Coat of arms of Baden-Württemberg

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Large coat of arms of Baden-Württemberg
Small state coat of arms with the three "Staufer lions"

The coat of arms of Baden-Württemberg comes in two variants, a large and a small state coat of arms .

History and legal basis

The founding of the state of Baden-Württemberg in 1952 was not without controversy, so that an agreement on the symbols and even the name of the state itself was difficult. The constitution announced in November 1953 initially only determined the national colors black and gold , but no coat of arms. This was only determined by the law on the coat of arms of the state of Baden-Württemberg of May 3, 1954. Its use was regulated by the ordinance of the state government on the use of the state coat of arms of August 2, 1954. The design comes from the graphic artist Fritz Meinhard.

When the law reforming the coat of arms law came into force on October 31, 2015, the legal situation regarding the use of the state coat of arms in Baden-Württemberg has changed. The previously applicable law on the coat of arms of the state of Baden-Württemberg of May 3, 1954 and the ordinance of the state government on the use of the state coat of arms of August 2, 1954 have expired. The State Signs Act (LHzG) has taken its place . § 1 LHzG describes the coat of arms as follows:

(1) The coat of arms of the state of Baden-Württemberg shows three striding black lions with red tongues in a golden shield . It is listed as a large and a small state coat of arms.
(2) In the large state coat of arms, a crown with plaques of the historical coats of arms of Baden, Württemberg, Hohenzollern, Palatinate, Franconia and Upper Austria rests on the shield. The shield is held by a golden stag and a golden griffin , which are armored in red.
(3) In the small state coat of arms, a leaf crown (people's crown) rests on the shield.

With the three lions, the coat of arms draws on the tradition of the old Duchy of Swabia , whose last dukes, the Staufers , had this coat of arms. The name Swabia had been discussed for a long time for the new federal state, but failed due to resistance from parts of Baden.

Large coat of arms

Historical coat of arms of Baden
Historic coat of arms of Württemberg

In the large state coat of arms, a crown with plaques rests on the shield, which reflect the most important historical components of the country. These are (from heraldic right to left)

The coats of arms of the two large eponymous territories of Baden and Württemberg are slightly enlarged compared to the coats of arms of the smaller properties.

The heraldic sign holder is the stag representing Württemberg on the right and the griffin for Baden on the left . Griffin and deer were the shield holders in the coats of arms of the states of Baden and Württemberg that existed before the war. However, the griffin no longer has its head turned outwards as in the old Baden coat of arms. Furthermore, the shield holders are speckled gold and silver, as the Baden griffin was originally silver and the Württemberg stag was originally gold. Finally, the shield holders stand on a pedestal in the national colors of black and gold, which is not explicitly mentioned in the legal text.

The large state coat of arms is only used by certain authorities and institutions in the country. According to Section 3 (1) LHzG, these are the state parliament, the parliamentary groups and members of parliament, the prime minister , the government , the ministries, the state representations at the federal government and the European Union in Brussels, the constitutional court and the highest courts of the state, the Court of Auditors , the regional councils, the state commissioner for data protection and the persons commissioned by the state government for certain areas of responsibility.

Small state coat of arms

In the small state coat of arms, a leaf crown rests on the shield , which, as a people's crown, shows the people's sovereignty after the end of the monarchy. According to Section 3 (2) LHzG, the small state coat of arms is used by all other state authorities and courts that do not carry the large state coat of arms, as well as by the notaries .

