Coat of arms of Hamburg

Coat of arms of Hamburg
Versions
Lesser coat of arms of Hamburg
Admiralty coat of arms of Hamburg
Details
Armiger	Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
Crest	Three peacock feathers and six banners of the arms and a mantling Argent and Gules.
Escutcheon	Gules, a castle triple-turreted Argent.
Supporters	Two Lions rampant reguardant Or, langued Gules.
Compartment	A postament Or
Other elements	A cross Argent atop the central turret, a six-rayed mullet Argent above each outer turret.
Use	The greater arms may only be used by the government of Hamburg.

The coat of arms of the German state and city of Hamburg is a kind of a national emblem. The coat of arms and the flags are regulated by the constitution of Hamburg and law. The colors of Hamburg are red and white. One of the oldest versions of the castle is found on a seal in 1245.

Description

All coat of arms show a castle with three towers. The middle tower shows a cross on top. It is believed that the so-called Marian stars on top of the two side-towers and the cross recalls the fact that Hamburg used to be an archbishopric.^[1] The towers and the walls with their pinnacles and the closed gate symbolized the determination of the town to defend itself.^[2]

Greater Coat of Arms

The Greater Coat of Arms shows the castle, the stars and the church in silver on red ground with two lions standing on a compartment. The top is like the middle coat of arms with a helmet with crest including three peacock feathers and six banners of the arms and a mantling. This coat of arms is protected and only allowed to be used by the Senat and the Diet of Hamburg.^[1]

Admiralty Coat of Arms of Hamburg

The Admiralty Coat of Arms of Hamburg is used for official ships of Hamburg.^[1]

History

Seal of 1245

The oldest coat of arms of Hamburg has been retained on a city seals int the 12th and 13th century. During the centuries the towers, walls, pinnacles and symbols of the coat of arms of Hamburg changed several times, without changing in character. The central castle was shown with opened doors sometimes with closed doors and with a portcullis.^[1]

The colors of version of the lesser arms of 2008 are declared by an act of law of the Senate of Hamburg on 14 May 1752.^[1] Before the tincture was a red castle on white ground.^[3] Since 1952, the coat of arms and the flags are regulated by the constitution of Hamburg. The colors of Hamburg are red and white.^[4] In general the use of city seals with the coat of arms was a privilege of the City Council. The city elders had to watch its maintenance. Even now the coat of arms is protected and can only be used under specific circumstances.

• Older Coat of Arms of Hamburg
• 

  Free imperial city
  1605 (Johann Siebmacher)

• 

  Free imperial city
  of the German Empire
  1871 - 1918

• 

  Nazi Germany
  1933 - 1945

Greater Coat of Arms

The coat of arms exists since the 16th century.^[1]

Admiralty Coat of Arms of Hamburg

In 1623, a Admiralitätskollegium (lit. admiralty council) was established to oversee the law of sea and the security of shipping, as a port authority.^[5] The coat of arms exists since 1642.^[1] In 1811 abandoned during the French occupation, the admiralty council was officially disestablished in 1814, and succeeded as a court instance by the Handelsgericht (trade court) and for administrative purposes by the port and shipping deputation (German title: Schifffahrts- und Hafendeputation).^[5]

See also

• Coat of arms of Prussia
• Origin of the coats of arms of German federal states.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Flaggen, Wappen und Logos"] (in German). Senatskanzlei. http://www.hamburg.de/wappen/. Retrieved 2008-08-13. 
2. ^ "Als sich das Tor zur Welt öffnete [As the gate to the world opened]" (in German). Hamburger Abendblatt. 2001-08-21. http://suche.abendblatt.de:8000/article.php?xmlurl=http%3a%2f%2f87.230.59.37%2fha%2f2001%2fxml%2f20010816xml%2fhabxml010709_11825.xml&pdfurl=http%3a%2f%2f87.230.59.37%2fha%2f2001%2fpdf%2f20010816.pdf%2f. Retrieved 2009-09-29. 
3. ^ Hans Wilhelm Eckhardt (2005). "Wappen, Hamburg". In Kopitsch, Franklin & Tilgner, Daniel (in German). Hamburg Lexikon (3 ed.). Ellert&Richter. p. 518. ISBN 3831901791. 
4. ^ Constitution of Hamburg (Article 5) (German)
   Article 5
   (1) The colours are white-red.
   (2) The coat-of-arms shows on a red escutcheon a white castle with three towers and a closed gate.
   (3) The flag shows the white castle of the coat-of-arms on a red field.
   (4) The law determines the details about the flag and the arms.
5. ^ ^{a b} Klaus-Joachim Lorenzen-Schmidt (2005). "Admiralität". In Kopitsch, Franklin & Tilgner, Daniel (in German). Hamburg Lexikon (3 ed.). Ellert&Richter. p. 518. ISBN 3831901791. 

External links

Media related to Coats of arms of Hamburg at Wikimedia Commons

Hamburg portal

• http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de-hh).html