The illustration on the left combines the arms of the départments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin, and is from a sticker provided by the commune of Sainte-Marie-les-Mines. That on the right is from a postage stamp.

The région comprises the départements of:

The département is divided into 7 arrondissements:

Haguenau, Molsheim, Saverne, Sélestat-Erstein, Strasbourg-Campagne, Strasbourg-Ville and Wissembourg.

There are 44 cantons, of which 35 are separate towns(1).

The département is divided into 6 arrondissements:

Altkirch, Colmar, Guebwiller, Mulhouse, Ribeauvillé and Thann.

There are 31 cantons, of which 27 are separate towns.

As part of Alemannia, the former province of Alsace was incorporated into the Frankish kingdom by Clovis, in about 506. During the ninth century it formed part of Swabia, and became, along with that kingdom, part of Germany in 925. In the tenth century it was reunited with Swabia.

With the fall of the House of Hohenstaufen in the thirteenth century, most of the southern half, Upper Alsace, passed to the Hapsburgs, who later gained a measure of control over Lower Alsace. Alsace was absorbed into France by the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, which ceded the Hapsburg possessions.

Between 1679-97, the Chambres de Réunion of Louis XIV the free cities and most of the remaining principalities of Alsace. Napoléon annexed the rest, and in 1815 the Treaty of Vienna confirmed French ownership of the province.

From 1871-1918, after the Franco-Prussian war, the area formed a region of what was to become the modern Germany, and was administered as a Prussian province until 1879, when the post of Imperial governor was established.

The area was again annexed by Germany from 1940-45.

Per pale gules a bend sinister cotised fleury argent and gules a bend between six crowns bendwise or.

This seems to present difficulties with the blason, since the relatively rare appearance of the bend sinister at first indicates that the two coats are in fact dimidiated and not impaled. This would mean that chevrons and not bends are depicted.

However, le Comte d'Alsace in a fifteenth century armorial(2), bore:

Gules a bend argent between six crowns or,

which seems to indicate that, although the tinctures and position of the crowns are different, the arms of Alsace are impaled.

However, the arms of the département of Bas-Rhin are blazoned with a bend and not a bend sinister. It would then appear that the the difference in the bend in the arms of the province is to make the coat more pleasing to the eye. This is borne out by the arms of the province which appear on a postage stamp(3), in which only the sinister side of the coat is shown. The arms of the two parts of the province, as shown in Larousse, indicate that they are impaled in the above coat, although Basse-Alsace does not have a bend sinister.

De gueules, à la bande d'argent accompagnée de deux cotices fleuronnées du même(4).

De gueules, à la bande d'or accostée de six couronnes du même posées en orle (sic), celles du chef opposées a celles de la pointe.

De gueules à la bande d'argent, accompagnée de deux cotices fleuronnés du même.

Gules a bend double cotised flory argent.

These arms are the same as those of Basse-Alsace to whose history the département is closely linked. Basse-Alsace became the département of Bas-Rhin after the Revolution. They appear for the first time in 1262, on a seal of the comtes du Werd, who were landgraves of Basse-Alsace in 1156, and the arms with these tinctures are found in an English Roll of the thirteenth century.

After the extinction of the comtes, their possessions were purchased by the Bishop of Strasbourg in 1359; from 1376 the title and the impaled arms were used by the bishopric.

The arms appeared in those which were created in 1891 for the Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen(5).

De gueules, à la bande d'or accostée de six couronnes du même, celles du chef opposées a celles de la pointe.

Gules a bend between six crowns bendwise those in base reversed or.

These arms are those of the former Haute-Alsace. The history of the département is parallel with that of Bas-Rhin, above.

In a work published in 1915, when the region was still under German rule, the following appeared for Alsace-Lorraine:

Per pale per fess gules a bend between six crowns or and gules a bend flory counter flory argent and or on a bend gules three alerions argent overall an inescutcheon or an eagle displayed sable(6).

These arms are simply the marshalling of those of the two provinces, with what appears, with hindsight, a defiant political gesture in the inescutcheon of the Empire.

ALTKIRCH, Haut-Rhin. Arrondissement.

D'azur, à une église d'argent essorée de gueules et ajourée de trois pièces au champ, croisée d'or, flanquée au dextre d'un clocher aussi d'argent, essoré de gueules ouvert et ajouré au champ, le tout sur une terrasse de sinople(7).

Azure a church argent flanked on the dexter by a tower roofed gules and pierced of the field on a champagne vert.

The arms were confirmed by the Amorial Général. The illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

Strictly speaking, essorer means to soar, as of a bird in the air; here, it has the idea of roofed. The building is drawn in perspective, as is the walled town of Masevaux, Haut-Rhin.

ANDOLSHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Colmar.

D'argent à la ramure de cerf de sable chevillée à senestre de quatre pièces, posée en pal, soutenue en pointe d'une étoile à cinq rais de même.

Argent a single stag's attire in pale and in base a mullet sable.

The arms were confirmed by the Armorial Général(8).

They are a reference to those of Horbourg and Wurtembourg, former seigneurs of the commune. The mullet is taken from Horbourg, in whose arms it is an estoile. The stag's attire is from the arms of Wurtemburg.

The illustration on the was provided by the commune of Sierentz. That on the right shows the arms of Wurttemburg, and is No119 in Walford's Roll (qv).

Andolsheim shares much of its history with Riquewihr, Haut-Rhin, and the arms of both communes share the same emblems. During the nineteenth century, the commune used the trefoil as a symbol(9).

The single stag's attire is more common to German than to French heraldry.

BARR, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Sélestat-Erstein.

D'argent à la barrière (alias herse) de sable.

Argent a gate or portcullis sable.

The arms do not appear to have been in use before the middle of the eighteenth century, although correspondence with the town dates them from at least the fifteenth century, without citing the evidence.

It is thought that they may be an attempt to form a rebus on the name of the town, although in the middle ages the language of the region was Germanic and not French, and the word for barrière which was then in uses was Zaun. In addition the placename Barr is believed to be derived from Celtic and to have no connection with barrière. It appears, therefore, that that either the arms are later than supposed, or that the use of the barrière is a coincidence.

It has also been suggested that the barrière is in effect the barrier between the combatants in a tournament with a quintain post in the centre.

The Armorial Général ascribed:

D'or à la bande de sable et un écusson d'azur, brochant en coeur sur le tout, chargé d'une fasce alézée d'argent, surchargé de cinq vergettes de gueules.

This seems to have been an attempt to combine the former arms of the commune with those of Strasbourg(10).

BENFELD, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Sélestat-Erstein.

D'azur à une bande d'argent chargée de trois étoiles à six rais de gueules.

Azure on a bend argent three estoiles gules.

These are the arms attributed by the Armorial Général.

Before 1697, the arms of the town had been those of the Bishopric of Strasbourg, which were:

De gueules à la bande d'argent, chargée de trois étoiles de sable.

The commune did not wish to revert to the original tinctures(11).

This was unusual, since the great majority of communes who had had arms arbitrarily forced upon them by the Armorial Général abandoned them at the first possible opportunity, and reverted to earlier arms where they were in existence. Some, who did not at the time possess arms, never used those of the Armorial Général, and adopted others at a later date.

In this case, it may have been that the commune asked for the change in tinctures in the first place, in order to difference their arms.

BERRWILLER, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

D'argent au crochet en forme de S de sable, une montage de trois coupeaux mouvant de la pointe.

Argent a capital letter S sable and in base a mount of three peaks vert.

The peaks are references to local landmarks, and the S may refer to Soultz, the chef-lieu de canton, who provided the illustration.

BISCHHEIM, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Strasbourg-Campagne.

De sable à deux crosses d'or en sautoir.

Sable two bishop's croziers in saltire or.

These are, historically, the authentic arms of the commune. They are canting arms, alluding to the earlier name, Bishofsheim, and date from at least the Armorial Général.

Later, the commune adopted:

D'azur à un bouc d'argent, lampassé de gueules.

Azure a goat rampant argent langued gules.

The earliest mention of these arms is in 1900, in Shoenhaupt, and are probably an allusion to the family Bocklin de Bocklinsau, seigneurs in the fifteenth century, who bore:

De gueules au bouc d'argent.

The town now displays both coats on its official notepaper. The reason for the rejection of the earlier coat at the beginning of this century would seem to reflect the socialist, anti-clerical movement of the time, which wished to sever its former connections with the church.

BISCHWILLER, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Haguenau.

D'azur à la Sainte Vierge couronnée, assise sur un trône, les bras étendus, ayant l'Enfant Jésus sur ses genoux, le tout d'or(12).

Azure the Virgin crowned seated on a throne the Child Jesus on her knees or.

The blazon is also described:

D'azur à la Sainte Vierge orante, couronnée et assise sur un trône, l'Enfant sur son genou, le tout d'or(13).

The arms are based on a seal of 1521.

The arms ascribed by the Armorial Général in 1700 show the Virgin surrounded by three stars, which is nothing more than a misrepresentation of the decoration of the crown. The similarity of the coat to the grande bannière of Strasbourg alludes to the fact the the château and town of Bischwiller once belonged to the Bishopric of Strasbourg(14).

The illustration was provided by the commune.

BOLLWILLER, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Vert a bend argent between six martlets or.

