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County of Stockholm (Sweden)

Stockholms län

Last modified: 2005-07-16 by phil nelson
Keywords: stockholm | crown | saint erik | saint olof | saint olav | orb | griffin head |
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[flag of Stockholm county] illustration by Mello Luchtenberg

See also:


Description

About the flag

The arms of the County of Stockholm was granted in 1968, when the County of Stockholm (the land around the capital) was merged with the Overgovernorship of Stockholm (which was coextensive with the City of Stockholm). The arms, and the flag (which is a banner of the arms) are put together of the arms of Stockholm, the arms of Upland and the arms of Södermanland (the later "heraldically abbreviated" to a griffin's head instead of a griffin).

This flag has been hanging outside the building of the county board (länsstyrelsen) in Stockholm, but when I walked past that house some weeks ago, they had changed the flags and now had a white flag with the arms thereupon, crowned with a royal crown.
Elias Granqvist 01 October 2000

Blazon

Official Blazon in Swedish

Sköld, genom en uppåtriktad kil av guld, vari ett avslitet svart griphuvud med näbb och tunga röda, kluven i blått, vari ett krönt S:t Erikshuvud av guld, och i rött, vari ett riksäpple av guld.

Blazon in English

Per pale Azure crowned St. Erik's Head Or and Gules a Royal Orb of the third gemmed of the field and of the second and overall on a pile inverted Or a Griffin's Head erased Sable beaked and langued Gules.
English blazon by Željko Heimer, 04 October 2000


Historical Information

Former County of Stockholm (Stockholms län)

[Flag of the earlier County of Stockholm] illustration by Falko Schmidt

[Flag of the earlier County of Stockholm] illustration by Dirk Schönberger

The flag was a banner of the arms; arms granted on 7 February 1941


The coat of arms was used until 1968.
Falko Schmidt, 24 March 2001


The orb which the griffin is holding should be fully on the red field of the shield (see http://www.users.wineasy.se/elias/vapen/blaen.htm. The red (Gules) half of the shield was actually added just because the orb, which is of gold (Or), should not be upon the golden field. This is not possible, when using exactly the same image of a griffin as in the arms on that page. It lies in the nature of heraldry, that if the shield or the field on which a charge is placed upon is changed in its form, the charge should change position accordingly. Thus, on a banner of arms, the griffin should fill out the quadratic "shield" created by the flag cloth. When doing that, the griffin probably would be able to hold the orb within the red field. One should get another heraldic griffin holding an orb (i.e. re-draw the griffin), so the orb could be a little lowered.
Elias Granqvist and Dirk Schönberger, 25/26 March 2001


Blazon

Official blazon in Swedish

I av guld och rött styckat fält en upprest, svart grip med blå beväring, därest dylik skall komma till användning, och med båda framklorna bärande ett riksäpple av guld

Blazon in English

Per bend Or and Gules a Griffin rampant, armed Azure, when it should be armed, carrying an Orb Or in both Foreclaws
English blazon by Elias Granqvist, 26 March 2001

Municipalities (Kommuner)

The following communes are in this county (lan). The codes following the name are assigned by Sweden for statistical purposes.

  • Botkyrka (0127)
  • Danderyd (0162)
  • Ekerö (0125)
  • Haninge (0136)
  • Huddinge (0126)
  • Järfälla (0123)
  • Lidingö (0186)
  • Nacka (0182)
  • Norrtälje (0188)
  • Nykvarn (0140)
  • Nynäshamn (0192)
  • Salem (0128)
  • Sigtuna (0191)
  • Sollentuna (0163)
  • Solna (0184)
  • Södertälje (0181)
  • Stockholm (0180)
  • Sundbyberg (0183)
  • Tyresö (0138)
  • Täby (0160)
  • Upplands Väsby (0114)
  • Upplands-Bro (0139)
  • Vallentuna (0115)
  • Vaxholm (0187)
  • Värmdö (0120)
  • Österåker (0117)