The coat of arms of Pomerania, also known as the Pomeranian Griffin, is the symbol of Pomerania, a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. It depicts a red griffin with yellow (golden) beak and claws, placed within a white (silver) shield. It originates from the late 12th century.
History Pomeranian duchies
In the 12th century, the House of Griffin, which ruled the Duchy of Pomerania, and letter Pomerania-Stettin and Pomerania-Demmin, as well as the House of Samboride, which ruled the Duchy of Eastern Pomerania, used the fleur-de-lis, a lily, as their symbol.Agnieszka Rusakiewicz: Najdawniejsze godła książąt wschodniopomorskich: lilia i gryf. In: Gdańskie studia z dziejów średniowiecza, issue 9, pp. 153-154, 2003.
The oldest known reference to the use of the griffin as a heraldic symbol in Western Pomerania comes from a document that can be dated between 1191 and 1194. It was a deed of donation from duchess Anastasia of Greater Poland and her sons, Bogislaw II and Casimir II, rulers of the Duchy of Pomerania, to a church in Budzistowo.Norbert Buske: Wappen, Farben und Hymnen des Landes Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Eine Erläuterung der neuen Hoheitszeichen des Landes verbunden mit einem Gang durch die Geschichte der beiden Landesteile dargestellt an der Entwicklung ihrer Wappenbilder. Bremen: Temmen, 1993, ISBN 3-86108-202-0, pp. 50–97.Klaus Conrad (editor): Pommersches Urkundenbuch. vol. 1 and 2, Köln/Wien: Böhlau Verlag, no. 126. The original document does not survive, however, a 1384 copy contains a description of the attached seals. It includes an equestrian seal, depicting a cavalryman sitting on a jumping horse, facing right, and holding a flag and a shield. The griffin was present on the shield. An older known seal of duke Bogusław I, does not contain a griffin.Tadeusz Białecki: Herby miast Pomorza Zachodniego. Szczecin: Wydawnictwo Polskie Pismo i Książka, 1991, pp. 10-11. ISBN 83-85360-01-8. Until 1219, the griffin was also present in the seals of the members of the House of Mecklenburg, which ruled the nearby Lordship of Mecklenburg.
Since then, a griffin had become the symbol used by the dukes from the House of Griffin, which ruled the Duchy of Pomerania. By the end of 14th century, the red griffin on a white shield was used to represent the entire region of Pomerania under the rule of Griffin dynasty. At least since the rule of duke Swantibor I, which lasted from 1372 to 1413, Pomerania-Stettin used the red griffin with yellow (golden) beak and claws. In 1410, during the Battle of Grunwald, the forces of Pomerania-Stettin led by duke Casimir V, flue a white banner with a red griffin on it.Ralf-Gunnar Werlich: Der Greif bekennt Farbe. Frühe Farbdarstellungen der pommerschen Herzogswappen. In: Pommern. Zeitschrift für Kultur und Geschichte. issue 2/2008, ISSN 0032-4167, pp. 21–28. Since 1325, the Duchy of Pomerania-Wolgast used a black griffin in a yellow (golden) shield as its symbol. The version with a red griffin in a yellow (golden) shield was also used. The coat of arms of Pomerania-Stargard depicted a yellow (golden) griffin in the blue shield.
While the Griffin dynasty, since 13th century, was using the griffin as its symbol, the Samboride dynasty continued using fleur-de-lis as its symbol until the end of the century. In 1251, Samboride duke Sambor II, ruler of the Duchy of Lubiszewo, began using a griffin in his seals. It was adopted from the symbols used by the House of Mecklenburg, from which came his wife, Matilda. From the 1270s to 1294, Samboride duke Mestwin II, ruler of the Duchy of Eastern Pomerania, began using the coat of arms depicting a lion and an eagle in an attempt to strengthen political ties with the Duchy of Greater Poland, which used said symbols.
As dukes of the Griffin dynasty ruled in the concurrent estate, they hold their titles together. By the end of the 14th century, they have begun using the title "Duke of Stettin, Pomerania, Wends (or Slavs), and Kashubia". The titles were represented by the four coats of arms used by the dukes. They were originally presented separately, for example in the seal of duke Otto I, however, later they began being combined into a single symbol. At the time is wasn't specified to which territories the tiled exactly referred.
The titles Duke of Wends and Duke of Slavs were used alternately by the dukes. Duke of Wends most likely referred to the area between rivers Tollense and Peene, which was originally settled by the tribe of Lutizen and conquered by Pomerania in the 12th century, and sometimes also referred to as the Duchy or Lordship of Groswin. It is theorized that the title Duke of Slavs originally referred to the region of Kashubia. By the 16th century, both titles were represented by the red griffin in green stripes placed on a white background. Gelre Armorial, an armorial dated to be made before 1396, includes the coat of arms of Groswin, which depicted a red griffin with green stripes placed in a yellow (golden) shield. The title of the Duke of Kashubia, was used from the 13th century. The region of Kashubia, is now being defined as located in Pomerelia, in what is now Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, however, it remains unknown what area exactly it referred to at the time.