Use of the national coat of arms

Postage stamp from 1992 from the series: Coats of arms of the countries of the Federal Republic of Germany

In addition to the guidance according to § 3 LHzG, there is the use of the state coat of arms according to § 4 LHzG:

  • With the approval of the Ministry of the Interior, the state coat of arms can be used if it is used in a way that is not detrimental to its reputation and dignity, the use of the state coat of arms does not give the impression of sovereign action and the use of the state coat of arms does not pursue any commercial intentions become.
  • Without permission, the state coat of arms can be used for media reporting, teaching or civic education, for cultural projects with the participation of the state, for artistic or heraldic-scientific purposes or in connection with projects financially supported by the state to indicate funding, if the use of the state coat of arms does not give the impression of sovereign action.
  • The so-called Baden-Württemberg signet (the three Staufer lions in a golden oval) could also be used without permission . It was a coat of arms . However, this symbol was not allowed to be used as the sole or central element of a company logo, nor as a trademark-related proof of origin, or displayed in the manner of a trademark. The Baden-Württemberg logo was abolished in 2016.

prehistory

Coat of arms of the Swabian Empire (1563)

The three lions coat of arms appears for the first time around 1220 in a seal of the Hohenstaufen Duke Heinrich von Schwaben, who later became King Heinrich (VII) . In contrast to later coats of arms depictions, the lions walking to the right (heraldically) on this seal do not look straight ahead, but at the viewer. The heraldists speak of leopards in this case . The coat of arms of Baden-Württemberg, on the other hand, shows heraldic lions looking straight ahead.

The Duchy of Swabia became extinct after the fall of the Hohenstaufen and an attempt to revive it by the Habsburgs in 1308. The Swabian Empire , which existed from 1500 to 1806, used the coat of arms in the form of three lions walking straight ahead. In the 15th century the Habsburgs, as owners of the German royal crown, claimed the title of prince in Swabia, which had fallen to the empire, and used the coat of arms. It was particularly popular with the quaternion eagle . In the 15th and 16th centuries, the three-lions coat of arms was often affixed to monuments for the high medieval dukes of Swabia and members of the Hohenstaufen family. Wuerttemberg , which was promoted to kingdom in 1805/06, used the three lions coat of arms until 1918, and the king called himself at times "sovereign duke in Swabia".

Similar coat of arms

The coat of arms of the House of Waldburg shows three black heraldic leopards in gold . This, in contrast to the Baden-Wuerttemberg state coat of arms, fully corresponds to the seal of the Duke of Swabia from 1220, may be explained by the fact that the Waldburg ministers were temporarily in the service of Staufer. The Waldburgers protested in vain against the acceptance of the Baden-Wuerttemberg state coat of arms because, in their opinion, it looked too similar to their own coat of arms. The coat of arms of today's municipality of Waldburg is derived from the Waldburg coat of arms .

The coat of arms of Bavaria shows since 1923 three hersehende border lion (heraldic leopard) as a symbol of the Swabian part of the country.

The coat of arms and seal of the University of Augsburg , which was founded in the 1970s, contains the three Staufer lions in the left half, and the Augsburg stone pine nut on the right .

The motif of the three striding lions can also be found today in the coat of arms of Carinthia , where it is derived from the Babenbergs , who are related to the Hohenstaufen .

The coat of arms of Denmark shows three blue striding lions in a golden field sprinkled with red hearts, and the coat of arms of England shows three gold, striding lions (heraldic leopards) one above the other in red. However, these coats of arms have an independent history of the Staufer coat of arms and also show the lions in a different tincture .

  • Coat of arms of the House of Waldburg

  • Coat of arms of the University of Augsburg

  • Large coat of arms of Bavaria

  • Small coat of arms of Carinthia

  • Kecskéd (Hungary) - see Danube Swabia

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ State Signs Act (LHzG) of October 31, 2015.
  2. ^ State portal Baden-Württemberg: Baden-Württemberg logo
  3. ↑ Dieter Mertens: Late medieval country consciousness in the area of ​​old Swabia, in: Matthias Werner (Hrsg.): Late medieval country consciousness in Germany. Ostfildern 2005, pp. 93–156, here pp. 111–117 Online ; see illustration (State Archive Baden-Württemberg)
  4. ↑ a b c Peter Koblank: Staufer coat of arms. The coat of arms of Baden-Württemberg with the three lions goes back to the Hohenstaufen. on stauferstelen.net. Retrieved May 15, 2016.

Web links, literature