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The Coats of Arms of the Kingdom of

Galicia and Lodomeria
MAY 9, 2020

Today the jackdaw is the most recognizable symbol of the Kingdom of Galicia and
Lodomeria; yet, this crow was not even found on the crownland’s 몭rst coat of arms,
which featured three crowns for Galicia along with separate symbols for Lodomeria
and Auschwitz (Oświęcim). Why was the 몭rst coat of arms like this and when did
the jackdaw begin to represent the kingdom?

To shed some light on the origin, development, and variations of the coat of arms of
the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, we must delve into the history of the region
and understand what territories, former principalities and kingdoms comprised the
province, as well as the di몭erent historical claims to these lands.

What Lands Made Up Galicia

In 1772, the Habsburg Monarchy, led by Empress Maria Theresa, Archduchess of

Austria and Queen of Hungary, acquired the territory today known as Galicia. To
justify the monarchy’s participation in the partitions of Poland, the empress
revived old Hungarian claims to the land: In the thirteenth century the King of
Hungary used the title Rex Galiciæ et Lodomeriæ, a Latinized version of the names
Halych and Volodymyr, the major cities of the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia,
which the Hungarians ruled from 1214 to 1221. Indeed, it is also why the Habsburgs
chose to name their new crownland the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria.

In fact, the territories acquired by Austria only roughly corresponded to those of

former Galicia-Volhynia – the Russian Empire took control of Volhynia to the
north-east, including the city of Volodymyr-Volynskyi – after which Lodomeria
was named. Moreover, despite the fact that Austria’s claim derived from the
historical Hungarian crown, “Galicia and Lodomeria” were not o몭cially assigned
to Hungary, and even after the Compromise of 1867, the territory found itself in the
Austrian-administered part of Austria-Hungary.

On the other hand, much of Lesser Poland became part of Austrian Galicia. This
included the former Duchies of Zator and Oświęcim (Auschwitz), small historical
principalities west of Kraków. Here Empress Maria Theresa, who was also Queen of
Bohemia, recalled old Czech claims to these territories.

Map showing the territory, 1792 Ältere und neuere Geschichte der Königreiche Galizien und

Lodomerien

While the composition of Galicia changed throughout the years, the core territory
always included the area around Halych with the cities of Lemberg (Lviv) and
Stanislau (Ivano-Frankivsk) in the east and Zator and Oświęcim in the west.

The full ceremonial name of the province was the Kingdom of Galicia and
Lodomeria with the Duchies of Auschwitz and Zator. After the incorporation of
the Free City of Kraków in 1846, it was extended to Kingdom of Galicia and
Lodomeria, and the Grand Duchy of Kraków with the Duchies of Auschwitz and
Zator. (German: Königreich Galizien und Lodomerien mit dem Großherzogtum
Krakau und den Herzogtümern Auschwitz und Zator).

Each of these entities was formally separate; they were listed as such in
the Austrian emperor’s titles, and each had its distinct coat of arms and 몭ag. For
administrative purposes, however, they formed a single province.

On a map from 1775. Symbols of Halicz (Halych), Oświęcim, Zator, and a crowned coat of arms of

Hungary.
Prehistory – Coats of Arms Before 1772

The Lands of Halych (Galicia) and Volhynia (Lodomeria)

The lands that comprised the namesake of the Austrian crownland of Galicia and
Lodomeria were once the Principalities of Halych (later adopted as Galicia) and
Volhynia, which united in 1199 and became a kingdom in 1253.

The historical coat of arms for the territory around the medieval town of Halych
was a jackdaw. One of the more widely accepted theories is that “Halych” derives
from the Slavic word for “jackdaw”— “halka.” A jackdaw with folded wings was
used for the coat of arms of the Principality of Halych in the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries as well as on Boyar seals, while a jackdaw with unfolded wings was used
for the Halych Land of the Ruthenian Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland
starting from the 몭fteenth century.

The historical coat of arms of Volhynia was a silver cross on a red shield. The coat of
arms of the Principality of Volhynia’s depicted a knight on a horse with the cross
shield.

Once united as the Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia’s (1253–1349), the coat of arms

was a golden lion on a blue shield. The lion was also depicted on the coat of arms of
the Ruthenian Voivodeship (1434–1772) within the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth.

In Hungarian and Austrian Heraldry

In Hungarian and Austrian heraldry, the coats of arms of these territories had no or
little connection to the historical arms and were likely invented by the imperial
o몭ce. The coat of arms of Galicia dates back to the 몭fteenth century and originally
depicted one crown — with time a second and then a third was added. The coat of
arms of Lodomeria appeared in the sixteenth century and depicted two silver-red
checkered beams in a blue 몭eld.