The arms may those of a former seigneur, perhaps Nicolas de Bollwiller in the seventeenth century.

The illustration was provided by the commune of Soultz.

BOURG-BRUCHE, Bas-Rhin. Commune, arr. Saales.

Argent a rose gules barbed vert seeded or an orle of the second.

BOUXWILLER, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Saverne.

Parti d'azur à une aigle contournée d'or et de gueules à un lion d'argent.

Per pale azure an eagle displayed its head contourned or and gules a lion rampant argent.

The arms are those of the Emperor Louis of Bavaria, 1314-46, who granted great privileges to the town, impaled with the comtes de Lichtenburg, who were seigneurs of the town.

The Armorial Général gave:

D'azur à un Saint-Léger évêque vêtu pontificalement, le tout d'or, chargé en pointe d'un écu parti,

the inescutcheon bearing the present arms(15).

The arms of Lichtenburg also appear, with difference, in those Woerth, Bas-Rhin.

The illustration is from a tourist pamphlet provide by the commune.

BRUMATH, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Strasbourg-Campagne.

De gueules à la branche de chêne de sinople fruitée d'or (à enquerre).

Gules a branch of oak vert (sic) fructed or.

The present arms were adopted in 1890(16).

The Armorial Général gave:

D'azur à un dextrochère d'argent tenant une bannière d'or chargée d'une étoile d'azur.

This banner alludes to the arms of Weitersheim and Zuckmantel, both seigneurs in the twelfth century. Weitersheim bore:

Per pale sable in chief a mullet argent and argent;

and Zuckmantel:

Per pale or and sable in chief a mullet argent.

The similarity between these arms almost certainly indicates a relationship between the families. The communal seal of the fourteenth century shows the arms of Weitersheim on a banner, and it from this that the Armorial Général took its symbol.

The oak leaf first appears on a boundary stone of 1687, and was transformed into the arms of the commune by 1848. The armes à enquere arise because of the branch vert on a field gules.

CERNAY, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Thann.

De gueules à la tour d'argent, couverte, maçonnée de sable, accostée de deux bars adossés d'argent.

Gules a tower argent roofed masoned sable flanked by two barbels addorsed of the second.

The earliest known seal of the commune, dating from 1299, shows a tower between two fish.

The tower represents the town, as in many civic arms, and the barbels allude to the fact that the it belonged to the comtes de Ferrette, descendants of Bar. The illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

The Armorial Général mistakenly transformed the charge into a well:

De gueules au puits couvert d'argent, posé en pal maçonné de sable, le poulie et la corde aussi d'argent, accosté de deux bars adossés du même,

and this error was endorsed by Wilhelm II, when the commune belonged to Germany(17).

There are many arms based on those of Bar and Salm in Lorraine. However, the only examples of the barbels appear here and in the arms of Ferrette and Saulxures, Haut-Rhin.

COLMAR, Haut-Rhin. Arrondissement.

Argent a spur in bend the rowel of five points gules charged with a pellet itself charged with six plates the stem sable.

The charge is that of a knight's spur; the roundel sable is an attempt to show the way in which rowel is fitted to its stem; and the rowel itself is drawn as a mullet with the lowest two points stretched out horizontally. The illustration on the left was provided by the commune; that on the right by the préfecture.

Elsewhere, the field is shown as party, with no explanation, and the charge is given an alternative description of a mace:

Parti de gueules et de sinople, à la molette d'éperon d'or attachée à sa branche posée en barre (alias, à la masse d'armes d'or en barre) brochant sur la partition(18)

This alternative description may have been because the blazon was taken from a pictorial and not a written source.

The similarity between the two charges is plain.

COLROY-LA-ROCHE, Bas-Rhin. Commune, arr. Saales.

Argent an oval annulet winged gules and gules a bishop's crozier in pale issuant from base or.

The charge in the chief part of the shield is unknown to me, although it is possibe that is a navette or spinning shuttle.

DANNEMARIE, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Altkirch.

D'azur à l'église d'argent, surmontée d'une nuée de même, à la Vierge et à l'Enfant d'or.

Azure the west front of a church flanked by two towers and two spires pierced of the field surmounted by crosses argent between the spires the Virgin and Child issuant from a cloud or.

There was no further information, but the illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

DRULINGEN, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Saverne.

De sable à une aigle bicéphale d'argent becquée et membrée d'or, languée de gueules portant en coeur un écu de gueules chargé de la lettre capitale D d'or.

Sable a double headed eagle displayed argent beaked and membered or an inescutcheon gules a capital letter D or.

The arms were adopted after Alsace had been annexed by Germany in 1871. They are those of the old comté de Saarwerden with the inescutcheon bearing the initial of the name of the commune as difference(19).

