown by the city.

The oldest known seals of the city of Zug date from the last quarter of the 13^th century and all show the patron saint of the city, St. Michael.
The oldest seal in which the arms with the bar are used for the first time dates from around 1319. All later seals and arms always show the single bar.

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  The seal from 1319

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  The seal from 1370

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  The seal from 1412

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  The seal from 1474

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  The seal from 1447-1663

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  The cantonal seal from 1947

The arms are most likely derived from the arms of Austria, as the city at the time was an Austrian possession. When the colours were changed is not known, it may be that the colours were never the Austrian colours (red-silver-red), but the silver and blue from the beginning.
The colours are known as such since the 15^th century, but the second seal already hangs on a blue and silver ribbon on a document from 1370. On different occasions the arms of Zug are shown with supporters, most often lions or St. Michael, but also knights, savages or angels. As there was no consistency in the type of supporters, it is not likely that these were officially used, they do not appear in any of the seals either.

Only in the seal of the Canton from 1947 the arms are shown with two lions and St. Michael as supporters.

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  The arms around 1500

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  The arms in a 16th century manuscript

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  The arms in the Wapen- en Vlaggenboek van Gerrit Hesman (1708)

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  The arms on a 1565 coin

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  The arms on a 1623 coin

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  The arms on a 1783 coin

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  The arms on a 1803 coin

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  The arms in an album +/- 1905

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  Variation of the arms in the Kaffee Hag albums 1914-1960

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  Variation of the arms in the Kaffee Hag albums 1914-1960

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  Variation of the arms in the Kaffee Hag albums 1914-1960

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This page is part of the Swiss heraldry portal	Heraldry of the World
Swiss civic heraldry: National Arms Arms of cantons Arms of cities and towns Swiss heraldic literature Total pages in the Swiss section : 13,314 of which images : 6,896	Other heraldry: Ecclesiastical heraldry Military heraldry Heraldic postcards Heraldic stamps Collector's items Institutional heraldry Educational heraldry Corporate heraldry Personal arms

Literature : Mühlmann, L. : Wappen und Fahnen der Schweiz, Bühler Verlag, Lengnau, 1977 and 1997; Iten and Zumbach, Wappenbuch des Kantons Zug, 1974.