Both symbols were found on the seals of Hungarian emperors and kings of
the Habsburg dynasty in the sixteenth century (from Ferdinand I), who used them
as arms of pretension for the medieval principalities that comprised the Kingdom of
Galicia–Volhynia.

These symbols were also used by Holy Roman emperors, who held the titles of
Hungarian king, until almost the middle of the eighteenth century, including by
Emperor Karl VI (1711–1740). It is around this time that the number of crowns on
Galicia’s coat of arms reaches three and when a jackdaw appears.

Coats of arms of Galicia and Lodomeria in 1766, from Heraldicae Regni Hungariae
This is likely the reason why even before the establishment of the crownland in
1772, the arms of pretension of Galicia on Hungarian and other seals of Empress
Maria Theresa (1740-1780) depicted three crowns.

The Coats of Arms of the Kingdom of Galicia and

Lodomeria

The First Coat of Arms of 1772

When the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was established in 1772, much of the
territory had previously belonged to the Polish crown’s Ruthenian Voivodeship, the
coat of arms which had been a golden lion in a blue 몭eld. As the lion did not
correspond to the Austrian political declaration on the “return of ancient
Hungarian provinces,” it is not surprising that for the new Kingdom of Galicia and
Lodomeria, Chancellor Prince Kaunitz recommended “to keep” symbols
corresponding to the claim.

On this basis, on November 16 of that year, the Hungarian imperial o몭ce

designated the coat of arms of Galicia as three gold crowns, two above one in a blue
몭eld, and the coat of arms of Lodomeria as two red and silver checkered beams in a
blue 몭eld.

Map of Galicia from 1794 Map of Galicia from 1820

Map from 1806. Galicia and Lodomeria bottom right.

Since the new province also included the former claim territories of the Czech
crown — the Auschwitz and Zator principalities, it explains why this land was also
represented on the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, which
consisted of three 몭elds: in the 몭rst, the three crowns of Galicia; in the second, the
checkered beams of Lodomeria; and in the third, a blue eagle in a silver 몭eld for the
Principality of Auschwitz. A crowned Austrian coat of arms (a red shield with a
white horizontal central stripe) was inlaid in the middle.
 The coat of arms in Edicta Et Mandata Universalia Regnis Galiciæ Et Lodomeriæ from 1772

On a sketch of Lviv “Vue de Lemberg,” sometime after 1772

This coat of arms, in particular, was minted specially for Galicia on copper shillings
and 몭fteen and thirty silver Kreutzer coins in the 1770s.

The Four-Field Coat of Arms of 1782

On January 27, 1782, Emperor Joseph II introduced a new four-몭eld coat of arms for
the four territories of the province — Galicia, Lodomeria, Auschwitz, and Zator: an
oval shield in a gold ornamental cartouche topped with a crown and framed by palm
and laurel branches, divided into four 몭elds, where, apart from the symbols of
Galicia and Lodomeria, were separate symbols for Auschwitz (a silver eagle with a
golden letter “o” for Oświęcim on the chest in a blue 몭eld) and for Zator (a purple
eagle with a golden letter “z” on the chest in a silver 몭eld).
The historical coats of arms of the Duchies of Oświęcim and Zator had both been
eagles, with the corresponding letters on their chests. The color schemes for these
two eagles not only changed over time, but are not always described correctly in
publications and materials.1

Even though a new coat of arms was introduced 22 years later, this coat of arms
from 1782 was used until the fall of the empire in 1918.

For example, various communities, district authorities, and institutions continued

to use it on their seals, as can be seen here on a seal of St. Lazarus Hospital in
Krakow from the early twentieth century:

It was also used on bonds and various publications:

1893 1897
And it can also be found as elements of architecture, in particular in savings banks:

In the former Galician Savings Bank in Lviv (1889-

1891) VileGecko / CC BY-SA

(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-

sa/4.0)

The four-몭eld shield on the former Austrian Savings Bank in Sokal (1905)

https://krystynopol.info/gerb-galychyny-ta-volodymyriyi-na-oshhadnij-kasi-sokalya/

The coats of arms of Galicia (seems the symbols to have been purposely removed) and of Lviv,

on a former building built in 1911-1912 for workers of the Krajowy Bank

It is even still found on the City Hall in Lviv, which was built in 1827-1835 and
reconstructed in 1849-1851:
Part of it can be found on the former Industrial School in Lviv built 1907-1909. The
two eagles have been lost:

Coat of arms of Lviv on the left, of Galicia on the right

Here it is found on a Field and Forest Guard badge from the early twentieth century:
 Straz Polowa i Lasowa – Field and Forest Guard. Photo: Andriy

Royuk

The Coat of Arms of 1804: (Re)introduction of the

Jackdaw

In 1804, the Austrian Empire was created and on November 5 of that year a new coat
of arms for the empire was adopted. The corresponding edict included a description
of a new coat of arms for Galicia:

“Der Mittelschild ist durch einen rothen Strich quer getheilt, auf dem eine schwarze Dohle im blauen
Felde sitzt, im untern Theile erscheinen drey güldene Königs-Kronen, oben zwey, unten eine, im blauen
Felde wegen des Königreichs Galizien (Halicz). Er ist mit der Königlich-Galizischen, geschlossenen
Bügel-Krone bedeckt.”

