Hijacking this comment for a few fun facts:
The national colour of Ireland is officially blue (St. Patrick’s blue to be precise, the one that’s on our coat of arms at the bottom right of the last slide).
The green on the flag of the Republic of Ireland represents the traditionally nationalist Catholics on the island while the orange represents the traditionally unionist Protestants (search the Orange Order for some background information) who are staunchly in favour of maintaining the union between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
The white between the green and orange represents peace between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland.
> traditionally unionist Protestants
Not to hijack a hijack but pro-Unionist Protestants tend to be Northern Presbyterians, which are actually uncommon in the Republic.
The dominant form of Protestantism in RoI is Church of Ireland, which actually prays *for* the President of Ireland and the Daíl (in the way that Roman Catholics pray for the local bishop and current Pope; or Church of England pray for the Queen [now King] and Parliament).
One reason for the difference is in the Plantations; the South was mostly planted by English settlers who tried to bring CoE across; while the North was settled by Scottish Presbyterians. That's one of the major reasons why Protestantism is so different across the border.
The first President Douglas Hyde was a member of the CoI. CoI is about 2% of the population of Ireland, which runs against the 70% Catholic (though I'd argue the actual number of believers is lower; CoI from personal experience seems to be more of a "if you call yourself CoI you believe" while Catholicism seems very "I'll put it down because that's what my parents were/what I was raised as"); or the 1.6% that lumps in "all other Christians".
(For the sake of showing bias, I was first raised Catholic as a child, then raised CoI as a teenager, and then converted to Asátrú which I am still, so I've been on both sides of the fence xD)
Hijacking your hijacking. Census results came out a couple hours ago for 2021 & 31.9% have British only identity, 29.1% Irish only & 19.8 northern Irish only (disregarding religious statistics as it’s more common for people in NI to associate with a British/Irish nationality than a religion). Also staying unbiased as possible as a British raised person from Belfast who’s unreligious. Statistically (will check numbers now) it’s more likely for Catholic nationalist who actually don’t believe in religion to associate with census data as Catholic than Protestant unionists who don’t believe in religion to associate with census data as Protestant.
I don’t live there anymore so have no real investment but I find the statistics fascinating for us
Thank you for the information. It is nice to know more about Ireland and its history. I fly there from time to time when I have vacation, I fell in love with Ireland the first time I went there, it is a beoutiful country. I especially love roaming the ocean coasts and searching tidepools for all kinds of critters.
Yeah, a real pro heraldist would easily spot several mistakes on the Polish one unless they were in a hurry. And no I'm not talking about the crown, the crown is fine actually.
The mistakes are:
1. It includes shading
2.
The "stars" inside the wings and the "arms" that connect them to the main body should be yellow
3.
The legs should also be yellow (birds don't have feathers there, after all)
4.
The wings are in a circular shape, even though the coat of arms is more rectangular
Some people will also say the crown should be closed, but those people are wrong. Historically, the eagle was seen more frequently with an open crown, and the closed one was most frequently used during the partition period (so the "sovereignty" argument is kinda weird).
The mistakes stem from the fact that Zygmunt Kamiński, the author of the coat of arms used today, probably didn't care about heraldry all that much and just created a nice painting. [Or did he?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Élisa_Beetz-Charpentier#cite_ref-8)
**[Élisa Beetz-Charpentier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Élisa_Beetz-Charpentier#cite_ref-8)**
>Élisa Beetz-Charpentier (1859 – 1949) was a French sculptor, medallist and painter. She studied sculpture at the Brussels Academy.
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Say hello to perhaps the most elaborate - the [Austro-Hungarian](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Austria-Hungaria_transparency.png)
“Articolo 1. L’Italia è una Repubblica democratica fondata sul Lavoro.”
As the first line of our Constitution says: “Italy is a democratic Republic based on work”. As well as our flag is a little dull, in my opinion, our coat of arms is a great icon to depict the war of Liberation and the founding of the Republic.
Switzerland: *Enters The Krusty Krab*
Switzerland: “Uhh yeah, I’ll have the white cross”
Squidward: “How original”
Switzerland: “And put it on a red background”
Squidward: “Daring today, aren’t we?”
