Three Crowns
Three Crowns (Swedish: tre kronor) is the national emblem of Sweden, present in the coat of arms of Sweden, and composed of three yellow or gilded coronets ordered two above and one below, placed on a blue background. Similar designs are found on a number of other coats of arms or flags.
The emblem is often used as a symbol of official State authority by the Monarchy, the Riksdag, the Government of Sweden and by Swedish embassies around the world, but also appears in other less formal contexts, such as the Sweden men's national ice hockey team, who wear the symbol on their sweaters and hence are called "Three Crowns", and atop the Stockholm City Hall (built 1911–1923). The Three Crowns are also used as the roundel on military aircraft of the Swedish Air Force and as a sign on Swedish military equipment in general, and also on the uniforms and vehicles of the Swedish Police Authority.
Because of their Scandinavian origin, the Three Crowns are also lesser-known features in the royal coat of arms of Denmark where they might be referred to as the "union mark".
Origins
One of several traditional explanations have suggested. Albrekt of Mecklenburg (1338–1412), who ruled Sweden 1364–89, brought the symbol from Germany as a sign of his rule over Sweden, Finland and Mecklenburg. Apart from the fact that Finland was not regarded as a country in its own right at the time, this theory has been refuted by later research, namely, the announcement in 1982 of the discovery of a frieze in Avignon in southern France, estimated to date back to 1336. The frieze was painted for an international congress led by the Pope and contains the symbols of all participant countries, including Sweden. This discovery suggests the symbol was introduced no later than by Albrekt's predecessor, Magnus Eriksson (1316–74).
Use of the three crowns as a heraldic symbol of Sweden has been attested, in the
Early Swedish heraldry
The first coat of arms of Sweden from the 13th century featured a golden lion on a background of wavy blue and white diagonal lines (in blazons, "bendy wavy Argent and azure, a lion Or").[2] It is still part of the present greater coat of arms of Sweden which is quartered between the lion coat of arms and the three crowns. As the lion and the crowns were occasionally re-interpreted as the coat of arms of the provinces of Götaland and Svealand respectively, the lion was earlier, erroneously, called the "Göta lion".[2]
Union of Magnus Eriksson
Magnus used the symbols frequently, probably to mark his three kingdoms; Sweden, Norway and
Although Denmark was reconsolidated under King
Kalmar Union
When the
Use in post-Kalmar Union Sweden
Since the three crowns had been used in Sweden between the unions, both King
The symbol is known to have been placed atop the central tower of the castle Tre Kronor (Three Crowns) in Stockholm, destroyed by fire in 1697, no later than the early 16th century.
The Three Crowns Conflict
In the 1550s, King
In Sweden, the Three Crowns were regarded as an exclusively Swedish symbol. This led to a long-lasting diplomatic conflict between the two countries, the so-called Three Crowns Conflict, with Sweden accusing Denmark of imperialism by using a Swedish symbol, and Denmark accusing Sweden of monopolizing the use of a Scandinavian union symbol.
This conflict played a role at the outbreak of the Northern Seven Years' War in 1563. At the beginning of the 17th century the conflict was settled with both countries being allowed to use the Three Crowns in their coats of arms,[13] although in Denmark it has a less prominent place in the shield, and is officially referred to as a heraldic reminder of the former Kalmar Union.[14] Denmark has used the Three Crowns in this way since 1546, a practice disputed by Sweden until 1613.[14]
Other use in Denmark
The name "Tre Kroner", or Three Crowns, is also used in Denmark. During the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, the Royal Danish Navy often named its ships after the insignia of the Danish monarch's coat of arms, and the navy consequently often had a ship named after the Three Crowns. This practice in turn lent the name to the naval fort of Trekroner[15] guarding the harbour of Copenhagen, the Danish capital. It was also the name of a number of farms, causing a new city quarter in Roskilde to take the name "Trekroner" from one such farm.
Other three crown designs
This section needs additional citations for verification. (March 2013) |
Some heraldic displays outside of Sweden also incorporate triple crown designs. Some of the notable of these uses are discussed below.
In Central and Eastern European armory
The historical region of
In French and German armory
The emblem of Henry III of France was "Manet ultima coelo" with three crowns.[17]
The French Caribbean island of
The German towns of Otterfing and Tegernsee in Bavaria use the three gold crowns on blue design on their coats-of-arms.
