Sankt Vith

Heraldry of the World
Civic heraldry of Belgium - Belgische Gemeentewapens / Armorial de Belgique

SANKT VITH

Province : Liège
Additions : 1977 Crombach, Lommersweiler, Recht, Schoenberg

Official blazon

(1925) D'argent au lion de gueules à la queue fourchue couronné et armé d'or.
(1979) In Silber ein goldgekrönter, blaubewehrter und -bezungter zweischwänziger roter Löwe.

Origin/meaning

The arms were granted on July 3, 1925 and slightly changed on June 8, 1979.

The arms show the lion of the family Fauquemont. The Lords of Fauquemont either descended from the Lords of Heinsberg, who used a silver lion on a red shield, or from the Dukes of Limburg, who used a red lion on a silver field. The oldest known use of the double-tailed lion dates from 1342 on a seal form Jean de Fauquemont. The Lords of Fauquemont were lords of Saint Vith already in the 12^th century. Later the town was a possession of the Counts of Vianden and the Princes of Oranje-Nassau.

When the arms were granted the lion was officially described as the lion of Fauquemont-Limburg, and shown as the lion of Limburg.