Last modified: 2005-06-03 by phil nelson
Keywords: gothenburg | sword | shield | three crowns |
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![[Flag of Göteborg]](../images/s/se-gbg.gif)
by Elias Granqvist
The flag is a banner of the arms;
arms granted in the 1621, revised grant in 1952.
See also:
Gothenburg is the second largest city in Sweden. It is situated on the west coast in the province of Västergötland, and is county capital of Western Gotaland. The Swedish name of the city is Göteborg.
The flag of Gothenburg is a banner of the arms. The arms were given to the
city at its foundation in 1621, and comprises charges taken from the fields in
the main shield in the Greater state arms: the lion of the House of Folkungar
holding the shield with the three crowns (and defending it with a sword). It is
not clear why the lion was turned to the heraldic left or if there was an
intention to do so from the start, and the same can be said about the fact that
the lion wears a royal crown in stead of an open crown. However, this is the
traditional way of depicting the arms of Gothenburg, and therefore these details
were kept when the blazon was given a modern form in a royal grant in 1952.
Elias Granqvist, 3 June 2003
Official blazon in Swedish: "I blått fält tre av vågskuror
bildade ginbalkar av silver, överlagda med ett vänstervänt, gyllene, med
sluten krona krönt lejon med svansen kluven och tunga, tänder och klor röda,
svingande med högra framtassen ett gyllene svärd och hållande i den vänstra
en blå sköld, vari tre gyllene kronor, ordnade två och en."
Blazoned in English: "Azure, three bends sinister wavy Argent, over all a
crowned, doubletailed lion rampant contourné Or, armed and langued Gules,
holding in its dexter forepaw a sword of the third and in its sinister forepaw a
shield, Azure, three crowns Or, two over one."
English blazon by Ole Andersen 3 June 2003