In Irish armory
Practically identical to the three crowns of Sweden is that of the
In English armory
A shield of three golden crowns, placed two above one, on a blue background, has been used a symbol of
The three crowns appear, carved in stone, on the baptismal font (c.1400) in the parish church of Saxmundham,[19] and on the 15th century porch of Woolpit church, both in Suffolk.
The emblem of three crowns is evident in East Anglian local
A three crowns design is the coat of arms of the city of Kingston upon Hull, a large port in Yorkshire, but this design sees the three crowns stacked vertically and relates back to the Royal charter of 1299. The emblem is used by the city council and the city's two rugby league teams.
In the literature, the coat of arms of the legendary King Arthur is also often given as azure with three crowns or.[20] Indeed, Britain included three realms, Logres (England), Cambria (Wales) and Alba (Scotland).
The University of Oxford uses as its arms the three gold crowns on blue accompanied by an open book. The origin of the three crowns is not exactly known but may refer to the arms of Thomas Cranley, Chancellor of the University of Oxford in 1390.[21]
Two dioceses of the Church of England use the three crowns emblem; Ely (gules three ducal coronets two over one or) and Bristol (sable three crowns arranged in pale or, similar to the city of Hull).[22]
The first corporate coat of arms was granted in 1439 to the
In Scottish armory
The coat of arms of the chief of Clan Grant displays the three gold crowns on a red background (gules, three ancient crowns or). Earlier it is recorded to have been three gold crowns on a blue background (azure, three crowns or).[23] The Grant arms formed the basis of the arms of the burgh of Grantown-on-Spey, which was founded on the clan's land in 1765.
The coat of arms of the chief of Clan Arthur (or Clan MacArthur) uses the three gold crowns on blue (azure, three antique crowns or).[24]
In Spanish armory
The three gold crowns on blue design appears on the coat of arms of the Spanish city of
In modern trade marks
A symbol with three crowns was used by Chrysler on some of its New Yorker models in the 1960s. A symbol for the marque's top model, the crowns were placed in a row on the vehicle rear and over each other in the front. During the 1980s and 1990s, Broderbund Software used a stylised variant of the symbol.
See also
- Gustavus Adolphus College
- Mother Svea
- Flag of Sweden
- University of Oxford
- Three Crowns Castle
- Trekroner Fort
- Triple Crown
References
- ^ Westrin, Theodor, ed. (1916). Nordisk familjebok: konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi. Bd 23 (in Swedish) (New, rev. and richly ill. ed.). Stockholm: Nordisk familjeboks förl. p. 398. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
- ^ ISBN 87-567-1143-3.
- ^ Sten Carlsson, Jerker Rosén (1962). "Från rikssamling till nordisk union". Svensk Historia (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonniers. p. 200.
- ^ Sten Carlsson, Jerker Rosén (1962). "Från rikssamling till nordisk union". Svensk Historia (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonniers. pp. 200–201.
- ^ Sten Carlsson, Jerker Rosén (1962). "Från rikssamling till nordisk union". Svensk Historia (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonniers. p. 201.
- ISBN 91-29-61671-9.
- ISBN 87-567-1685-0.
- ISBN 87-567-1685-0.
- ISBN 87-567-1685-0.
- ISBN 87-567-1143-3.
- ^ a b c Lavery, Jason (2002). Germany's Northern Challenge: The Holy Roman Empire and the Scandinavian Struggle for the Baltic, 1563-1576. Boston, MA: Brill. p. 10.
- ISBN 87-567-1685-0.
- ISBN 87-567-1685-0.
- ^ a b "Det kongelige våben [The Royal Arms]". Website of the Danish Monarchy. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
- ^ Trekroner Fort
- ^ "Galicia - Heraldica". heraldica.org. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
- ISBN 978-2-251-34700-4
- ^ Perrin, W.G. (1922). British Flags. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- ^ "About Saxmundham – The Parish Church". Saxmundham.org. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
- Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, ca. 1403-1404.
- ^ "Oxford University Archives". www.oua.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
- ^ "Ecclesiastical Heraldry of the United Kingdom". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
- ISBN 9781843832614., pp. 462-463.
- ^ "History – Clan Arthur".
- ^ "Burriana (Castellón) Pueblas de España" (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 September 2013.