Coat of arms of Iceland

Coat of arms of Iceland; Icelandic: Skjaldarmerki Íslands
Details
Adopted	July 1, 1944
Escutcheon	Flag of Iceland (azure, a cross gules fimbriated argent)
Supporters	Landvættir
Compartment	columnar basalt plate
Use	111100

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The coat of arms of Iceland (skjaldarmerki Íslands) is a cross of silver on a sky-blue shield, with a fire-red cross inside the silver cross (similar to the Icelandic flag). The shieldbearers are the four protectors of Iceland (landvættir) standing on a pahoehoe lava block. The bull (Griðungur) is the protector of southwestern Iceland, the eagle or griffin (Gammur) protects northwestern Iceland, the dragon (Dreki) the northeastern part and the Rock-giant (Bergrisi) is the protector of southeastern Iceland. Great respect was given to these creatures of Iceland, so much that there was a law during the time of the Vikings that no ship should bear grimacing symbols (most often dragonheads on the bow of the ship) when approaching Iceland. This was so the protectors would not be provoked unnecessarily^{[citation needed]}.

The landvættir (“land wights”) also decorate the obverse (front) of the Icelandic króna coins, but animals of the ocean (fish, crabs and dolphins) appear on the reverse (back). The Icelandic presidency uses a swallowtailed Icelandic flag with the coat of arms. The National Commissioner of Icelandic Police uses a white flag with the coat of arms, when the use of the State flag is not warranted, and so may some other state services do as well.

The shield may be blazoned, Azure, on a cross argent a cross gules.

[edit] History

Iceland has had various distinct coats of arms through the ages, depicted below:

The first one is believed to have been a shield with six blue stripes and six silver stripes, possibly signifying the 12 þings of the Icelandic Commonwealth.
The second one is believed to be the one that was given to Earl Gissur Þorvaldsson by the King of Norway, Hákon Hákonarson, during 1258. It was patterned on the King's own coat of arms, exchanging the colors of the shield with the color of the lion and adding the blue and silver stripes of the previous coat of arms.
Around or after 1500, the Icelandic coat of arms became a crowned stockfish on a red shield. It is known as the Þorskmerkið (“the cod markings”) and the fish was depicted occasionally in a variant form.
On October 3, 1903, the coat of arms of Iceland was changed to a white falcon on a blue shield. It remained in use until the first version of the coat of arms with the landvættir became official on February 12, 1919, representing the Kingdom of Iceland under Danish rule. This lasted until Iceland declared independence.^[1]
When independence was declared on June 17, 1944, the coat of arms was redesigned; removing the Danish crown and improving upon the earlier design of the landvættir.

The coat of arms of the Icelandic Commonwealth
The coat of arms of the Earldom of Iceland from 1262
The coat of arms under Danish rule, ca. 16th – 1903
The coat of arms of the Home-rule period
The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Iceland 1919 to 1944
The coat of arms of King Christian X of Iceland 1918 to 1944 and Denmark 1903 to 1947. Iceland is represented by the silver falcon in the lower left corner. The falcon was removed from the Danish arms in 1948.