Coat of arms of Thuringia

Coat of arms of Thuringia
Details
Adopted	1990
Escutcheon	Azure, a lion rampant barry of eight Gules and Argent, crowned and armed Or, surrounded by eight mullets Argent

The coat of arms German state Thuringia was introduced in 1990. Like the 1949 coat of arms of Hesse it is based on the Ludovingian lion barry, also known as the "lion of Hesse", with the addition of eight mullets.

The coat of arms can be blazoned Azure, a lion rampant barry of eight Gules and Argent, crowned and armed Or, surrounded by eight mullets Argent. This can be interpreted as a blue field with a lion of eight horizontal red-and-white-stripes, with a gold crown and claws, with eight white/silver stars. Some people believe the stars represent eight historical divisions of the state.

It was included in the Gesetz über die Hoheitszeichen (Law on the Regional Emblems) of 30 January 1991, which came into law retrospectively to 3 October 1990. The current law, Verordnung zur Ausführung des Gesetzes über die Hoheitszeichen des Landes prescribed its use, including banning use by third parties, use of the coat of arms on the seal and use of the arms on the State flag.

The state of Thuringia was created in 1920 by uniting the seven Thuringian polities: Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Gotha, Saxe-Altenburg, Republic of Reuss (Reuss Elder Line, Reuss Younger Line), Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. The northern part of today's Thuringia was part of Prussia (Erfurt governorate) and therefore not represented in this coat of arms. Inspired by the American flag (by featuring one star for each of its counties), the shield is gules, seven mullets of six points argent - seven six-pointed stars on a red background. It was used on the state flag of that period. The coat of arms was used until 1933, when the NSDAP government created a new coat of arms.

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