Coat of arms of Bern

The coat of arms of Bern, along with the associated flag and heraldic colours, are used both by the Swiss city of Bern and by the canton of the same name. Until its abolition in 2009, they were also used by the former district of Bern.

The coat of arms of Bern is on a red field a yellow diagonal band charged with a black bear walking upwards toward the hoist. The heraldic blazon reads: Gules, on a bend or, a bear passant sable, langued, armed and vilené of the field. The flag of Bern is square and depicts the coat of arms. The heraldic colours of Bern are red and black.

The heraldic beast of Bern is the bear. It has long served as namesake, emblem, mascot and — at times — personification of Bern. The founding legend has it that Duke Berthold V of Zähringen vowed to choose as namesake the first animal his hunt met in the wood that was to be chopped down for the new city. Then, as Konrad Justinger's chronicle puts it:

The bear motif is in evidence as early as 1224 (on city seals), and has remained in use ever since. Today the city of Bern still has bears featured directly outside its Altstadt in the Bärengraben.

As Justinger's chronicle reveals, Bern's original coat of arms was an upright black bear on a white shield (which is, incidentally, the coat of arms of Berlin). In the 13th century, the coat of arms changed to the one in use today. The modern coat of arms is already recognisable in Alsatian mercenary songs of 1375 reported by Justinger. The change, according to the chroniclers, was linked to the Battle of the Schosshalde in 1289 against the troops of Duke Rudolf II of Austria, Hi son of Emperor Rudolf II von Habsburg. According to Justinger, a Bernese salvaged a part of the ensign as the fortunes of war turned against Bern, and Tschudi recounts:

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