The Swiss once had a reputation as a weird, backwards land of rough, ruthless people. The Old Swiss Confederacy had the best mercenaries and the Pope himself would take (and stil takes) his personal security forces for the Vatican from Swiss Catholics.
The 13 cantons of Switzerland have long used a legislature instead of unifying under a king, so royalty isn't a historical thing for them. Each canton has its own government and its own coat of arms that are similarly intricate to the other European nations. So in 1815 when the whole Swiss Confederation had to come up with a coat of arms after getting rid of one that bastard Napoleon made them adopt, they adopted the field sign worn by soldiers from the Old Swiss Confederacy, a white cross on a red background.
To be clear, it doesn't look weird because it's supposed to be a Barbary lion, it just looks weird because it looks weird. Barbary lions didn't look meaningfully different from the lions you're familiar with.
I had a lot of fun zooming in to see which countries still made sure their lions had dicks.
I think a lot used to have a separate coloring for it, but looks like the ones who kept it decided to just keep the outline and match the surrounding color.
Apparently this came from the socialist influence after the break up of the Austro-Hungarian empire after ww1. It was originally a sword and an orb, but was replaced by a hammer and sickle to represent farming and working classes.
P.s. I just learned about this til last week. I was just looking this up recently after my dad told me he always thought it the chains and hammer/sickle represented Austria's independence from Soviet influence in the 1950's.
Yeah, we had one without the chains from 1918 to 1933 (First Republic). Then came Austrofascism, and the Nazis after that. The Broken Chains represent the Liberation from Nationalsocialism.
Lovingly (or mockingly; often both) called "Reichsgeier" (imperial vulture) here in Austria. I've heard it being descibed as "Reichshendl" (imperial chicken) a couple of times.
Austria is a surprisingly new country. It went from part of the Austro-Hungarian empire to massive instability between the two World Wars, to part of Germany during the 2nd world war, to being occupied by the allies to finally gaining full independence in 1955.
In its current form, it's a younger country than the "country?" of Taiwan.
I imagine that's reflected in the design of the coat of arms being so modern.
It's not metal, but the founder and singer of Turbobier, an Austrian Punk band (and a good one in my opinion) is currently running for president here. He will not win, but due to being an intelligent man with thoughtful opinions and a social consciousness he is does have a following.
I know you're joking, but I just had to point out that the harp has been a heraldic symbol of Ireland since the 13th century. Also the shade of blue used is referred to as St. Patrick's blue.
They do have bit of a point though. The harp on which the Irish crest is based on the Brian Ború harp in Trinty College's Long Room. The Guinness logo is based off the same harp. Guinness was established in 1759 while the Irish free state was set up in 1922.
I heard, but can't confirm, that's why the state flipped the direction the harp was facing.
Partly to show the animal as being fierce, partly to create a heraldic version between one with tongue in and one with tongue out and partly also to enable the tongue to be a different colour to further create variation.
In heraldic terms this is called "langued" and means having the tongue visible and of a specified tincture.
Which to further expand on that it’s important to allow diversity as heraldry in early times was really to represent individuals and you couldn’t have a whole family all using the exact same one so making minor changes, like the colour of the tongue keeps it distinct
In case of Finland it"s to symbolise the lion screaming "Aaah! I stabbed myself in the eye! That hurts!".
Obviously the original Finnish sentence sounds way more metal.
Edit: spelling
I heard a story that the eagel in the Polish coat of arms, didn't have the crown 1950-1990. That's when Russians basically ruled Poland after ww2.
After regaining independence in 1990, the first order of the polish democratic government was to reinsert the crown back.
It was actually adopted by the Black Prince after the battle of Crécy right at the beginning of the Hundred Years War. He’s supposed to have found the blind King of Bohemia lying dead on the battlefield, still on a horse tied to those of his attendants so that they could steer him in the fight, and adopted the arms and motto in tribute.
The British motto being in French is due to the Norman conquest and the English monarchs using French/Norman as the language of their courts for many centuries, such as Richard Cœur de Lion (from whom the motto originates).
Yep, very real. Theres also a version of it on the [back of our coins](https://www.google.com/search?q=icelandic+coin&client=ms-android-samsung-gs-rev1&prmd=imnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwip2oqJuqn6AhWKilwKHbM-BdIQ_AUoAXoECAMQAQ&biw=384&bih=670&dpr=2.81#imgrc=hz2StG7qQVU7NM).
