Coat of arms of Iceland
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| Coat of arms of Iceland Icelandic: Skjaldarmerki Íslands |
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 Original version from 1944 |
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| Escutcheon | Azure, on a cross argent a cross gules. |
The Coat of arms of Iceland or Skjaldarmerki Íslands is a cross of silver on a sky-blue shield, with a fire-red cross inside the silver cross.(It looks like 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 the 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 in the days 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 spooked unnecessarily.
The landvættir 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.
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[edit] History
Iceland has had quite a few coats of arms through the ages. The first one is believed to be 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 Hákon Hákonarson of Norway in 1258. It was patterned on the Kings 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 cod was occasionally depicted in a fresh 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 as the Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Iceland. The falcon still remained in the Royal coat of arms throughout the reign of King Christian X, until 1948. Even though Iceland had become a Republic in 1944.
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[edit] Trivia
- Except for the Icelandic Crisis Response Unit, Civil Defence, Customs Service, Prison Guards and Airport Security, it is illegal by Icelandic law to wear the Icelandic coat of arms. Despite that, t-shirts and sweaters containing the coat of arms have been sold for a couple of years.