Instead of lampassée, for langued, there is in the French blazon an odd use of languée which is close to the English form.

ENSISHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Guebwiller.

Gules a fess argent.

The arms were ascribed by the Armorial Général in 1697.

They also appear in those of Thann, Haut-Rhin.

The illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

ERSTEIN, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Sélestat-Erstein.

Parti de gueules à la bande d'argent accompagnée de deux cotices fleurdelisés de même et d'azur à un grand portail d'église ouvert de deux portes sous deux tours couvertes en dôme, celle de dextre sommée d'une croix et celle de senestre d'un globe, le tout d'or.

Per pale gules a bend double cotised flory argent and azure the west front of a church with two doorways and two domed towers the dexter surmounted by a cross and the sinister by a globe or.

The dexter half of the shield bears the arms of the Comtes de Werd, Landgraves of Basse-Alsace, who ceded their territories to the Bishop of Strasbourg in 1359; the sinister side is probably a representation of the former abbey(20).

The illustration is from a sticker provided by the commune.

FELDKIRCH, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Azure a lion rampant or overall a bend gules.

There was no further information; the illustration was provided by the commune of Soultz.

The arms have the appearance of having belonged to a former seigneur.

FERRETTE, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Altkirch.

Gules two barbels addorsed or.

The arms are those of the comtes de Ferrette, who were descendants of the family of Bar.

See the entry on Cernay, Haut-Rhin.

The illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

GEISPITZEN, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Sierentz.

D'azur à la croix de Lorraine d'or, accostée de deux branches de chêne d'argent englantées d'or.

Azure a cross double traversed or between two oak branches argent fructed of the second.

The Armorial Général gave:

D'azur à la croix de Lorraine d'or,

and the cross of Lorraine appears on a milestone dated 1658.

The oak branches, allusive of the forest of la Harth, were added in 1979, in order to avoid confusion with the arms of Liepvre(21).

GEISPOLSHEIM, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Strasbourg-Campagne.

D'or à un chèvre de sable lampassé de gueules.

Or a goat rampant sable langued gules.

These are canting arms, granted to the commune of Geispitzen by the Armorial Général, are based on ancient seals(22).

The word Geiss is a dialect word meaning she goat; the normal German for goat is Ziege.

GOLDBACH-ALTENBACH, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Thann.

Vert a bend wavy sinister or between two fish in bend sinister argent.

The arms were noted on a road sign August 1988.

GUEBWILLER, Haut-Rhin. Arrondissement.

D'argent, au bonnet d'Albanais de gueules, bordé, doublé et retroussé d'azur(23).

Argent an Albanaisian bonnet gules trimmed and lined azure.

The Albanaisian bonnet was also once ascribed to Woerth, Bas-Rhin, and although the significance of it as a charge in these arms was not explained, it is normally used as a symbol of the Republic.

The illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

HABSHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Mulhouse.

Azure an eagle the head contourned argent perched upon a saltire couped in base and between in chief the antique letters H and B or.

There was no further information. The illustration on the left was provided by the commune of Sierentz; that on the right is from the notepaper of the Mairie of Habsheim. It is interesting to note that here the saltire couped has become a perch, which makes good sense.

HAGUENAU, Bas-Rhin. Arrondissement.

D'azur à la rose d'argent, boutonée de gueules(24).

Azure a rose argent seeded gules.

The rose was that of the château impérial, which dates from the thirteenth century; another was the "rose blanche à cinq feuilles à bouton de gueules, dans un champ d'azur", which was used on coins, and which was authorised by Maximilien I in 1516.

A seal bearing the rose dates from 1372.

Gromer, in a work unknown to me, states that the rose was often used in Germanic courts of the middle ages as a symbol of discretion, and it was not therefore surprising that the magistrates of the town chose it as their "sceau secret".

See also the entry on Rosheim, Bas-Rhin, where the rose may have been used as a rebus on the name of the commune.

HARTMANNSWILLER, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Gules three bars argent overall a lion rampant double queued sable.

There was no further information; the illustration was provided by the commune of Soultz.

The arms have the appearance of those of perhaps a former seigneur.

HIRSINGUE, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Altkirch.

Azure the antique letters H and S surmounted by a crown or.

The source of the arms is from the Armorial de la Généralite d'Alsace, although it is not clear whether the Armorial Général ascribed the arms, or accepted arms which had previously been in use by the commune.

The illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

HOCHFELDEN, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Strasbourg-Campagne.

Gules the figure of Saint Peter? robed argent mantled and nimbed or holding in his dexter hand a key in pale the wards to the dexter and in his sinister an open book of the second.