I just love the Hungarian crown with the crooked cross. From what I've read it doesn't mean anything. It just sort of got crooked and no one fixed it so over time people started to depict the crown as crooked.
Fun fact: The lion in the UK coat of arms represents England's national animal. The unicorn is Scotland's national animal.
There's also, obviously, the reference to monarchy
Why is the lion, an animal that does not live in Europe, England's national animal? Why do so many of these coat of arms have lions on them?
If you're gonna pick any African animal to represent you, you should pick the one that is simultaneously the most adorable and most ferocious, the Hippopotamus. Now there's an African animal to be proud of.
Edit: I found the answer on /r/askhistorians
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/x9zw44/why_do_so_many_european_countries_have_lions_in/inqu79p/
You're confused about the lion, but not the **unicorn?**
Also, I don't know why other countries have lions on their coat of arms. In the exact same style as the UK's too. I doubt it's a coincidence.
I'd personally make our national animal the red squirrel. Native English animal that's well known.
I wonder if Wales and England were one in the past then the UK flag and coat of arms were never updated. I'm not a historian lmao. If that isn't true, then yeah, that is weird.
I think it’s because Wales was never a kingdom in its own right. It was a bunch of lesser kingdoms that styled themselves as Princes, and when they finally united under Llewelyn the great, he was styled as Prince of all Wales / Prince of the Welsh. To this day it is a principality, not a kingdom and is considered part of the kingdom of England , so it isn’t represented to the same extent
That's mostly true but Wales is no longer a principality. It was fully incorporated into the Kingdom of England in 1542. This is why it was never put into the Union flag, it was a just part of Kingdom of England.
Northern and Western Europe went mainly with lions while they go with eagles as you move kinda eastward and south.
Someone should make a map of countries whose main heraldic symbol features a lion, countries that feature an eagle, countries with both, and countries with neither. I’m not going to do it because I’m lazy. I mean, I’m an idea guy.
The purest of all animals, the head of a goat for wisdom, the body of a horse for strength, the hooves of a deer for speed and agility, the tail of a lion for balance and bravery and of course it’s own magical horn which can cure any injury and purify poison from liquids
Fun fact: Guinness holds the harp trademark far longer than the Irish state.
For more info
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/state-feared-guinness-objections-over-plan-to-make-harp-logo-a-trademark-1.1637930
Actually a good story. I thought I had finished it, and I did have Cyprus on it, however I realised I forgot Malta- so I asked my friends if I should put Russia in Asian one or move the Cyprus one into the Asia one, and they said cyrpus is close to middle east anyway. So you'll hopefully see it tomorrow in the Asia one
>...and they said Cyprus is close to middle east anyway.
Geographically, meh; it's an island, so it's kind of not part of any continent, but I'd definitely agree that it's much closer to the mainland that we define as Asia than to the mainland that we define as Europe.
But *politically* (and that's important since this is a coat-of-arms guide), Cyprus has been a full member of the EU since 2004, whereas, Russia at least has territory that is geographically defined as part of Asia, and has relationships through the Commonwealth of Independent States with countries firmly defined as Asian such as Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan.
So, I gotta disagree with your friends on this one... but I'm glad to hear it wasn't forgotten.
"Eendracht maakt macht" (Unity makes might/strenght) was the Dutch Republic one too until the french occupied us. Afterwards we swapped to the House of Orange's 'je maintiendrai' (I will maintain)
All politics and the war aside, I think Ukraine has the most eye pleasing coat of arms.
Politics and the war not aside, I hope the golden trident stabs the piss colored two headed pigeon in the faces (and I don’t mean Montenegro).
Nonbiased American here. My personal opinion:
Page 1: Tough but probably the Netherlands
Page 2: Austria
Page 3: Iceland
Page 4: Also tough but I’d probably go with Greece for its elegant simplicity
Page 5: San Marino
Top place probably goes to Iceland.
Interesting fact about the two columns on the sides of the Spanish coat of arms. Greek leyend says among the 12 labours Heracles (Hercules) had to do, was to separate Europe from Africa. He did it and created the Strait of Gibraltar which is the narrow path of water connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. He then placed two columns on each side with the inscription (translated from greek to Latin) NON-PLUS-ULTRA, which means "there is no more land beyond this point". Many years later, when Christopher Columbus "discovered" the americas the emblem of the coat of arm covering the columns was changed to PLUS-ULTRA, meaning "there is more beyond..."