In the second half of the 15th century, a black griffin in the yellow (golden) shield, previously associated with Pomerania-Wologast, began being used as the symbol of Pomerania-Barth. As such, Pomerania-Wologast began using a coat of arms divided horizontally into two parts, with the top part depicting a top half of a white (silver) griffin on a red background, and the bottom part depicting a checkered pattern of yellow (golden) and blue rectangles. Prior to that, it was the symbol of Bernstein Land, before it was incorporated into the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1478.Tadeusz Białecki (editor): Encyklopedia Szczecina. vol. I, A-O. Szczecin: University of Szczecin, 1999, p. 336. ISBN 83-87341-45-2.
In the second half of the 15th century, duke Eric II introduced the first complex coat of arms, combining four coats of arms into one. In accordance to the descriptions from the 1469 documents, the coat of arms consisted of the shield divided into four fields, from top left to bottom right, depicted: a red griffin with a yellow (golden) beak and claws in a white (silver) field, representing the Pomerania-Stettin and the entire region of Pomerania; a black griffin in a yellow (golden) field, representing Pomerania-Barth, a red griffin with green diagonal stripes in a yellow (golden) field, representing the Wendish lands; a field divided horizontally into two parts, with the top part depicting a top half of a white (silver) griffin on a red background, and the bottom part depicting a checkered pattern of yellow (golden) and blue rectangles, representing the Pomerania-Wologast.
In the middle of the shield was placed a smaller shield, that was divided into two horizontal fields. The top field depicted a black lion wearing a red crown, placed on a yellow (golden) background. The top field depicted the top half of a black lion wearing a red crown, placed on a yellow (golden) background. The bottom field consisted of a checkered pattern consisting of red and blue rectangles, with the red rectangles forming a shape of an up-facing triangle. It was the coat of arms of the Principality of Rügen. The lion was most likely established as the symbol of the principality by the King of Denmark, who became its suzerain in 1168. The older coat of arms of the region depicted a griffin.
The coat of arms was used on the coins. Its design was continued by Eric's successors, though it was subsequently modified, and the order of the coat of arms was not always the same within the shield. Duke Bogislaw X had replaced the Rügen coat of arms placed in the centre, with the coat of arms of Pomerania-Stettin, depicting the red griffin with yellow (golden) claws and beak, on a white background, to represent the ancestral home of the Griffin dynasty. The design also included the coat of arms of the County of Gützkow, which depicted two diagonally-crossed red bars, and four red roses with yellow (golden) centres and green sepals, placed around them. They were placed on a yellow (golden) background. The coat of arms was designed by count Jaczo of Salzwedel in 12th century. Sometimes, it also included the red field with a white sea-griffin, a griffin with a fishtail. The symbol originates from the region of Lands of Schlawe and Stolp. It was originally used in the coat of arms of the Swienca family, which hold powerful offices in the area from 13th to 14th centuries. Following them dying out in around 1316, the area went back under the direct rule of the House of Griffin, which continued to use the sea-griffin in the regional coat of arms. However, in the contemporary coat of arms, it was used to represent the island of Usedom instead.
At the beginning of the 16th century, on the head of the red griffin on a white background, representing Pomerania-Stettin, was added the crown. Its design was most likely borrowed from the coat of arms of the city of Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland), which was the ducal residence since at least 1464. The crown was confirmed in the 1521 Imperial Coat of Arms Privilege. Bogislaw X also changed the colour of the background of said field, from white (silver) to yellow (gold). It was later returned to the white (silver) color, however, the yellow (golden) color remained the colour of the royal court.
In the private coat of arms of duke George I was included the helmet above the shield, with a crown hat with a small plume of peacock feathers. Such design had been since then incorporated into the other coat of arms of Pomerania.
In the final years of Bogislaw X's reign, the coat of arms with nine fields had been introduced. Despite it, it began being popularly used after his death, during the reign of dukes George I, and Barnim XI, who were crowned in 1523. One of oldest known appearances of the symbol is the 1524 document confirming the town privileges of Greifswald. The oldest known depiction of the coat of arms with the authentic colours is contained within Croÿ-Teppich, a tapestry made in 1554 by Peter Heymans."Opona Croya", In: Tadeusz Białecki (editor): Encyklopedia Szczecina, vol. 1, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, 1999. ISBN 83-873-41-45-2. Another notable surviving depiction of the coat of arms is the sculpture at the wall of the Pudagla Manor House in Pudagla, Germany.Die Bau- und Kunstdenkmale in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Vorpommersche Küstenregion. Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Henschel Verlag, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-89487-222-5, pp 345–346.