Coat of arms of Norway

Coat of arms of Norway
The Arms of the Realm. Version as used by the monarch and the government
Details
Armiger	Kingdom of Norway
Adopted	1280 or earlier
Escutcheon	Gules, a lion rampant Or, crowned and bearing an axe Or with blade Argent

Royal Coat of Arms
The Royal Arms. Version exclusively for the monarch, but not used in exactly this version.
Details
Armiger	King Harald V of Norway
Adopted	1280 or earlier
Orders	Order of St. Olav

The coat of arms of Norway is a standing golden lion on a red background, bearing a golden crown and silver blade (blazoned Gules, a lion rampant Or, crowned Or, holding an axe Or with a blade argent).

The coat of arms is used by the King (including the King's Council), the Parliament, and the Supreme Court, which are the three powers according to the Constitution. It is also used by several national, regional, and local authorities that are subordinate to the aforementioned, for example the County Governors and both the district courts and the courts of appeal. Since 1905, two parallel versions exist: the original, more complex one used by the King and the simpler one used by the State.

In addition, there are former and existing lands (e.g. the Earldom of Iceland and the Orkneys), cities (e.g. Kristiansand), organisations (e.g. the Museum of Cultural History), companies (e.g. Adresseavisen), and families (e.g. the Counts of Gyldenløve and Gudbrand Gregersen) who have been granted the right to bear the coat of arms or derivations of this. Unless officially granted, it is illegal to use the coat of arms.

The royal coat of arms has its origin in the 13th century, at first just as a golden lion on a red shield, with the silver axe added late in the century, symbolising Olaf II as the Eternal King of Norway. In origin the arms of the Sverre dynasty, the coat of arms became quartered with that of the Bjälbo dynatsty when the Sverre lineage was extinct in 1319, and the Sverre coat of arms figured as part of the further divisions of the coats of arms of Norwegian kings during the early modern period. The Sverre coat of arms was regarded as representing the Norwegian Monarchy in the late 15th century, and it came to be used top represent Norway on coins and in seals within the 19th-century union with Sweden, its 13th-century origins placing it among the oldest state coats of arms which remain in contemporary use. The axe tended to be depicted as a pollaxe or halberd in the early modern period, but the 1905 design reverted to the depiction of a simple battle-axe shown in late medieval designs.