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Norwegian Royal Standard

by Jan Engene Oskar, 1995-NOV-23

Description of the royal standard
History of the royal standard

Description of the royal standard

A yellow crowned lion rampant holding a white and yellow axe on a red field. The standard was introduced in 1905 when King Haakon VII became king of Norway. The lion in the Royal standard is different from the one in the national coat of arms - where the lion is kept in a more flat style. The standard of the Crown Prince is the Royal standard with 'an obtuse swallow-tail'. The proportion of the Royal standard is 5:7.

Jan Engene Oskar, 1995-NOV-23

History of the royal standard

The specification for the lion on the Royal standard has never been changed. The 1905 version is still in use. However, the lion on the Norwegian coat of arms changed from the 1905 version in 1937, and the result is two very diverging drawings. In the 1937 coat of arms the lion's paws and claws are almost those of a bird. The whole drawing is strictly flat or 'stylized'. This redrawing was the work of state archivist Hallvard Trætteberg - his ideas about heraldry strongly influenced public heraldry since the early 1930s (see for instance the county flags). There have been minor changes to the lion in the coat of arms - most recently in 1994. So, a picture of the Royal standard with the coat of arms lion is wrong.

At http://odin.dep.no/html/rv/rv you can read about the history of the coat of arms - unfortunately in Norwegian only. The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs produced some very attractive brochures on the flag and arms last year - also mainly in Norwegian but with nice pictures. If you want them, the address to contact is:
Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Protokollavdelingen
Postboks 8114 Dep, 0032 Oslo
Phone + 47 22 34 36 00 Fax + 47 22 34 95 80 (No e-mail yet)

You could also try the Norwegian embassy in your country.

Jan Oskar Engene, 1995-NOV-24