Nordic Arms Registration Rules and Procedures
Joseph McMillan
others familiar with heraldic practices in the Nordic countries. The
American Heraldry Society is assembling information on arms
granting/certification/recording procedures in other countries. The
purpose is to inform American citizens who may be contemplating seeking
grants or recognition of their arms abroad. The following paragraphs
are derived from a variety of sources whose reliability I am not sure
of. I would appreciate any corrections or relevant additions. Full
credit will, of course, be given.
Denmark
In Denmark, arms were formerly granted officially to those who were
ennobled by the monarch, but no new nobles have been created in Denmark
for over a century. [Is there a place where Americans who believe
themselves descended from Danish nobility can prove their claim to use
Danish noble arms?] Non-noble arms have always been self-assumed, just
as they may be in the United States. Personal arms may be registered
in the Danske Herold published by the Danish National Archives. [Is
this still the case?] It is unknown whether the Archives will accept
registrations from non-Danes. In addition, Danes and persons of Danish
extraction may record their arms in the Skandinavisk Vappenrulla (see
Sweden).
Finland
Finns are free to adopt arms of their own design without official
regulation or restriction. The Suomen Heraldinen Seura (Heraldry
Society of Finland) maintains a register of non-noble arms. [Is this
open to registration of arms of people of Finnish descent? How much
does it cost? Who, if anyone, oversees the use of noble arms?]
Norway
Personal arms are freely assumed in Norway without any official
regulation, registration, or protection. Norwegians and persons of
Norwegian extraction may record their arms in the Skandinavisk
Vappenrulla (see Sweden).
Sweden
The Riddarhuset (House of Nobles, established 1626) regulates the arms
of the nobility and publishes them every three years in the
Adelskalendern. Under Swedish law, no new nobles can be created, so no
new arms are being granted. Arms of the nobility as recorded by the
Riddarhuset are protected under Swedish law. Any American who thinks
he is entitled to use the arms of a Swedish noble family should
approach the Riddarhuset and be prepared to provide rigorous proof of
descent.
Other people in Sweden may freely assume arms of their own devising.
Several private organizations register such arms, but they are not
legally protected in Sweden unless registered as logos under copyright
laws:
· Stiftelsen Skandinavisk Vapenrulla (Scandinavian Roll of Arms
Foundation) is a private organization that registers inherited
non-noble arms and designs and registers new arms, and publishes them
in the Skandinavisk Vapenrulla. Its services are available to all
persons of Scandinavian origin, whether living in Scandinavia or not.
The current registration fee is approximately 4,000 Swedish kronor.
· The Svenska Heraldiska Föreningen (Heraldry Society of Sweden)
publishes newly adopted arms free of charge in its magazine
Vapenbilden.
Thanks in advance.
Joseph McMillan
marek.m...@telia.com
http://www.heraldik.se/forum/
All Forums - English Forum - Welcome to Scandinavia
Hopefully you will be given promptly answer soon.
Joseph McMillan
Thank you very much. I was not aware that the SHF forum had an
English-language section, but am impressed that the members are
thoughtful enough to provide such an amenity.
Joseph McMillan
J Chr Berlin
> Sweden
>
> The Riddarhuset (House of Nobles, established 1626) regulates the arms
> of the nobility and publishes them every three years in the
> Adelskalendern. Under Swedish law, no new nobles can be created, so no
> new arms are being granted. Arms of the nobility as recorded by the
> Riddarhuset are protected under Swedish law. Any American who thinks
> he is entitled to use the arms of a Swedish noble family should
> approach the Riddarhuset and be prepared to provide rigorous proof of
> descent.
The House of Nobility does not really regulate the arms of the
nobility. It keeps however record of them.
The legal protection of noble arms is not very strong in Sweden. There
is a royal ordinance, given in 1762, wich forbids non-nobles to use the
arms of the nobility and open helmets. To my knowledge this ordinance
has only been applied in a few cases in the 18th century. It is most
likely that a court of law would consider the ordinance obsolete today.
