Flag and coat of arms of the Canton of Aargau

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coat of arms of the canton of Aargau

The coat of arms of the canton of Aargau is split into black and blue . On the right three white ( heraldic : silver ) waves and on the left three (2.1) set white five-pointed stars .

Flag of the Canton of Aargau

It was introduced after the founding of the canton in 1803. In the first few years the stars were sometimes arranged one below the other, e.g. B. on coins. Today's coat of arms received its definitive status in this form (with the arrangement of the stars 2 above, 1 below) only in 1930.

Blazon

The correct blazon of the coat of arms reads: split right in black a silver wave crest, left in blue three five-pointed silver stars .

Emergence

After the mediation act was introduced in 1803, the six newly formed cantons of St. Gallen , Graubünden , Thurgau , Ticino , Vaud and Aargau were asked to introduce their own cantons' coat of arms. On April 20, 1803, Samuel Ringier from Zofingen , himself a member of the government commission , submitted a draft to the Aargau government. Apart from a few details, the coat of arms is still used today. Since contemporary records about the meaning of the coat of arms have not survived, four interpretations have developed; one mythical, one popular and two historical.

  • Mythical interpretation: The design of the coat of arms refers to the four elements. The black field stands for earth, the blue field for air, the wave bars for water and the stars for fire.
  • Popular interpretation: The right (heraldic left) half of the shield with the wavy bar stands for the Aare Gau, i.e. all of the Aargau. The three stars in the left (heraldic right) half of the shield for the fraternal union of the three denominations: Catholic , Reformed and Jewish .
  • First historical interpretation: The black field shows the canton with the Aare as a whole. The stars in the blue field refer to the independent cantons of Aargau, Baden and Fricktal during the Helvetic Republic.
  • Second historical interpretation (oldest interpretation, 1844, and most widespread today): The (heraldic) right field represents the Bernese Aargau through which the Aare flows, black symbolizes the dark fertile soil, the wavy lines the Aare, the three white (heraldic silver) Stars in the blue field represent the county of Baden, the Free Offices and the Fricktal, the color blue symbolizes the abundance of water. In this interpretation, the denominational characteristics of the canton are sometimes taken into account, since the Bernese Aargau is reformed and the three other parts are Catholic.

The arrangement of the three stars has not been determined. Depending on the intended use, their position varied from two above, one below (2,1), two (heraldic) on the right, one on the left (1,1,1) or in the post position, i.e. all in a row below one another. In 1930, the arrangement of the stars was then set to 2.1, the current variant, by decree (“in advance in official use”). This should protect the coat of arms as a national emblem from trademark use.

Regional coat of arms

Most of the area of ​​today's Canton of Aargau was subject to the Confederates from 1415 to 1798 . While Bern ruled the western part alone, the east was divided into two common dominions , which were administered alternately by several of the eight old towns . The Fricktal in the northwest in turn remained part of Upper Austria until 1799 .

  • Bernese Aargau

  • Free offices / Freiamt

  • Baden County

  • Canton of Fricktal

In the west, the city ​​of Bern dominated the so-called Bernese Aargau (districts Aarau , Brugg , Kulm , Lenzburg and Zofingen ). Even after the founding of the canton, the rising Bern bear remained a symbol of unity and can still be seen today on numerous historical buildings, such as B. the former seats of the Bernese bailiffs .

The emblem of the "open positions" ( District Muri and the Just west of the Reuss area of the district Bremgarten ) (now Freiamt ) in the southeast goes on a yellow and blue banner back, the Pope Julius II. In 1512 the Freiaemter Regiment during the Italian wars lent . The coat of arms appeared for the first time on boundary stones that were erected in 1598 on the border with the Bernese Aargau and shows a golden column of torture that is wound with a silver cord. There are two variants that exist side by side on an equal footing, one with a blue-yellow divided field and one with an undivided blue field.

The county of Baden (districts of Baden and Zurzach as well as the area of ​​the district of Bremgarten east of the Reuss) in the northeast used the coat of arms of the city of Baden . It shows a black post under a red shield head on a white background and was first mentioned in a document in 1381. The first depiction in the form of a coat of arms was cast in iron in 1441 and placed above the gate of the city tower.

The short-lived canton of Fricktal (districts of Laufenburg and Rheinfelden ) used a coat of arms as the official seal motif in 1802 and 1803, which shows a green linden leaf on a white field . It goes back to a seal of the Vogtei Homburg in the Frick region from 1530. The coat of arms not only stands for the Fricktal in general, but has also been used by the community of Schupfart since 1872 (until 1931 also by the community of Frick ).

literature

  • Joseph Galliker, Marcel Giger: Municipal coat of arms of the canton of Aargau. Lehrmittelverlag des Kantons Aargau, book 2004, ISBN 3-906738-07-8 , p. 61.
  • Louis Mühlemann: coat of arms and flags of Switzerland. 3. Edition. Bühler-Verlag, Lengnau 1991, ISBN 3-9520071-1-0 .
  • Christophe Seiler, Andreas Steigmeier : History of the Aargau. Illustrated overview from prehistoric times to the present. 2nd revised edition. AT-Verlag, Aarau 1998, ISBN 3-85502-410-3 , p. 88.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wiki Genealogy: Coat of Arms of the Canton of Aargau, going back to Mühlemann, s. Bibliography