Coat of arms of Ullensaker

The Norwegian municipality Ullensaker does not have a coat of arms, but uses a non-heraldic badge of a blue shield with the Norse god Ullr as a charge. It was assumed on 8 November 1979. It is the only Norwegian municipal badge depicting a Norse god.

The name of the municipality makes it very likely that it was the site of a temple devoted to Ullr. The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old farm Ullensaker, since the first church was built here. The name is first recorded in 1300 ("Ullinshof"). The first element is the genitive case of the name of the Norse god Ullin (a sideform of Ull). The last element is the word hof ("temple"). The last element was, however, replaced by the word aker meaning "field, acre" in the beginning of the 16th century.

In Norse mythology, Ullr is a son of Sif and a stepson of Thor. While extant sources are scant he appears to have been a major god in prehistoric times, or even an aspect of the head of the Proto-Germanic pantheon, mentioned on the 3rd century Thorsberg chape.

Ullr is supposed to be very handsome, an excellent skier and archer and a very good warrior. Snorri Sturluson informs his readers that Ullr can be called ski-god, bow-god, hunting-god and shield-god.

External links

• Ullensaker municipality on their coat of arms (Norwegian)
• International Civic Heraldry web page on the arms of Ullensaker
• A private page on the arms of Ullensaker (Norwegian)