There was no further information.

I have guessed that the figure is that of Saint Peter, simply because he is holding a key.

HUNINGUE, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Mulhouse.

D'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'argent rangées en fasce, coupé de gueules à trois couronnes renversées d'or et posées deux et une, et une fasce d'or brochant sur le tout (sic).

Per fess azure three fleurs de lis in fess argent and gules three crowns reversed or overall a fess of the last.

The arms were ascribed by the Armorial Général. The illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

There had been a plan, dating from 1683 and approved by Louis XIV, "d'ajouter aux armes de ladite ville une fasce de gueules chargée de trois fleurs de lys d'or". The arms to which this addition would have been made are unknown.

The effect of the blazon is to link the arms of France and Haut-Rhin. The base half of the shield appears ugly since the bend of Haut-Rhin is converted into a fess and the crowns appear upside down. The blazon itself might be better rendered: tierced per fess azure... or and gules...

ILLFURTH, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Azure a four arched bridge or on water surmounted by a chevron and in base a sickle in pale argent.

There was no further information. The image was provided by the Préfecture.

ILLKIRCH-GRAFFENSTADEN, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Strasbourg-Campagne.

Parti au 1er d'argent au soc de charrue de sable en pal la pointe haute au 2e de gueules à la gaffe de batelier d'argent posée en pal la griffe vers la pointe.

Per pale argent a ploughshare in pale the point uppermost sable and gules a fisherman's gaff in pale the fork in base argent.

These are an amalgamation of the arms of the two communes of Illkirch and Graffenstaden. They were adopted in 1948, and reflect the main occupations of the community.

The style of the arms has a great deal in common with Swiss cantonal heraldry, with marshalled arms per pale with charges in pale.

The illustration was provided by the commune.

ILLZACH, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Mulhouse.

Azure a horseshoe the arms upwards argent.

There was no further information, but the illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

ISSENHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Or a horseshoe the arms downwards sable pierced of the field overall on a fess azure three mullets argent.

There was no further information. The illustration was provided by the commune of Soultz.

JETTINGEN, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Gules a winged fish bendwise argent.

This is the only example of a winged fish, or perhaps flying fish, that I have found in French civic heraldry.

The was no further information; the illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

JUNGHOLTZ, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Barry of six or and gules.

There was no further information; the illustration was provided by the commune of Soultz.

KAYSERBERG, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Ribeauvillé.

Parti, au 1er de gueules et d'azur chargé d'une tour d'argent crénelée de trois pièces et entourie d'une muraille crénelée du même, le tout brochant et maçonnée de sable, sur une montagne de cinq coupeaux de sinople, au 2e d'argent à la gibecière de sable ferrée du champ.

Per pale per pale gules and azure overall a tower supporting two houses on its flanks argent masoned sable on a mount vert and argent a gamekeeper's pouch sable buckled and garnished of the field.

The peculiar charge in the dexter part of the shield shows a tower surrounded by a wall and with two houses built on its flanks and supported by struts. In addition, the gamekeeper's pouch is unknown to me; it has all the appearance of a saddle(25).

The illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

KIFFIS, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Azure a bird of prey statant argent on a curved mount or.

The bird is shown with wings folded, and without written information it is not possible to define it further, although it may be an eagle.

The illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

KOESTLACH, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Argent a bradawl in pale the point downwards gules.

There was no further information; the illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

LAPOUTROIE, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Ribeauvillé.

D'azur à un pont d'or sommé d'une oie d'argent becquée et membrée d'or.

Azure a goose statant argent beaked and membered on a bridge of three arches or masoned sable.

The goose at least is a rebus, according to information from the commune; from French oie, goose.

There is no evidence presented for this idea, but it is also possible that the the town was originally called Lapontroie, making a double rebus with the pont, bridge.

The illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

LARGITZEN, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Argent a square with corners botonny? sable overall a cross gules.

I have never come across this charge before. It has the appearance of the ground plan of a castle keep.

There was no further information; the illustration was provided by the commune.

LAUTERBOURG, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Wissembourg.

D'azur à un château de trois tours d'or.

Azure a castle triple towered or.

These arms were confirmed by the Armorial Général, based on earlier seals(26).

They are borne by many other French communes, with or without the same tinctures, and I believe that it was normal, where arms had not been granted, for communes to use seals, and later arms, bearing the castle triple towered or a tower as a general emblem.

The illustration was provided by the commune.

LEVONCOURT, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Checky of nine argent and gules first third and fifth a fleur de lis couped of the last.

The fleurs de lis are drawn without the base part, which in French blazon is term "à pied nourri". The checky coat appears in the arms of Oberlarg, Haut-Rhin.

