As a Norwegian, I've always been curious about why our coat of arms (Riksløven) features a lion. The crown and the axe makes some sense to me, but the lion does not. As you might know, Norway is famous for NOT having any lions in the wild. So this iconography has always perplexed me...
In later years I've learned that the coat of arms of my Nordic cousins Sweden, Denmark and Finland also have one or more lions, further adding to my curiosity.
Where does this fascination with lions stem from? How long have these coat or arms featured lions? And why doesn't the coat of arms of Nordic countries feature native Nordic animals instead? A crowned elk with a axe would be really bad-ass, and it might be more appropriate considering the Nordic fauna.
Thanks. :)
The Norwegian coat of arms traces its heritage to the 13th century and the House of Sverre, then Kings of Norway. Their crest featured the golden lion rampant with a pollaxe or halberd against red background. The Danish coat of arms is form Sweyn II of the House of Estridsen. The Swedish was adopted by King Karl Knutson (who was also King of Norway from 1449). In the Swedish case it is however not the family crest as Charles VIII was of the Bonde family.
In the case of both Norway and Denmark it is simply a matter of a ruling dynasty being in power for so long that their crest became synonymous with the national coat of arms. It was not an uncommon way for national coasts of arms to be adopted.
So why lions? Why not nordic animals? Where did this trend come from? You'll find all these answers here (by me /u/superplaner). It's a long story but it involves the royal families around the mediterranean, the bible, St. Augustine of Hippo misunderstanding how bears fuck and pagan worship so it might be a fun read.