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The Emblem of the City of Amsterdam
The following is quoted from the official web site of the City of Amsterdam:
The heraldic origins of the coat of arms of Amsterdam are unknown. The black banner in the centre could represent the water on which the city is located.
The three St. Andrew’s crosses may stem from the Persijn crusader family from Waterland, which owned a considerable amount of land in and around Amsterdam.
In 1489 the small merchant city obtained the right to add to its coat of arms the crown of the monarch, Maximilian I, archduke of Austria, German king and Holy Roman emperor.
For the merchants of Amsterdam the crown was a weighty recommendation in other elements of the Kingdom, right down to the 17th century.
By that time, Amsterdam had long been a powerful trading city in a by now Protestant country which, in 1648, was formally to leave the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation under the Peace of Münster.
The crown adorning the emblem and the tower of the Westerkerk church is in fact the crown of emperor Rudolf II. The two lions were added as shield-bearers in the 16th century.
In recognition of the conduct of the people of Amsterdam during the German occupation of 1940-1945, Queen Wilhelmina granted the city the right on 27 March 1947 to add to the coat of arms the motto ‘Valiant, Resolute, Compassionate’.
- Source: Amsterdam.nl
The three St. Andrew’s crosses represent Amsterdam’s city motto: Heldhaftig (Heroic), Vastberaden (Resolute), Barmhartig (Merciful).
Some people more or less jokingly have update the motto to: Defiant, Stubborn, and Extremely Tolerant.
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