Zoutleeuw

	ZOUTLEEUW Country : Belgium Province : Vlaams-Brabant Incorporated into: 1971 Helen-Bos 1977 Budingen 1977 Halle-Booienhoven 1971 Dormaal Loading map... {"minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"mappingservice":"leaflet","width":"250px","height":"250px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"zoom":7,"defzoom":14,"layers":["OpenStreetMap"],"image layers":[],"overlays":[],"resizable":false,"fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":true,"cluster":false,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clustermaxradius":80,"clusterspiderfy":true,"geojson":"","clicktarget":"","imageLayers":[],"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":50.8327000000000026602720026858150959014892578125,"lon":5.10550000000000014921397450962103903293609619140625,"icon":""}],"imageoverlays":null}

Official blazon
Dutch	(1841) Een zwart veld, met eenen gulden leeuw met roode klauwen en tong, het bovenste bezet ook met rood. (1988) In sabel een leeuw van goud, geklauwd en getongd van keel met een opgenaaid schildhoofd van hetzelfde
English	blazon wanted

Origin/meaning

The arms were granted on July 31, 1841 and again on October 5, 1988.

The lion in the arms is the lion of Brabant, as the village historically belonged to Brabant, and the in 1213 the Dukes of Brabant granted several privileges to Zoutleeuw. The lion thus appeared on the oldest seal of the town, dating from 1248. In 1424 it was mentioned in a document that the arms showed a lion and a plain red chief. Whether the chief was added simply to distinguish the arms form those of Brabant, or that it was added as a symbol for the courage and the blood spilled by the inhabitants to defend Brabant is not known. The chief also appeared on the seal from 1640 and the arms thus have not changed since.

In the 16th century some other variations of the arms are used; in a roll of arms from 1560-1570 the rms are shown as divided from red and black, with a demi-lion in the upper half. And in anothe rbook the chief was shown in silver with a blue lion again in the chief.

Image gallery

The seal from 1248
The seal from 1355
The seal from 1405
The seal from 1518
The seal from 1624
The arms in a 17th century manuscript
The arms in the Koffie Hag/Café Hag albums +/- 1930
The arms on a municipal stamp (1940s)
The arms on a police badge (source)

Literature: Servais, 1955: Information from the Zoutleeuw council; seals from M. Gachard, Inventaires des archives de la Belgique, Brussel 1879

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