Uri

URI

Official blazon

Origin/meaning

The arms of Uri date from the early 13^th century. The oldest known seal dates from 1249, but is probably older. It shows already a bull's head with a ring.

The bull was probably a canting symbol. The oldest Germanic tribes to settle in the area named the area Ur (wilderness). The land was inhabited by a kind of bulls, known as Urochs (Bos primigenus), the ancestor of our present cows.

The arms of the canton thus have basically not changed since.

Image gallery

The first seal (used from 1249)
The second seal (used from 1258)
The third seal (used from 1353)
The fourth seal (used from 1489)
The arms in the Armorial Jörg Rügen (1495)
The arms in a manuscript from 1576
The arms in a 16th century manuscript
The arms in a 16th century manuscript
The arms in the Wapen- en Vlaggenboek van Gerrit Hesman (1708)
The arms on a 1569 coin
The arms on a 1610 coin
The arms on a 1726 coin
The arms on a 1811 coin
Variation of the arms in the Kaffee Hag albums 1914-1960
Variation of the arms in the Kaffee Hag albums 1914-1960
Variation of the arms in the Kaffee Hag albums 1914-1960
The arms on a glass panel in the Historisches Museum, Luzern

Literature : Mühlmann, L. : Wappen und Fahnen der Schweiz, Bühler Verlag, Lengnau, 1977 and 1997.

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