There was no further information; the illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

LIEBSDORF, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Argent a ruined castle the edge of the wall in bend sinister gules pierced of the field on a champagne vert a canton gules a garb or.

The design of the edge of the ruin forms a ragged bend, giving space for the canton.

LIGSDORF, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Azure Saint George or on a horse courant argent slaying the dragon also or.

There was no further information; the illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

LINSDORF, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Per bend sinister argent a cross paty azure and gules a pitcher argent between two flames or.

There was no further information; the illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

LUCELLE, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Azure a monastery? in perpective of four wings in saltire and a central tower argent pierced sable roofed gules.

The effect of the blazon is to depict the building, which has the appearance of a monastery, in the shape of a saltire.

LUEMSCHWILLER, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Argent a dragon's foot? couped in pale gules.

I know of no other arms with such a charge.

LUTTER, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Azure in base the antique capital letter L surmounted by a crown or.

There was no further information; the illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

MAGNY, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Gules a house of two square windows and an arched door pierced the roof masoned sable.

There was no further information; the illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

MANSPACH, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Argent a four arched bridge gules masoned sable on a champagne vert.

There was no further information; the illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

MARCKOLSHEIM, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Sélestat-Erstein.

D'argent à un loup courant de sable posé en fasce.

Argent a wolf courant in fess sable.

The emblem of the wolf had always appeared in the seals of the town, and the arms were confirmed by the Armorial Général(27).

MARMOUTIER, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Saverne.

D'azur à un portail d'église romane de trois portes d'argent, maçonné, ouvert et ajouré de sable, posé sur une terrasse de sinople.

Azure the west front of a romanesque church with three doors argent masoned and pierced sable on a champagne vert.

The arms are based on a seal of 1458.

The Armorial Général added:

...et un pauvre de carnation, vêtu d'or assis et tendant la main à la porte de l'église(28).

There is no explanation for this addition.

The illustration is from the Bulletin d'informations locales, 1986.

MASEVAUX, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Thann.

Gules a walled town in perspective argent.

The arms date from 1700, when they were confirmed by the Armorial Général, and are an allusion to the town's elevation to the rank of ville forte by the Emperor Charles IV in 1361.

The illustration is from the notepaper of the Mairie.

MERTZEN, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Gules a cross botonny? argent.

The cross in these arms is of a type which is always difficult to define. Probably, because of confusion by early heralds, the distinction between crosses botonny, flory, moline and the rest, has become blurred. The drawing in this case appears to be of a cross botonny.

The illustration was provided by the préfecture.

MERXHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Azure a cross botonny or.

For the cross botonny, see the entry on Mertzen, Haut-Rhin.

There was no further information; the illustration was provided by the commune of Soultz.

MOERNACH, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Or an axe in pale the handle sable the blade azure.

There was no further information; the illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

MOLSHEIM, Bas-Rhin. Arrondissement.

D'azur, à une roue d'or aux rais de laquelle est attaché un homme nu de carnation nimbé d'or.

Azure a wheel or to the spokes of which is tied a naked man proper with a halo of the second.

The arms depict the martyrdom of Saint George, and are based on seals dating from 1263.

They were confirmed both by the Armorial Général, and by Wilhelm II in 1912, when Alsace formed part of the German Reich(29).

The illustration is from the notepaper of the Mairie.

MONTREUX-JEUNE, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Per fess argent and gules a lion rampant double queued a bordure engrailed counterchanged.

It is probable that the arms are those of former unnamed seigneurs, with difference, and that the arms of Montreux-Vieux, Haut-Rhin, are based on the same coat.

The illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

French heraldry does not often make use of counterchanging, but here the result is most effective.

MONTREUX-VIEUX, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Or a lion rampant double queued sable langued gules a bordure of the last.

These arms have the same design as Montreux-Jeune, Haut-Rhin, with difference.

The two communes have solved the problem of using the same arms in an attractive way.

MOOSLARGUE, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Vert between two millwheels or a bend argent charged with three saltires couped gules.

There was no further information. The illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

MUESPACH, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Per pale argent a tree eradicated vert between two martlets affronty gules and barry of six or and sable overall a lion rampant gules.

There was no further information. The illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

MUESPACH-LE-HAUT, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Azure a ram passant or.

MULHOUSE, Haut-Rhin. Arrondissement.

D'argent, à une roue de moulin de huit aubes de gueules à quatre rais assembles en croix, au moyeu carré(30).

Argent a millwheel of four spokes in cross eight paddles and a square hub gules.

The arms date from 1267 and appeared first in their present form in 1390. The illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

They are a rebus on the name of the commune, which means "houses by the mill".

MUNSTER, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Colmar.

