Heraldry of Öland

Öland is a province of Sweden and at the funeral of Gustav Vasa in 1560 the province was granted a coat of arms.

Öland

The coat of arms originally granted for the island province of Öland in 1560 displayed two red deer on a field with nine silver roses. In the 1940s the office of the Swedish Herald of the Realm ("Riksheraldikerämbetet") discovered that a mistake had been committed, almost 400 years earlier, when the arms had been granted. The arms granted had been blazoned not for Öland, but for the similar sounding island province of Åland. The nine white roses which adorned the field under the two roe deer were none other than the same nine white roses present in the coat of arms of Finland. At the same time, in the 16th century, Åland had been awarded a coat of arms displaying a deer. An odd fact since the Åland fauna did not include larger deer, but had the smaller roe deer. Öland on the other hand was a royal game park, which stocked an abundant supply of deer. The coats of arms had been mixed up and the blunder went unnoticed by the proper authorities for several centuries.

In 1944 the Swedish Herald of the Realm decided to withdraw granted arms and issue a new grant for the coat of arms originally designed for Öland. The proper authorities in Finland were notified, but they ultimately decided not make any changes and not to adopt the coat of arms originally intended with the roe deer and the nine Finnish roses. This decision made it necessary to introduce some minor alterations for the coat of arms for Öland, and it included the introduction of a collar and differentiating the color of its armamanent, antlers and hoofs.

The arms are displayed with a ducal coronet. The province was originally ranked as an earldom but following a decision by the Privy Council on January 18, 1884 gave all Provinces the right of use to a dukal coronet for their arms.

Blazon: "Azure a Deer Or attired, hoofed and gorged Gules."

Official blazon in Swedish: "I blått fält en gående hjort av guld med rött halsband och röd beväring, därest sådan skall komma till användning."

Åland

Åland is today an autonomous province of Finland. The arms is displayed with a Finnish countal coronet.

Blazon: "Azure a Deer passant Or"

Finland

"Description": The lion holds a raised sword in its right gauntleted fore leg and is trampling a curved sabre. The lion, the crown and the sword and sabre handles are gold, as are the gauntlet joints. The blades and the gauntlet are silver. The field is adorned by nine silver roses.

Kalmar County

The Kalmar County includes the eastern part of Småland and the island province of Öland. The arms is a combination of the arms of Småland and Öland. The arms is displayed with a royal crown, representing the County Administrative Board.

Blazon: "Quartered, the arms of Småland and Öland"

Småland

The arms is displayed with a dukal coronet.

Blazon: "Or a lion rampant Gules langued and armed Azure holding in front paws a Crossbow of the second bowed and stringed Sable with a bolt Argent."

See also

* Swedish heraldry