Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - III. Constitution and Administration. Introd. by E. Hildebrand
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
III.
CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION.
The government of Sweden has from time immemorial, as far hack as
written history reaches, heen monarchical; and the head of the State has
always had the title of King.1 The King’s official title is "Sveriges,
Götes och Vendes Konung" ("King of the Swedes, Goths and Wends").
Sveriges has taken the place of Svears, which originally denoted the
inhabitants of Svealand; Götes should properly be Götars, which denoted
the inhabitants of Götaland. Finally, as regards the title Vendes
konung, this was adopted by Gustavus A’asa as a rejoinder to the Danish
kings of his day, who in their formal style to the title of "King of the
Wends" (Vandalorum Rex) added, without any justification, that of
"King of the Goths" (Gothorum Rex).
Sweden has two national coats of arms, the great one and the small one
(Law of the National Arms, 15 May, 1908). The great coat of arms
consists of an escutcheon quartered by a gold cross pattee, with an escutcheon
of pretence. In the chief escutcheon the four quarters have a blue field,
the first and fourth quarters with three golden crowns, the second and
third quarters having three bends sinister in silver, the whole surmounted
by a crowned lion in gold. The inescutcheon is divided into two fields.
The first field is divided barwise into three — gold, silver and red —
overlaid by a sheaf (väse) in gold (the arms of A7asa). The second field
bears a bridge standing in silver water; over the bridge may be seen a
golden eagle; and in the upper part there is the constellation of Charles’s
Wain (the arms of Ponte Corvo). As supporters stand two crowned lions
looking backwards (rampant regardant) with cleft tails. The escutcheon
is surmounted by a royal crown and surrounded by a mantle under a
royal crown.
The small coat of arms consists of a blue escutcheon with three golden
crowns, surmounted by a royal crown.
1 On three occasions the title has been Queen.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
