Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.02.2019, Page 1

Stefan Jonasson
On February 12, 1919, less than three
months after Iceland reclaimed
its sovereignty as the Kingdom
of Iceland, King Christian X granted the
nation a new coat of arms (skjaldarmerki
in Icelandic). It was a marked departure
from earlier coats of arms, reinforcing
the fundamental change of status that
sovereignty represented.
The official description of the coat
of arms, as outlined in the royal decree,
stated: “The Icelandic coat of arms shall
be a crowned shield charged with the flag
of Iceland. The bearers of the shield are the
country’s four familiar guardian spirits: a
dragon, a vulture [i.e., eagle], a bull and a
giant.” The four animals chosen were the
landvættir – land spirits – that were named
by Snorri Sturluson in Heimskringla.
The landvættir were believed to be the
guardians of Iceland, protecting the safety
of its people, the fertility of its land, and
sanctity of its traditions. The four animals
are commonly associated with the four
quarters of the country – the dragon with
the east, the eagle with the north, the
ox with the west, and the giant with the
south. As Snorri describes them, it was the
landvættir that dissuaded King Haraldur
Bluetooth from invading Iceland when he
was in the mood for conquest.
The flag on the shield predates
sovereignty, but only by a few years. As
early as 1885, Alþingi had resolved that
Iceland was entitled to its own merchant
flag, but nothing came of it other than
identifying the three colours that would
eventually appear in the present flag. Over
the decades that followed, individuals
put forward ideas for an Icelandic flag
but nothing further happened until 1913,
when Prime Minister Hannes Hafstein
proposed that the king establish a national
flag for use in Iceland and its territorial
waters by royal decree. On the second to
last day of the year, the prime minister
appointed a committee “to consider in
detail the design of the flag, establish as
far as possible the nation's wishes and
present proposals to the government on
the shape and colour early enough to give
Parliament, when it next convenes, the
opportunity to deliver an opinion on it.”
The committee presented two options,
which were considered by Alþingi
during its 1914 session. The process ran
into a roadblock in November when the
king declined to issue a royal decree at
the request of the new prime minister,
Sigurður Eggerz, which led to the prime
minister’s resignation. When yet a
third prime minister, Einar Arnórsson,
presented the proposed flag for approval,
King Christian X issued a royal decree
sanctioning the flag on June 19, 1915.
It was the same tricolour flag he had
rejected the previous November. This
flag was confirmed as the national flag on
the eve of sovereignty.
Following the establishment of the
Republic of Iceland in 1944, the coat of
arms was modified to remove the crown
from above the shield, since Iceland was
no longer a constitutional monarchy, the
landvættir were redrawn, and the base
on which they stood was changed to a
slab of columnar basalt. Some proposed
that the gyrfalcon be reinstated, but in
the end it was decided to keep the basic
form and elements of the coat of arms that
was granted in 1919. The amended coat
of arms was confirmed by a presidential
decree this time, which was issued by
President Sveinn Björnsson.
Iceland had earlier coats of arms.
During the period of Home Rule, when
Iceland was a semi-autonomous realm
within Denmark, the coat of arms consisted
of a white gyrfalcon on a blue shield. Prior
to this, the coat of arms depicted a stockfish
with a crown above it on a red shield and
it was commonly known as Þorskmerkið
(the cod markings). Þorskmerkið was
the coat of arms from the early 16th
century until the dawn of Home Rule.
Earlier coats of arms, during the Icelandic
Commonwealth and era of Norwegian
rule, are more difficult to confirm with
certainty, since their existence is subject
to speculation.
LÖGBERG
HEIMSKRINGLA
The Icelandic Community Newspaper • 1 February 2019 • Number 03 / Númer 03 • 1. febrúar 2019
Publication Mail Agreement No. 40012014 ISSN: 0047-4967
VISIT OUR WEBSITE LH-INC.CA
INSIDE
David Gislason’s reflections
on Icelandic sovereignty /
page 5
A yearning
for home
PHOTO: STEFAN JONASSON
An Icelandic film on Netflix /
page 7
PHOTO: ZIK ZAK KVIKMYNDIR
And Breathe
Normally
Svava Jónsdóttir on her book
Portraits of a Nation / page 10
Every Icelander
Counts
Iceland’s coat of arms granted 100 years
ago, modified 25 years later
IMAGE COURTESY OF FENN-O-MANIC CC BY SA 3.0
Kingdom of Iceland coat of arms, 1919-1944
IMAGE: SSOLBERGJ CC BY 3.0
Þorskmerkið, the coat
of arms from the
16th century to 1903
IMAGE: SSOLBERGJ CC BY-SA 3.0
Coat of arms during
Home Rule,
1903-1919
IMAGE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS RKT2312
Coat of arms of the
Republic of Iceland,
1944 to the present day