D'argent au portail d'église entre deux tours pavillonnées et sommées de croix le tout de gueules.

Argent the west front of a church flanked by two towers and on a plinth gules.

Information states that the arms originally appeared on seals, although dates for these are not given. It is also stated that another coat, which bore:

D'or à l'aigle déployée de sable chargée d'un croissant ...,

was abandoned in the Middle Ages.

The present arms were confirmed by the Armorial Général, which added:

to the existing arms.

Although it is claimed that in 1960, at the time of the formal adoption of the arms by the commune, the champagne was removed, the illustration of the present arms, provided by the commune of Sierentz, shows a plinth gules.

I know of no other instance where a building is supported by a plinth. The town is presumably named after its minster, which is depicted as a rebus in its arms. The theory of the tower or castle for the fortified town may be presumed to apply to the church for the centre of an ecclesiastical foundation, that is, that these were the normal emblems to place on seals. Communes may then have diversified their arms as heraldry developed, so that not all fortified towns, for example, kept the original symbols.

NEUF-BRISACH, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Colmar.

Azure a sun in his splendour or and in base a fleur de lis argent.

There was no further information, but the illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

NIEDERBRONN-LES-BAINS, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Haguenau.

D'azur à un bassin d'or, dans lequel tombe un jet d'eau argent mouvant d'une nuée du même de l'angle dextre du chef, dont l'eau du même s'écoule en pointe par une ouverture au bas du bassin.

Azure a well into which water flows from a cloud in dexter chief and out of which water flows to the base argent.

The arms appear to be no earlier than the period of the Armorial Général, which gives the same, but without the cloud in dexter chief. Since that time the cloud has always been included in the blazon. They refer to the curative springs which have been known since Roman times(31).

The illustration is from the Bulletin Municipal.

OBERDORF, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Vert two flails in saltire argent tied sable.

There was no further information. The illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

OBERLARG, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Quarterly first and fourth checky of nine argent and gules second and third azure three eagles or.

The checky coat with difference appears in the arms of Levoncourt, Haut-Rhin. The birds are eaglets, with beak and talons, and not the alerions of Lorraine.

OBERMORSCHWILLER, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Or two arrows in saltire ensigned by an arrowhead gules.

There was no further information. The illustration was provided by the Préfecture.

OBERNAI, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Sélestat-Erstein.

Parti de gueules et de sable à une aigle d'or brochant sur le tout.

Per pale gules and sable overall an eagle displayed or.

The original arms of the town were:

D'or à une aigle de sable, armée, lampassée et aux dossiers d'or.

They appear in a stained glass window of the end of the fifteenth century, now in the Museum at Clomar, and were at one time used also by the town of Sélestat, Bas-Rhin.

The present arms are those ascribed by the Armorial Général, using the municipal colours of red and black, which had been known since the fifteenth century.

The dossiers in the blazon are a stylised representation of the bones of the wing. They are termed Kleestengeln in German heraldry and are often found on the wings of an eagle displayed. The German Klee, clover or trefoil, alludes to the extremities, which are depicted with a botonny shape to them.

The illustration is from a sticker provided by the commune. The narrow chief is probably meant to be part of the larger design, which has a cartouche with the name of the commune upon it.

LA PETITE-PIERRE, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Saverne.

Coupé de gueules à un chevron d'argent et d'or plein.

Per fess gules a chevron argent and or.

The commune has always borne the arms of the seigneurs, the family of Lutzelstein.

The illustration is from my database, and is No55 in Walford's Roll (qv). The arms here are shown with a chevron on a chief, but this is really a matter of interpretation.

The name of the commune is the French form of Lutzelstein, "small stone".

PLAINE, Bas-Rhin. Commune, arr. Saales.

Azure a fish embowed in pale argent holding in his mouth an annulet or.

There is no explanation of the charges, although they may be a reference to a legend, since there are many stories in folklore of a fish swallowing a precious object, which is rediscovered when it is caught.

RAEDERSHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Gules a cup or ensigned by a plate.

There was no further information; the illustration was provided by the commune of Soultz.

RANRUPT, Bas-Rhin. Commune, arr. Saales.

Or a pale between two mullets in fess gules.

RIBEAUVILLE, Haut-Rhin. Arrondissement.

D'argent à une main bénissant de carnation mise en pal et parée d'azur, accompagnée de trois écussons de gueules, 2 et 1(32).

Argent a dexter hand raised in blessing in pale proper clothed azure between three escutcheons gules.

There was no further information. The illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

The three escutcheons also appear in the arms of Sainte-Marie-les-Mines, Haut-Rhin.

RIQUEWIHR, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Ribeauvillé.