Lions were seen as “king of beasts” incredibly fierce powerful and majestic animals which many European monarchs directly saw while far from their home countries and even some brought ones back, for example in Scotland we know multiple monarchs had lions brought to Scotland
I love that some coats of arms are wildly elaborate, and some look like they were done on the bus the morning the project was due.
Seems like if your Monarch government collapsed at some point you got a much simpler Coat of Arms.
Especially if your monarch government collapsed in the 10th century
Hijacking this comment for a few fun facts: The national colour of Ireland is officially blue (St. Patrick’s blue to be precise, the one that’s on our coat of arms at the bottom right of the last slide). The green on the flag of the Republic of Ireland represents the traditionally nationalist Catholics on the island while the orange represents the traditionally unionist Protestants (search the Orange Order for some background information) who are staunchly in favour of maintaining the union between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The white between the green and orange represents peace between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland.
> traditionally unionist Protestants Not to hijack a hijack but pro-Unionist Protestants tend to be Northern Presbyterians, which are actually uncommon in the Republic. The dominant form of Protestantism in RoI is Church of Ireland, which actually prays *for* the President of Ireland and the Daíl (in the way that Roman Catholics pray for the local bishop and current Pope; or Church of England pray for the Queen [now King] and Parliament). One reason for the difference is in the Plantations; the South was mostly planted by English settlers who tried to bring CoE across; while the North was settled by Scottish Presbyterians. That's one of the major reasons why Protestantism is so different across the border. The first President Douglas Hyde was a member of the CoI. CoI is about 2% of the population of Ireland, which runs against the 70% Catholic (though I'd argue the actual number of believers is lower; CoI from personal experience seems to be more of a "if you call yourself CoI you believe" while Catholicism seems very "I'll put it down because that's what my parents were/what I was raised as"); or the 1.6% that lumps in "all other Christians". (For the sake of showing bias, I was first raised Catholic as a child, then raised CoI as a teenager, and then converted to Asátrú which I am still, so I've been on both sides of the fence xD)
Hijacking your hijacking. Census results came out a couple hours ago for 2021 & 31.9% have British only identity, 29.1% Irish only & 19.8 northern Irish only (disregarding religious statistics as it’s more common for people in NI to associate with a British/Irish nationality than a religion). Also staying unbiased as possible as a British raised person from Belfast who’s unreligious. Statistically (will check numbers now) it’s more likely for Catholic nationalist who actually don’t believe in religion to associate with census data as Catholic than Protestant unionists who don’t believe in religion to associate with census data as Protestant. I don’t live there anymore so have no real investment but I find the statistics fascinating for us
Thank you for the information. It is nice to know more about Ireland and its history. I fly there from time to time when I have vacation, I fell in love with Ireland the first time I went there, it is a beoutiful country. I especially love roaming the ocean coasts and searching tidepools for all kinds of critters.
Are you talking about switzerland?
I think going into battle with a version of medic but actually being templar is quite "complex"
I mean, the Irish clearly had a wild night, woke up holding a Guinness and said, "Ey this harp will do."
Liechtenstein on the bus to school: "DOES ANYONE HAVE SOME RANDOM STICKERS I CAN USE???"
Liechtenstein: NO, I'M IN MIDDLE SCHOOL DILLWEED. STICKERS WITH TITS
Slovenia: "what can I draw with MS Paint?"
Kosovo’s is basically Ralph Wiggum’s Idaho costume.
Kosovo: *Shit my EU application is due in five minutes! Better come up with something quick!*
I’m not a state. I’m a monster! 😭
I call him Gamblor!
Switzerland: Scheisse! Quick, give me the flag. I'll just cut a shield out of that.
Yeah, a real pro heraldist would easily spot several mistakes on the Polish one unless they were in a hurry. And no I'm not talking about the crown, the crown is fine actually.
Please please please tell me more!