It is worth noting that the swedish nobility has not been abolished as
such, but that the House of Nobility lost its status within public law
in 2003 and that the privileges of the nobility (which had been more or
less obsolete for many years) were revoked at the same time.
> Other people in Sweden may freely assume arms of their own devising.
> Several private organizations register such arms, but they are not
> legally protected in Sweden unless registered as logos under copyright
> laws:
>
> · Stiftelsen Skandinavisk Vapenrulla (Scandinavian Roll of Arms
> Foundation) is a private organization that registers inherited
> non-noble arms and designs and registers new arms, and publishes them
> in the Skandinavisk Vapenrulla. Its services are available to all
> persons of Scandinavian origin, whether living in Scandinavia or not.
> The current registration fee is approximately 4,000 Swedish kronor.
The arms published in Skandinavisk Vapenrulla (Scandinavian Roll of
Arms) are mainly newly adopted arms of non-noble persons and of
associations. From time to time existing arms (noble and non-noble) are
also published.
> · The Svenska Heraldiska Föreningen (Heraldry Society of Sweden)
> publishes newly adopted arms free of charge in its magazine
> Vapenbilden.
The board of the society presented last year a proposal for a new
swedish register of heraldry. It has yet to be approved at the annual
meeting.
Jan Böhme
> The legal protection of noble arms is not very strong in Sweden. There
> is a royal ordinance, given in 1762, wich forbids non-nobles to use the
> arms of the nobility and open helmets. To my knowledge this ordinance
> has only been applied in a few cases in the 18th century. It is most
> likely that a court of law would consider the ordinance obsolete today.
It is most likely that the court would find at least that the sanctions
are obsolete. However, it should be noted that the Swedish heraldry
community in general abides by the ordinance. Its prescriptions are
generally adhered to, as a matter of style, if not as a matter of law.
> It is worth noting that the swedish nobility has not been abolished as
> such, but that the House of Nobility lost its status within public law
> in 2003 and that the privileges of the nobility (which had been more or
> less obsolete for many years) were revoked at the same time.
However, the Riksdag only revoked the noble privileges explicitly
labelled as such from 1723. It didn't bother to revoke the ordinance
of 1762, which thus is arguably the last Sweish noble privilege in law
still standing. (All the privileges that were revoked were obsolete
with much more certainty than the ordinance of 1762, so it wasn't a
question of its being left because it was legally immaterial. I haven't
been able to tell whether it was left out by design or by ignorance. I
haven't wanted to investigate too deeply, for fear it was by ignorance.
I want to let sleeping dogs lie.)
Jan Böhme
kur...@politik.dk
> I wonder if I might impose again on our Scandinavian colleagues and
> others familiar with heraldic practices in the Nordic countries.
[snip]
> Denmark
>
> In Denmark, arms were formerly granted officially to those who were
> ennobled by the monarch,
Correct. And (as you and I have had occasion to exchange information
about) there are also some instances of grants of arms to individuals
who were not hereditary nobles by letters patent (namely: 1) some early
grants of arms to burghers, on a seemingly ad hoc basis; 2) late
1600s/early 1700s grants of arms to individuals who through the
possesions of offices in the "Order of Precedence" enjoyed personal or
hereditary nobility qua office; 3) some instances where non-noble
families succeeded to majorats/fideicommisses erected by noble families
were granted the right to adopt or quarter the arms of that particular
family.
> but no new nobles have been created in Denmark
> for over a century.
Almost correct. The last instance of the creation of an entirely new
noble family was in 1906 (although the family had claimed noble status
for some hundred years), and in 1912 the last "naturalization" of
foreign nobility was made. However, technically the creations of the
title of Count of Rosenborg for various princes (and recently of
Countess of Frederiksborg for the divorced wife of a prince) are
ennoblements too and have had (and will have) heraldic consequences.
The latter examples clearly demonstrate that the Danish monarch still
exercizes the royal prerogative in nobiliary and heraldic matters, even
without ministerial counter-signature.
