Coat of arms of North Rhine-Westphalia

Coat of arms of North Rhine-Westphalia
Versions

North Rhine-Westphalia (dark green) within Germany
Details
Armiger North Rhine-Westphalia
Adopted 1948
Escutcheon per pale: 1 the former Rhine Province, 2 the former Province of Westphalia, and enté en point embowed: the former Free State of Lippe
Predecessors Rhine Province, Province of Westphalia, Free State of Lippe
Use within the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia

The Coat of Arms of North Rhine-Westphalia is the official coat of arms of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Overview

The divisions of NRW, with Lippe, part of Wesphalia, shown in pink

After World War II on August 23, 1946 the British military administration in Germany established the new state of North Rhine-Westphalia with the merger of the Province of Westphalia and the northern parts of the Rhine Province, to which in January 1947 the Free State of Lippe was added. That same year Wolfgang Pagenstecher, a famous German heraldist living in Düsseldorf, made the original blazon for the newly created state, which adopted it on February 5, 1948. On March 10, 1953 this has been confirmed by the Law about the state's colours, the state's coat of arms and the state' s flag.

The named law starts as follows:


§ 1 The state's colors are green-white-red.


§ 2 The state's coat of arms is party per pale Vert a bend sinister wavy Argent and Gules a horse rampant Argent, enté en point embowed Argent a rose Gules seeded and leaved Or. ...[1]

State Government of North Rhine Westphalia, Law about the state's colours, the state's coat of arms and the state' s flag of March 10, 1953

So the constituent three parts of this coat of arms are:

The coat of arms appears as a charge on the state flag of North Rhine-Westphalia.

References

  1. Der Landtag des Landes Nordrhein Westfalen (March 21, 1953), "Gesetz über die Landesfarben, das Landeswappen und die Landesflagge" (PDF), Gesetz und Verordnungsblatt für das Land Nordrhein Westfalen, pp. 219–220

See also

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