“The middle shield is divided by a red line, on which a black jackdaw stands in a blue 몭eld, in the
lower part there are three golden royal crowns, two above, one below, in a blue 몭eld because of
the Kingdom of Galicia (Halicz). It is topped with the Royal Galician hoop crown.”

The coat of arms of Galicia and Lodomeria

from 1804 to 1914

While the new coat of arms with the jackdaw became the new o몭cial symbol of the
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, the coat of arms of Lodomeria was still used in
reference to this territory only, including on some of the greater coats of arms of
the empire.

The coat of arms of 1804 was used for the crownland until the fall of the Austrian
Empire. It was used in various places, in publications, on maps, as elements of
architecture, and so on.
 Palace of Justice, Vienna

Das Wappen von Galizien, von Rudolf Bernt

Creative Commons httpsaustria-forum.orgafBilder_und_VideosKronprinzenwerk19.dt238

karte galizien Wien J. Bermann und Sohn am Graben, [przed 1845]

On the city hall in Sokołów Małopolski, and on the Sokół Gymnastics

Society Building in Brzozów, both today in south-east Poland:

Sokołów Małopolski. Panek / CC BY-SA Brzozów. Silar / CC BY-SA

Postcard from 1907 with the coats of arms of Galician cities with the Galician coat of
arms in the middle:
A book of Galician and Bukowinian coats of arms. The cover page features the coats
of arms of Krakow, Lodomeria, Zator, Bukowina, Oświęcim, and Galicia:

Usage in the Coats of Arms of the Empire

The coat of arms of the Austrian Empire and then the Austro-Hungarian Empire
evolved over time, often to re몭ect changes to landholdings. Furthermore, each coat
of arms had di몭erent versions for di몭erent purposes: a heavily simpli몭ed “lesser”
version, a “middle” version, and a full or “greater” version, which was restricted
for use by the monarchy or in other speci몭c circumstances. In later years, however,
only lesser and middle versions were used.

As the “middle” and “greater” versions also included the coats of arms of the
crownlands — and sometimes even the separate lands that they comprised —
including of Galicia.

The Founding of the Austrian Empire in 1804 until 1867

Coat of Arms of Holy Roman Empire & Empire of Austria (1804-1806)

In 1804, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II founded the Austrian Empire and
became Francis I, the 몭rst Emperor of Austria, ruling from 1804 to 1835.

On the middle coat of arms, a split shield with the three crowns of Galicia and the
beams of Lodomeria was used.
On the greater coat of arms, Galicia’s new coat of arms with the jackdaw appears,
and Lodomeria is presented separately as are the territories of Auschwitz and Zator.

Imperial Austrian Coat of Arms (1806)

On the middle coat of arms, the new coat of arms is used for Galicia, while on the
greater coat of arms, Galicia is represented not only by the symbols of Galicia,
Lodomeria, Auschwitz, and Zator, but also of the Grand Duchy of Krakow,
Massovia, Sandomir, Volhynia, Lublin, Podlachia, and Brzesz. Some of this land was
lost in 1809.

Middle Greater

Imperial Austrian Coat of Arms (1836)

On the middle coat of arms, the coat of arms of Galicia.

On the greater coat of arms, the four territories: Galicia, Lodomeria, Zator, and
Auschwitz.
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1876 until 1918

The coat of arms of Austria-Hungary was that country’s symbol during its
existence from the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 to its dissolution in
1918. The double-headed eagle of the ruling House of Habsburg-Lorraine was used
by the common Imperial and Royal institutions of the dual monarchy. Additionally,
each of the two parts of the union had its own coat of arms.

Common Middle Coat of Arms of Austria-Hungary (1876-1915)

Includes the arms of (counterclockwise): Hungary, Galicia, Lower

Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Carinthia and Carniola, Silesia and Moravia,
Transylvania, Illyria, and Bohemia.

Common Middle Coat of Arms of Austria-Hungary (1915-1918)

Austria’s coat of arms on the left with Galicia’s arms in the upper-left corner;
Hungary’s on the right.