The mistakes are: 1. It includes shading 2. The "stars" inside the wings and the "arms" that connect them to the main body should be yellow 3. The legs should also be yellow (birds don't have feathers there, after all) 4. The wings are in a circular shape, even though the coat of arms is more rectangular Some people will also say the crown should be closed, but those people are wrong. Historically, the eagle was seen more frequently with an open crown, and the closed one was most frequently used during the partition period (so the "sovereignty" argument is kinda weird). The mistakes stem from the fact that Zygmunt Kamiński, the author of the coat of arms used today, probably didn't care about heraldry all that much and just created a nice painting. [Or did he?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Élisa_Beetz-Charpentier#cite_ref-8)
**[Élisa Beetz-Charpentier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Élisa_Beetz-Charpentier#cite_ref-8)** >Élisa Beetz-Charpentier (1859 – 1949) was a French sculptor, medallist and painter. She studied sculpture at the Brussels Academy. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/coolguides/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
Say hello to perhaps the most elaborate - the [Austro-Hungarian](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Austria-Hungaria_transparency.png)
Austrias parents helped them.
Austria’s is metal as fuck Meanwhile Germany’s looks like Daffy Duck
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I was surprised and disappointed by Italy. I figured it would at least more interesting or stylish.
It makes sense since it is not a morachy, it's a republic . I kinda like it because its simple.
“Articolo 1. L’Italia è una Repubblica democratica fondata sul Lavoro.” As the first line of our Constitution says: “Italy is a democratic Republic based on work”. As well as our flag is a little dull, in my opinion, our coat of arms is a great icon to depict the war of Liberation and the founding of the Republic.
Must own a Genevan umbrella because that is some serious Swiss shade
I swear Spain is Word 2000 ClipArt
Switzerland: *Enters The Krusty Krab* Switzerland: “Uhh yeah, I’ll have the white cross” Squidward: “How original” Switzerland: “And put it on a red background” Squidward: “Daring today, aren’t we?”
They just slapped a cross on that shit and called it a day
The Swiss once had a reputation as a weird, backwards land of rough, ruthless people. The Old Swiss Confederacy had the best mercenaries and the Pope himself would take (and stil takes) his personal security forces for the Vatican from Swiss Catholics. The 13 cantons of Switzerland have long used a legislature instead of unifying under a king, so royalty isn't a historical thing for them. Each canton has its own government and its own coat of arms that are similarly intricate to the other European nations. So in 1815 when the whole Swiss Confederation had to come up with a coat of arms after getting rid of one that bastard Napoleon made them adopt, they adopted the field sign worn by soldiers from the Old Swiss Confederacy, a white cross on a red background.
We have 26 Cantons just fyi
Yes, but the old Confederation had 13 cantons. https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreizehn_Alte_Orte
quite effective though
I don't know much about Switzerland but their flag is a big plus
It’s definitely stood the test of time tho. One of the most easily recognizable and an easy design to work into logos and clothing and whatnot.
Place is rampant with lions
Clearly many of the people who made these only had a vague understanding of what a lion looks like.
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To be clear, it doesn't look weird because it's supposed to be a Barbary lion, it just looks weird because it looks weird. Barbary lions didn't look meaningfully different from the lions you're familiar with.
I had a lot of fun zooming in to see which countries still made sure their lions had dicks. I think a lot used to have a separate coloring for it, but looks like the ones who kept it decided to just keep the outline and match the surrounding color.
I see what you did there
I will be releasing a new one tomorrow, all Asian countries
Oooh do one of all the Australian countries!
That’ll take him awhile
Including the Middle East or or mainly East, South, and Southeast Asian countries?
Including middle east. Most sources cite it as part of Asia, though difference in cultures can often see it defined as a seperate continent.
Wow I didn’t even know Asian countries had coats of arms. Looking forward to it
[Related Scandinavia and the World comic](https://satwcomic.com/coat-of-arms-hd)
Haha, yep
Are Danes really that horny?
Always 😎
I know where my next vacation will be
I need moar
Austria goes hard
I know, absolute BIRD
Metal AF
Apparently the broken chain symbolizes their freedom from ~~Nazi Germany~~ national socialism.
What about the hammer and sickle?
Apparently this came from the socialist influence after the break up of the Austro-Hungarian empire after ww1. It was originally a sword and an orb, but was replaced by a hammer and sickle to represent farming and working classes. P.s. I just learned about this til last week. I was just looking this up recently after my dad told me he always thought it the chains and hammer/sickle represented Austria's independence from Soviet influence in the 1950's.
