Hannover (Lower Saxony, Germany)

Stadt Hannover

Last modified: 2006-12-30 by santiago dotor
Keywords: lower saxony | niedersachsen | hanover | hannover | city gate (white) | lion (yellow) | trefoil |
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5:2 image by Stefan Schwoon Coat-of-arms adopted 1920

• Description

See also:

• County and Municipal Flags (Lower Saxony / Niedersachsen, Germany)
• Historical Flags (Hanover / Hannover)
• Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen, Germany)
• Germany

Red-white with the arms. Sources: flag from Staack 1997, arms from Stadler 1964-1971

Stefan Schwoon, 20 February 2001

From Ralf Hartemink's International Civic Arms website:

Hannover became a city around 1170 and was in the 14th century an important member of the Hanseatic League. From 1636 it was the capital of the Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who later became Kings of Hannover and at the same time Kings of England. The lion is the lion of Brunswick and taken from the Welfen family. It appears on the oldest known seals, dating from the early 13th century. The oldest real arms of the city showed only the trefoil. It is known from coins from 1430. It does not appear on the seals of the city until 1534. In 1565 the arms (still only the trefoil) had two golden lions as supporters and a helmet with crest on top. The present arms were devised in 1920 and are a combination of the seal and the original arms.

Literature: Stadler 1964-1971.

Santiago Dotor, 13 December 2001