Coat of arms of Lower Saxony
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| Coat of arms of Lower Saxony | |
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| Details | |
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| Adopted | 1952 |
| Escutcheon | A white Saxon steed ("Sachsenross") on a red background |
The coat of arms of the German state of Lower Saxony shows a white Saxon steed ("Sachsenross") on a red background.
It is used on the flag of Lower Saxony.[1]
[edit] History
The steed became the coat of arms of the Province of Hanover as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866 after it had been in use for the Duchy of Brunswick and the Kingdom of Hanover since 1814. It was even in use after the abolition of German monarchy after World War I until 1935. From that year, the use of state flags was prohibited by the NAZI government; only the Flag of Nazi Germany was to be used.
After World War II, the province of Hanover became an independent state[dubious ] on August 23, 1946 and used the steed as its coat of arms again. Brunswick, which was an independent state[dubious ] as well, had made the same decision some weeks before on July 8, 1946. When these two states where merged into the new state of Lower Saxony (along with Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe), there was no coat of arms for a while since it was unclear whether the coats of Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe should be included into the new coat of arms as well. Finally, it was decided that a simple motif would be the best solution and the Saxonian steed became the unofficial coat of arms of the new state.
[edit] Legal status
On April 3, 1951, the government of Lower Saxony made the decision which was written down in the preliminary constitution of the State of Lower Saxony dated on April 13, 1951. The "Act about coats of arms, flags and seals", dated October 13, 1952, stated that the prototype drawn by the German heraldic Gustav Völker should be used in the future.[1]
The new constitution of Lower Saxony from May 19, 1993, adopted this settlement:
Lower Saxony adopts a white horse on a red field as its arms
—„Niedersächsische Verfassung“ vom 19. Mai 1993 [Lower Saxony constitution of 19th May 1993][2]
A special law of 2007 confirmed this:
The parliament of Lower Saxony has decided the following law:
§1 Symbols of the state
- (1) The state uses a half round shield with a jumping white horse (charge) on a red field according to annex 1.
- (2) The state uses within the state flag the state colours black-red-gold with the coat of arms of the state according to annex 2.
—Federal Government, Coat of arms law of Lower Saxony (NWappG) of March 8, 2007 (Nds. GVBl. Nr.7/2007 S.117) - VORIS 11410[3]
The white horse is similar to the one used in the coat of arms for the county of Kent in England which is likely to have originated from the Rhineland area.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Wappen und Flagge, Lower Saxony for kids, Lower Saxony government. Accessed 2009-04-19.
- ^ Niedersaechsische Verfassung (Lower Saxony constitution), Marco Budde (German)Accessed 2009-04-19.
- ^ Niedersächsisches Wappengesetz (NWappG)
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