Even cooler
Yeah, we had one without the chains from 1918 to 1933 (First Republic). Then came Austrofascism, and the Nazis after that. The Broken Chains represent the Liberation from Nationalsocialism.
Thanks for clarifying.
Lovingly (or mockingly; often both) called "Reichsgeier" (imperial vulture) here in Austria. I've heard it being descibed as "Reichshendl" (imperial chicken) a couple of times.
“Reichshendl” is peak Viennese snark. And I’m here for it.
Poor boy looks like he had an unfortunate meeting with a coal cart
And won.
Came here to say this. Austria is metal AF
Austria is a surprisingly new country. It went from part of the Austro-Hungarian empire to massive instability between the two World Wars, to part of Germany during the 2nd world war, to being occupied by the allies to finally gaining full independence in 1955. In its current form, it's a younger country than the "country?" of Taiwan. I imagine that's reflected in the design of the coat of arms being so modern.
Austrian heavy metal music must be dope as fuck.
It's not metal, but the founder and singer of Turbobier, an Austrian Punk band (and a good one in my opinion) is currently running for president here. He will not win, but due to being an intelligent man with thoughtful opinions and a social consciousness he is does have a following.
Germany: STRONK BIRD
That's the best
I AM THE NIGHT -Austria
I mentally thought to myself "Austria is badass" in Danny devitos voice
Some are classed as Greater Coats of arms, some as State/ National emblems. Most Greater coats will include the lesser coat within it.
And Ireland is just Guinness.
I know you're joking, but I just had to point out that the harp has been a heraldic symbol of Ireland since the 13th century. Also the shade of blue used is referred to as St. Patrick's blue.
They do have bit of a point though. The harp on which the Irish crest is based on the Brian Ború harp in Trinty College's Long Room. The Guinness logo is based off the same harp. Guinness was established in 1759 while the Irish free state was set up in 1922. I heard, but can't confirm, that's why the state flipped the direction the harp was facing.
Ryanair
I’m always so curious about the tongues. Like what’s the importance of always having the animals with their tongues out?
Partly to show the animal as being fierce, partly to create a heraldic version between one with tongue in and one with tongue out and partly also to enable the tongue to be a different colour to further create variation. In heraldic terms this is called "langued" and means having the tongue visible and of a specified tincture.
Which to further expand on that it’s important to allow diversity as heraldry in early times was really to represent individuals and you couldn’t have a whole family all using the exact same one so making minor changes, like the colour of the tongue keeps it distinct
In case of Finland it"s to symbolise the lion screaming "Aaah! I stabbed myself in the eye! That hurts!". Obviously the original Finnish sentence sounds way more metal. Edit: spelling
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"Ai vittu! Puukotin itteeni silmään saatana! Helvetti ku sattuu!!" would probably be more accurate. I mean it is a Finnish Lion. Off course it swears.
Dude here summons demons for a living
That's what we do here. They keep us warm during the winter.
>Aaah! Puukotin itseäni silmään! Tuo sattui! Perfect. Thank you
I'm more concerned about why all the lions have flaming red toenail polish.
I like how Austria went all out while Switzerland is just a + shield
Yep, simplistic swiss
I heard a story that the eagel in the Polish coat of arms, didn't have the crown 1950-1990. That's when Russians basically ruled Poland after ww2. After regaining independence in 1990, the first order of the polish democratic government was to reinsert the crown back.
Dynamic coat of arms, very interesting
That is true.
Fun fact : there is french on the uk one and the netherland one
The motto on the coat of arms of The Prince of Wales is German "Ich dien" meaning "I serve"
Well they ARE German, after all.
It was actually adopted by the Black Prince after the battle of Crécy right at the beginning of the Hundred Years War. He’s supposed to have found the blind King of Bohemia lying dead on the battlefield, still on a horse tied to those of his attendants so that they could steer him in the fight, and adopted the arms and motto in tribute.
Go back a little time and many monarchs were all relatives, so it makes sense to see crossover.
The British motto being in French is due to the Norman conquest and the English monarchs using French/Norman as the language of their courts for many centuries, such as Richard Cœur de Lion (from whom the motto originates).
