Gebruiker:Thunderbird2/Basque coat of arms

The current Basque coat of arms (Basque: Euskal autonomi erkidegoaren armarria, Spanish: Escudo del País Vasco) is the official coat of arms of the Basque Country, Autonomous community of Spain. It consists of a party per cross representing the three historical territories of Álava, Guipuscoa and Biscay, as well as a fourth, void quarter. The arms are ringed by a regal wreath, symbolic of the Gernikako Arbola. The fourth quarter once constituted the linked chains of Navarre; however, following a legal suit by the Navarre Government claiming that the usage of the arms of a region on the flag of another was illegal, the Constitutional Court of Spain bound to remove the chains of Navarre in a judgment of 1986.

Origin

In 1936, the Provisional Government of Euzkadi, presided over by the first president, José Antonio Aguirre, adopted a shield with the arms of the three provinces of the Basque Country and those of Navarre. The president of the government affirmed in the preamble to the Decree of 19 October 1936, and thereby approved, the emblem and flag that was to be used by the Basque Country. Thus the shield of the Government of Euzkadi contained the arms of Álava, Guipuscoa, Biscay and Navarre in a single blazon of four quarters surrounded by a crown of oak leaves. This shield, like the rest of the autonomous communities, disappeared after the pro-Franco victory in the Spanish Civil War. However, on 2 November 1978, the Consejo General del País Vasco (General Council of the Basque Country), recovered the republican shield, albeit modified as follows:

1. The Alava quarter lost the motto "En aumento de la justicia contra malhechores" and both the designs of the castle and of the arm with sword were changed. The castle is now on top of a grey rock and the arm and sword are light blue in colour.
2. In the Biscay quarter, the wolves of the arms of the Haro family were suppressed in 1986 and the field changed from gules to argent, the bordure from argent to gold, the crosses from sinople to gules, and the ground (terrase) from sinople to maroon.
3. In the Guipuscoa quarter, the field changed from argent to gold, and the ground (terrase) was removed, leaving only the trees and the waves.
4. The fourth quarter once constituted the linked chains of Navarre, however, following a legal suit by the Navarre government claiming that the usage of the arms of a region on the flag of another was illegal, the Constitutional Court of Spain forced the Basque government to remove the chains of Navarre leaving the red background.

In 1991 the Basque Government standardised the colours used in the shield.

The Basque nationalist parties use an unofficially recognised Basque coat of arms. It differs from the original one by being divided into six squares and by including the coat of arms of the Basque regions in France.

Notes

[[Categorie:National coats of arms|Basque Country]] [[Categorie:Basque history|Coat of arms]]