Heraldry of the World

The largest heraldry site on the net, with presently coats of arms on-line !

You are here : Home > Europe > Germany > M
 


German Civic Heraldry - Deutsche Wappenrolle


MAYEN

State : Rheinland-Pfalz
District (Kreis) : Mayen-Koblenz (until 1969 Mayen)

Origin/meaning:
Mayen got city rights in 1291, and the oldest seal of the city dates from the same year. It shows a castle below two crossed keys. The keys symbolise the fact that the city belonged to the State of Trier. The patron saint of Trier is St. Peter, whose symbol is a key or, as it is often displayed, two crossed keys. Later seals show the same composition.

The first seal showing a different composition dates from 1429, and shows a cross, with in each corner a key. The present arms are based on this seal. The trees are so-called May-trees (or freedom-trees), which are a canting symbol (Mai-baum, or Maie).

Hupp showed the arms in the 1920s in a different composition:

Literature : Stadler, 1964-1971, 8 volumes; Hupp, O: Kaffee Hag albums, 1920s


Home © Ralf Hartemink 1996, ->

See also my other sites Food-Info.net and Food Dictionary


Disclaimer:
This site is private and non-commercial. All sources are mentioned when known. If you own copyrights to the information provided and are not mentioned, please contact the webmaster.

The information (texts or pictures) of this site may be used for private purposes but only after permission of the webmaster and with credit/link to this site. Be aware that for many non-commercial purposes permission of the (municipal) council to which the arms belong is needed ! When not sure, contact the council.
Use of the images in Wikipedia is allowed with reference to this site and/or the original source as mentioned on the site. Use template {{ngw}} for Dutch images and {{ngw2}} for non-Dutch images and always add original source. It is not allowed to use texts of this site on Wikipedia without permission !

For commercial purposes permission of the council as well as the webmaster of this site is always needed. The webmaster of this site is not responsible for commercial use of the material provided.
Disclaimer last changed on April 29, 2008 (addition Wikipedia templates), previous change January 2007 (addition Wikipedia text), previous change 2001.