The earliest known example of the Danish arms is the seal of Canute VI from 1190s. The only known copy of this insignia was discovered in Schwerin, Germany in 1879.
The National Coat of Arms of
seal used by King Canute VI c. 1194. The oldest documentation for the colours dates from c. 1270
Historically, the lions faced the viewer and the number of hearts was not regulated and could be much higher. Historians believe that the hearts originally were
signets used during the Middle Ages. A royal decree of 1972 specifies these figures as søblade but Danes normally refer to them as hearts. The current version was adopted in 1819 during the reign of King Frederick VI who fixed the number of hearts to nine and decreed that the heraldic beasts were lions, consequently facing forward. A rare version exists from the reign of king Eric of Pomerania in which the three lions jointly hold the Danish banner, in a similar fashion as in the coat of arms of the former South Jutland County
.
Until c. 1960, Denmark used both a "small" and a "large" coat of arms, similar to the system still used in
Foreign Ministry
. Since this time, the latter symbol has been classified as the coat of arms of the royal family, leaving Denmark with only one national coat of arms, used for all official purposes.
