Introduction

The practice of towns assuming arms developed early in the history of heraldry, and many used by the communities today have their origins in the thirteenth century or earlier. One of the main factors in this development was the growth of the communal movement. Towns grew large, and although they were originally within the fief of a local family, in practice more and more of the families granted charters to the towns in exchange for favourable financial arrangements. During the times of war, many of the nobles and knights were absent for long periods, and the townsfolk tended to band together for protection; consequently, the freedom of the communities gathered momentum up to and during the thirteenth century in a form of self-identity, manifesting itself into a wide range of colorful symbols, evolving into municipal arms.

The design of the arms, and the symbolism employed can be attributed to a four sources:

  1. the symbols were originated from the original noble families;
  2. symbols derived from historical events or data that is relevant to the community;
  3. symbols derived from significant environmental sources such as rivers, meadows, mountains, animals, trees;
  4. symbols representing unique cultural activities of the community.

Instructions

To view a particular municipal coat of arms, click on the letter below which is the first letter of municipality's name. A new window will materialize showing "thumbnail" images of all municipalities' arms in which its name begins with the letter clicked on earlier. On this page, find the municipality of interest, and click on the "thumbnail" image in order to retrieve a page containing a full colour presentation of the arms, including its blazon.

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Special offer

The assembly of these symbols into a municipal coat of arms created a unique graphical symbolic representation of the town, proudly displayed on their banners during special events, creating a sense of identity for the towns people. Today, municipal arms not only reflect the desireable attributes of the community, but it also is used in marketing initiatives, television commercials, newspapers, websites, for the purpose of promoting their community and attracting new business and people to their communities.
 
  In April 2005, a fabulous poster was published depicting all of the municipal arms (193) of Slovenia, by Gapro Design, Ljubljana. The poster dimension is 61.5cm x 85.5cm. The poster is available through the SHS with a cost of 2€ (not include shipping and handling). To view an online version, click the poster image on the left (printed version is in a landscape orientation). If interested in purchasing your own copy of the poster, click for instructions on your order.