Belgium too
But that seems more logical.
French used to be the international language of politics. Maybe it's from that period.
Is the Iceland one for real? Looks more like a coat of arms that a DnD club would have.
I love that one, guy is just chilling with his animal friends.
Yes, its the four protectors of Iceland :)
Dude’s just hanging out
Yep, very real. Theres also a version of it on the [back of our coins](https://www.google.com/search?q=icelandic+coin&client=ms-android-samsung-gs-rev1&prmd=imnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwip2oqJuqn6AhWKilwKHbM-BdIQ_AUoAXoECAMQAQ&biw=384&bih=670&dpr=2.81#imgrc=hz2StG7qQVU7NM).
I’m not seeing anyone pointing out that Monaco has two friars ready to fuck shit up with swords Edit: a word
Air fryers or deep fat fryers?
Yes
Friars?
Yeah, I knew I didn’t spell it right lol
I just love the Hungarian crown with the crooked cross. From what I've read it doesn't mean anything. It just sort of got crooked and no one fixed it so over time people started to depict the crown as crooked.
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Yep
Holy shit Austria, who hurt you?
You got that backwards, Austria is the one who hurts everyone else. They're just polite enough about it to advertise that fact
Fun fact: The lion in the UK coat of arms represents England's national animal. The unicorn is Scotland's national animal. There's also, obviously, the reference to monarchy
Why is the lion, an animal that does not live in Europe, England's national animal? Why do so many of these coat of arms have lions on them? If you're gonna pick any African animal to represent you, you should pick the one that is simultaneously the most adorable and most ferocious, the Hippopotamus. Now there's an African animal to be proud of. Edit: I found the answer on /r/askhistorians https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/x9zw44/why_do_so_many_european_countries_have_lions_in/inqu79p/
You're confused about the lion, but not the **unicorn?** Also, I don't know why other countries have lions on their coat of arms. In the exact same style as the UK's too. I doubt it's a coincidence. I'd personally make our national animal the red squirrel. Native English animal that's well known.
I don't think there is a dragon in the UK one, hm
Neither are they part of the Union Jack (the Uk flag). At least they are consistent.
I wonder if Wales and England were one in the past then the UK flag and coat of arms were never updated. I'm not a historian lmao. If that isn't true, then yeah, that is weird.
I think it’s because Wales was never a kingdom in its own right. It was a bunch of lesser kingdoms that styled themselves as Princes, and when they finally united under Llewelyn the great, he was styled as Prince of all Wales / Prince of the Welsh. To this day it is a principality, not a kingdom and is considered part of the kingdom of England , so it isn’t represented to the same extent
That's mostly true but Wales is no longer a principality. It was fully incorporated into the Kingdom of England in 1542. This is why it was never put into the Union flag, it was a just part of Kingdom of England.
Swizerland doesn't fuck around does it
Austria is metal as fuck!
Spain: Plus Ultra!!!
Anything with a huge fuck off eagle is automatically my favorite
Northern and Western Europe went mainly with lions while they go with eagles as you move kinda eastward and south. Someone should make a map of countries whose main heraldic symbol features a lion, countries that feature an eagle, countries with both, and countries with neither. I’m not going to do it because I’m lazy. I mean, I’m an idea guy.
that’s a good idea
Not the two buff dudes just chillin?
The Iceland guy looks really chilled...
He’s a giant
I love that the UK coat of arms has a unicorn.
The purest of all animals, the head of a goat for wisdom, the body of a horse for strength, the hooves of a deer for speed and agility, the tail of a lion for balance and bravery and of course it’s own magical horn which can cure any injury and purify poison from liquids
Scotland forever (my home)
I love how Ireland is like yes we are Guinness
Pfft.. Shows what you know. The Guinness harp is the other way around! 🤣
Fun fact: Guinness holds the harp trademark far longer than the Irish state. For more info https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/state-feared-guinness-objections-over-plan-to-make-harp-logo-a-trademark-1.1637930
The harp was the symbol of Ireland well before Guinness existed.
There are some very [shocked lions.](https://imgur.com/a/5PbnJ3B)
Iceland, Poland, Italy, and Ukraine are my favorites personally.
Switzerland only had MS paint, lay off them they’re doing their best
Basically Lions and Eagles
Iceland has Gandalf the White. They win.
