Squirrel (heraldic animal)

Squirrel in the coat of arms of Bertingen

Squirrels in the Emkendorf coat of arms

In heraldry, the squirrel is a small heraldic animal .

As a common figure it has been represented in many coats of arms for many centuries, but has often been superseded by other coat of arms figures over time . The animal appearing in the coat of arms is predominantly the European squirrel .

It is shown once sitting , the other time jumping . It also likes to sit or jump around on a heraldic tree or branch as a base. The main line of sight is towards the heraldic right side. All colors are allowed for the coloring ( tinging ). However, in order to clearly represent the squirrel in the coat of arms, red is preferred. It can be recognized by its bushy tail and its typical sitting posture without a description of the coat of arms ( blazon ). Different tincture (coloring) in the reinforcement (claws etc.) is not common. Instead, several similar croissants next to each other, on top of each other or in a three-pass . Three-pass means in heraldry that two animals are arranged above one animal. The notation of this arrangement of figures is 2: 1.

The addition of a nut or a softwood cone is particularly popular . The squirrel holds these often colored things with its front paws.

Examples

Filling the picture in the coat of arms of Pfrondorf
Nibbling a nut on a tree stump in the coat of arms of Bertingen
In the 17th century the coat of arms of Volken showed a fir tree , two squirrels and two plowshares
In the coat of arms of Neuenkirchen (near Greifswald) three squirrels in gold, each holding a golden nut
In Eckernförde's coat of arms , a red squirrel runs over a tower by the water
The coat of arms of Raesfeld shows u. a. two red animals, placed on stakes
In the coat of arms of Titisee-Neustadt it sits on one of the numerous conifers in the Black Forest
Company coat of arms of the 5th Company of the 1st Telecommunications Regiment
In the coat of arms of the municipality of Pfaffing (Upper Austria) a squirrel with a cone. The dice indicate the Frankenburger dice game .
The municipalities of Westensee and Emkendorf have a squirrel with a nut or acorn in their coat of arms. The coat of arms goes back to the Westensee knight family, which died out in the 14th century