Coats of Arms of Crownlands

 Crownlands with coat of arms of both empires in the middle

Crownlands

Commemorative placard for the 50th anniversary of the reign of the emperor
Coats of Arms of Archdukes of Austria

The coats of arms of Galicia and Lodomeria could also be found on the arms of
Austrian archdukes from 1816 and 1896 (colored versions below).

The United States of Greater Austria – Proposal from

1906

The United States of Greater Austria was a proposal, conceived by a group of

scholars surrounding Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, that never came to
pass. This speci몭c proposal was conceived by the lawyer and politician Aurel
Popovici in 1906 and aimed at federalizing Austria-Hungary to help resolve
widespread ethnic and nationalist tensions.

In particular, it was proposed to divide Galicia into two parts:

West-Galizien: West Galicia — the western part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria in

present-day Poland) — was to be made up of ethnic Polish lands,

Ost-Galizie: East Galicia — the eastern part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria and the

adjacent Bukovina lands, in present-day Ukraine and Poland — of ethnic Rusyn and Ukrainian.
It is interesting to look at the proposed coats of arms for the two Galicias. For West-
Galicia the arms was a shield with the symbols of three lands in the western part of
Galicia — Zator, Auschwitz, Krakow, as well as the coat of arms of Galicia. The
proposed coat of arms for East-Galicia was the standard coat of arms for all of
Galicia used from 1804-1918.

***

In short, there were three o몭cial coats of arms of the Kingdom of Galicia and
Lodomeria. The 몭rst two featured symbols of Galicia and Lodomeria used in
Hungarian and Austrian heraldry from the 몭fteenth and sixteenth centuries and
had no connection to the historical coats of arms of the territories they represented.
On both, the lands of the former Duchies of Zator and Auschwitz, 몭rst with one
eagle and then with two, were also represented. Thus, through 1804, the Habsburgs
made a point to include the four claim territories that made up — at least in name
— the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. Only in 1804, with the introduction of the
jackdaw to the coat of arms, did a symbol that had some connection to the Halych
land appear. This arms began to represent the entire province, while the symbols of
the other territories were used only to represent these lands separately. The coats of
arms of Galicia and Lodomeria from 1782 and 1804 were both used until the fall of
the empire in 1918.

***

Today, the enduring symbol of Austrian Galicia has remained the jackdaw — this is
also what inspired me to use a crowned jackdaw as the logo of the Forgotten Galicia
blog.

By Areta Kovalska

Sources:

1. Андрій Гречило, Символи Королівства Галичини і Лодомерії (1772-1918). Київ-Львів, 2004

2. Herb_Galicji_i_Lodomerii
3. Heraldica civica et militara De Rode Leeuw – Galicia
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galicia_(Eastern_Europe)
5. Герб Галичини та Володимирії
6. https://web.archive.org/web/20120709202422/http://akromer.republika.pl/ter_zab_a.html
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Austria-Hungary
8. https://austria-forum.org/af/Wissenssammlungen/Symbole/Bundeswappen_-_Geschichte_vor_1919
9. Herb księstwa oświęcimskiego
10. Herb księstwa zatorskiego
  MAY 9, 2020  ARETA  GHOST SIGNS, HISTORY, PHYSICAL TRACES
 AUSTRIAN EMPIRE, COAT OF ARMS, GALICIA

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4 thoughts on “The Coats of Arms of the Kingdom of Galicia

and Lodomeria”

Gary J Krukar
July 3, 2020 at 23:05  Reply

I enjoyed reading this since my ancestors emigrated from Galicia. The jackdaw along
with crows and ravens are members of the corvidae family. Some of the images in the
coats of arms appear more like a raven (largest of the corvids–note the large beak). I
know that there is a lot of symbolism involving ravens, but I do not know if there is any
for the jackdaw. Heraldry is full of sysmbols. What is the jackdaw connection to Galicia?
Were they only a common feature on the landscape or is there a deeper meaning?

Bernd
October 28, 2020 at 13:18  Reply

Interesting, thanks.
You mention
> The coat of arms of Galicia dates back to the 몭fteenth century and originally depicted
one crown — with time a second and then a third was added
Any chance you could add images of those versions?

Письмове засвідчення про отримання 200 zł. як відшкодування за панщину

громаді села Молодків – Молодків
January 24, 2021 at 21:47  Reply
[…] The Coats of Arms of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, 2020. […]

World History Unit 1, Lesson 5: Absolute Monarchy

February 8, 2022 at 18:32  Reply

[…] in 1806. The house also produced kings of Bohemia, Hungary, Croatia, Spain,
Portugal and Galicia-Lodomeria, with their respective colonies; rulers of several
principalities in the Low Countries and Italy; […]

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