Coat-of-Arms (Hamburg, Germany)

Landeswappen

Last modified: 2004-10-09 by santiago dotor
Keywords: hamburg | coat of arms (castle: white) |
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Lesser Arms Kleines Landeswappen	Middle Arms Mittleres Landeswappen	Greater Arms Großes Landeswappen

• Description
• Flag Legislation

See also:

• Hamburg (Germany)
• Germany

Other sites:

• Flaggen, Wappen und Logos (Flags, Coats-of-Arms and Logos, German text only) at the Hamburg Official Website

Translated from Hamburger Wappen:

The oldest coat of arms of Hamburg has been retained on a city seal of 1241. It probably existed long before that: a castle with three towers. Over the middle tower there was a cross even then, indicating certain church in the city. The towers and the walls with their pinnacles and the closed gate symbolized the determination of the town to defend itself. The so-called Stars of Mary (Mariensterne) on top of the two side-towers recalls the fact that Hamburg used to be an archbishopric. During the centuries the towers, walls, pinnacles and symbols of the coat of arms of Hamburg changed several times, without changing in character. The use of city seals with the coat of arms was in olden times a privilege of the City Council; the city elders had to watch its maintenance. Even now the coat of arms is protected and can only be used under specific circumstances.

Jarig Bakker, 30 March 1999

Three variants of the arms are used in Hamburg:

• The lesser arms (Kleines Landeswappen) only shows the white three-towered castle with two six-pointed stars on a red escutcheon. This dates back to the oldest seals (1241).
• The middle arms (Mittleres Landeswappen) decorates the escutcheon with a helmet with crest [which includes three peacock feathers and six banners of the arms] and mantling. This variant dates back to 1594.
• In the greater arms (Großes Landeswappen) two golden lions are added as supporters [standing on a compartment]. This variant dates back to 1640.