> [Is there a place where Americans who believe
> themselves descended from Danish nobility can prove their claim to use
> Danish noble arms?]
No--at least no such public institution. However, if the family is one
recognized by the Dansk Adelsforening (Association of Danish Nobility),
then a person demonstrating male line descent from a Danish noble
family can become a member of that association. The Association does
not regulate the heraldry of the nobility, although several of its
members are very knowledgeable in such matters (most notably count Poul
Holstein, who is also the editor of the Scandinavian "Heraldisk
Tidsskrift"). The Association's "Danmarks Adels Aarbog" is in general
highly accurate as to what families are included; however, there are a
few families which (if consistency is desired) should be included and
who may very well be so from the next edition. (At least one family
included technically was never a family of "Uradel" or one ennobled by
letters patent, but owes it inclusion to a number of decisions from the
19th century.)
> Non-noble arms have always been self-assumed, just
> as they may be in the United States. Personal arms may be registered
> in the Danske Herold published by the Danish National Archives.
"Den Danske Herold" is not something that is published by the Danish
National Archives. It is a private register, collected by the two (now
deceased) Danish armorists, Dr. Ole Rostock and Dr. Olaf B. Kirstein,
and done so in close collaboration with the Scandinavian Heraldry
Society (Societas Heraldica Scandinavica). The register contains
indexes cards with ca. 10-12.000 coats-of-arms used in Denmark from ca.
1200 to the early 1990s. The archive exists in two copies: one ordered
alphabetically and one ordered by armorial bearings. No new entries
are made into the register, which is now deposited at/was acquired by
the Danish National Archives.
In addition to this the Danish National Archives also has its own
(enormous) collection of armorial seals, divided into two: Danish noble
families and "the rest". This collection also is not added to.
> [Is
> this still the case?]
See above.
> It is unknown whether the Archives will accept
> registrations from non-Danes.
The archives does not register arms as such, cf. above.
> In addition, Danes and persons of Danish
> extraction may record their arms in the Skandinavisk Vappenrulla (see
> Sweden).
Correct.
Best wishes,
Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard
pritch...@hotmail.com
coats-of-arms for Finns. This society also publishes a number of
journals annually, "CHF Heraldinen ja Veksillologinen Aikakauskirja",
"Lippuja, Vaakunoita ja Muita Tunnuskia" and "Sukavaakunaa". In 2005,
the society produced a CD-ROM authoer by Robert de Caluwe, titled
"Vaakunataiteem Symboiikka". This CD explains the basics of heraldry in
Finnish as well as depicts many of the Finnish heraldic innovations of
the late Gustav von Numers and others.
See these links for more information:
http://www.heraldik.se/artiklar/chf_1.html
http://www.rbvex.it/interpag/societa4.html
David
Jan Böhme
> The Collegium Heraldicum Fennicum ry, maintains a registry of
> coats-of-arms for Finns.
The link in Swedish that you gave actually says something slightly
different. It says that the CHF engages in heraldic publishing and
keeps "an arms archive, which is not to be confused with the registry
of coats-of-arms kept by HSiF [Heraldiska Sällskapet i Finland;
Heraldic Society of Finland]" which is a different, and larger, Finnish
heraldry organisation.
The arms archive of 4000 CoA:s that the CHF maintains seems to be a
historical archive, as it is said to be of value also to Swedes, due to
the common history.
Jan Böhme
pritch...@hotmail.com
I can hardly disagree with you as my only knowledge of Swedish is of
public signage such "Left .5 km" or "Departing Passangers", "Passport
Control and Customs", etc.
I wrote that they maintain a registry of arms because in the thirty or
more publications of the CHF that I have, there are numerous pictures
of certificates isssued in the name of the CHF depicting arms
registrations, such as one for Petri Berglund, vol. VI, fol. 610.
As you wrote, the CHF focuses on historical arms and flags but they
also document new symbols for the Finnish Police, Army, Navy etc. I
actually think that a few of the heralds in the CHF work with or for
the Finnish government as heraldic designers.
David