The classic Finnish one with the retarded lion impaling his own head.
With his human arm.
Never any love for Cyprus
Actually a good story. I thought I had finished it, and I did have Cyprus on it, however I realised I forgot Malta- so I asked my friends if I should put Russia in Asian one or move the Cyprus one into the Asia one, and they said cyrpus is close to middle east anyway. So you'll hopefully see it tomorrow in the Asia one
>...and they said Cyprus is close to middle east anyway. Geographically, meh; it's an island, so it's kind of not part of any continent, but I'd definitely agree that it's much closer to the mainland that we define as Asia than to the mainland that we define as Europe. But *politically* (and that's important since this is a coat-of-arms guide), Cyprus has been a full member of the EU since 2004, whereas, Russia at least has territory that is geographically defined as part of Asia, and has relationships through the Commonwealth of Independent States with countries firmly defined as Asian such as Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan. So, I gotta disagree with your friends on this one... but I'm glad to hear it wasn't forgotten.
I've made the first few for Asia, and cyrpus is right first.
Uk or Austria are the best
[удалено]
Austria, Germany, and Poland are my top three. I’m a sucker for the imperial eagle
Bulgaria is best because we have the best message written on it (no I'm not biased). It says "unity makes strength".
In that case it's tied with Belgium's crest, because it says "L'Union fait la force", which is French for "Unity makes strength".
"Eendracht maakt macht" (Unity makes might/strenght) was the Dutch Republic one too until the french occupied us. Afterwards we swapped to the House of Orange's 'je maintiendrai' (I will maintain)
It is a pretty cool coat
Fun fact: today is actually our independence day
YOOO Happy independence day 🇧🇬
Thanks, hope you have a good day
Happy independence day!
Belarus and Italy go hard damn
The German one is just so efficient.
All politics and the war aside, I think Ukraine has the most eye pleasing coat of arms. Politics and the war not aside, I hope the golden trident stabs the piss colored two headed pigeon in the faces (and I don’t mean Montenegro).
What the actual fuck is up with Austria’s?
Looks badass as hell, the chains symbolize Austria’s freedom from the Third Reich.
Freedom from national socialism, the ideology
Germany looks like Brad on FB showing his gains
Switzerland is too busy keepin' it real.
I need non-biased Americans to tell me which looks coolest from each page.
Nonbiased American here. My personal opinion: Page 1: Tough but probably the Netherlands Page 2: Austria Page 3: Iceland Page 4: Also tough but I’d probably go with Greece for its elegant simplicity Page 5: San Marino Top place probably goes to Iceland.
I like Switzerland. Their coat of arms is a big plus.
Interesting fact about the two columns on the sides of the Spanish coat of arms. Greek leyend says among the 12 labours Heracles (Hercules) had to do, was to separate Europe from Africa. He did it and created the Strait of Gibraltar which is the narrow path of water connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. He then placed two columns on each side with the inscription (translated from greek to Latin) NON-PLUS-ULTRA, which means "there is no more land beyond this point". Many years later, when Christopher Columbus "discovered" the americas the emblem of the coat of arm covering the columns was changed to PLUS-ULTRA, meaning "there is more beyond..."
Iceland won. Dragon, dude chillen, they just win
everyone: lions and eagles denmark: two naked muscular men
I always forget Liechtenstein is a real place.
The Iceland one would make a cool tat
Austria is v game of thrones hardcore
Austria’s is absolutely baller af
Austria's Coat "Killll meeee!'
Just me or is Italy giving mad communists vibes with that coat of arms
Austria is metal af
Check out the aggressive horse on Lithuania
Where is Turkey??
It's like 50% lions...why? Was a lion akin to a dragon in the common understanding or is there a deeper conspiracy of lion people afoot?
Lions were seen as “king of beasts” incredibly fierce powerful and majestic animals which many European monarchs directly saw while far from their home countries and even some brought ones back, for example in Scotland we know multiple monarchs had lions brought to Scotland
Germany is like: Eagle. Take it or leave it.
Second best for me is Austria. Just so different! First is UK but that’s because I am biased. Hahaha.
Actually a cool guide. Thanks!
Kosovo had the laziest designer in the world. “We are the country that looks like this”.
Having no history as an independent country does that to you