Flag and coat of arms of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Coat of arms of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Flag of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden

The coat of arms of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden shows a black, upright walking bear on a white (heraldic: silver) background. To the left of the bear there is the letter "V" (old spelling of U), on the right the letter "R". The bear was taken from the coat of arms of the Prince Abbey of St. Gallen . The "VR" stands for Ussere Rohde which means "Ausserrhoden".

Blazon

The official blazon of the coat of arms of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden reads: In silver an upright, red-tongued and armored black bear, accompanied at the bottom right by a black capital letter V, on the left by a similar letter R.

history

Coat of arms of Abbot Ulrich Rösch, flanked by the double coat of arms of the Prince Abbey of St. Gallen and the County of Toggenburg

see. Flag and coat of arms of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden

Late Middle Ages, independent canton

The canton of Appenzell emerged in the late 14th century, and in 1411 the canton became a free member of the Swiss Confederation (part of the Eight Old Places ). The coat of arms was first mentioned in 1403 in connection with the Prince Abbey of St. Gallen . This coat of arms shows the same bear, but on a yellow (heraldic: golden) background.

The bear symbolizes strength, and the step you take is interpreted as an expression of energy and dynamism. This may have a connection with Appenzell's independence from the canton and the city of St. Gallen .

In 1513 Appenzell was the last canton to become a full member of the Thirteen Old Places .

The bear had to be male

Right from the start, care was taken to ensure that the heraldic animal was a male bear , not a female bear . When the coat of arms was published in a calendar in 1477, the sex of the animal could not be identified. This led to a scandal: the canton government asked the manufacturer to destroy all calendars.

Land division: Ausserrhoden needs a new coat of arms

Coat of arms of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, without the letters "V" and "R"

In 1597, for religious reasons, the canton of Appenzell was split into the two today's (half) cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden ( land division ). After the arbitrators decided during the division of the land that the Innerrhodians could continue to use the coat of arms of the undivided canton, Ausserrhoden had to create a new coat of arms. It did this by adding the letters “U” (written as “V”) and “R”, which stand for “Ussere Roden ” (= Ausserrhoden). The fact that the two letters are shown separated by the bear is intended to symbolize the division between the two cantons.

French occupation

During the Helvetic Republic , when Appenzell Ausserrhoden belonged to the Appenzell district of the canton of Säntis , the letters were understood differently, VR stood for “Vive la Republique”. So the coat of arms has been able to save itself unchanged up to the present day.