Or three stag's attires fesswise in pale and in chief an estoile sable.

From 1324 until the Revolution, Riquewihr was held by the rulers of Wurtemburg, and the town bears their arms differenced by the estoile.

The arms have the same history as those of Andolsheim, Haut-Rhin, and use the same emblems.

ROSHEIM, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Molsheim.

D'argent à une rose de gueules, boutonnée d'or, aux pointes de sinople.

Argent a rose gules barbed vert seeded or.

Schoepflin states that the arms are a simple rebus on the name of the town, but this is not at all certain; the notes on the sceau secret of Hagueneau, Bas-Rhin show that communes may have used the emblem of the rose as a symbol of secrecy(33).

ROUFFACH, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Guebwiller.

D'azur à la Vierge de carnation assise sur un trône d'or, vêtue de gueules et d'azur, la tête couronnée d'or et entourée d'une gloire du même, tenant sur ses genoux l'Enfant bénissant aussi de carnation, la tête entourée d'un nimbe crucifère d'or, tenant de sa main droite une haute fleur de lis du même, et un écusson de gueules à la bande d'argent posé au pied du trône.

Azure the Virgin carnation clothed gules and azure holding in her dexter hand a sceptre surmounted by a fleur de lis or holding on her knee the Child naked also carnation seated on a throne also or overall in base an inescutcheon gules a bend argent.

The commune was part of the seigneurie of the bishops of Strasbourg and the inescutcheon bears the arms of Strasbourg. These appeared as the arms of the commune in 1428, but a seal depicting the Virgin was in existence in 1241.

The emblems were combined in a new seal of 1634, and the arms were confirmed by the Armorial Général(34).

The illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

SAALES, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Molsheim.

D'or à un sanglier de sable.

Or a boar passant sable.

The origin of the arms is unknown.

The Armorial Général contains two entries for the village de Saal: the present arms, and:

D'azur à une étoile d'or posée en coeur.

The first has been adopted as being the more ancient(35).

SAINT-AMARIN, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Thann.

Per fess gules and azure overall a crescent argent.

There was no further information.

SAINT-BLAISE-LA-ROCHE, Bas-Rhin. Commune, arr. Saales.

Per pale argent a fess sable an orle gules and or a cross sable.

SAINTE-MARIE-AUX-MINES, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Ribeauvillé.

Parti, au 1er d'argent à trois écussons de gueules, deux et un, au second d'or à la bande de gueules chargé de trois alérions d'argent, en abîme un écu de sable au marteau et à la pointerolle de mineur d'argent posés en sautoir.

Per pale argent three inescutcheons gules and or on a bend gules three alerions argent overall an inescutcheon sable a miner's pick and hammer in saltire argent.

The present arms were adopted in 1892.

The sinister half of the shield bears the arms of Lorraine, the only example in the civic heraldry of Alsace. The dexter bears the arms of the sires de Ribeaupierre, which also appear in the arms of Ribeauvillé, Haut-Rhin.

The illustration on the left was provided by the commune of Sierentz; that on the right is from the notepaper of the Mairie, and shows the decorations awarded to the commune following either the First or Second World Wars.

The inescutcheon was the emblem of the mines of Sainte-Marie-Alsace, which during the eighteenth century used both arms on adjoining shields in its documents.

From the fourteenth century until the Revolution, the commune was split between Alsace and Lorraine. The Armorial Général ascribed to the part of the commune which was in Alsace, as a rebus:

D'azur à une Notre-Dame d'argent posant ses pieds sur une montagne d'or,

and to that in Lorraine the simple arms of Lorraine:

D'or à une bande de gueules.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the reunited commune adopted:

Parti d'argent aux trois écussons de gueules et d'azur à la croix de Lorraine d'argent.

SARRE-UNION, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Saverne.

D'azur à la bande ondée d'argent.

Azure a bend wavy argent.

The arms seem to have been adopted after several writers, including Lapaix, had agreed, but there is no explanation for them.

Schoenhaupt also gives:

D'azur a la fasce ondee d'argent.

SAULXURES, Bas-Rhin. Commune, arr. Saales.

Per pale azure an estoile argent and gules two barbels addorsed between four crosses crosslet argent.

SAVERNE, Bas-Rhin. Arrondissement.

D'or à la bande de sable chargée d'une licorne bondissante d'or accornée et onglée d'argent.

Or on a bend sable a unicorn rampant of the field attired and unguled argent.

The arms have been known since the fourteenth century, although for a long time the town used as its seal the ubiquitous castle triple towered.

The Armorial Général gives two versions of the arms:

De gueules à un château composé de trois tours d'argent, couvertes en dôme, celle du milieu ronde et les deux autres carrées,

which conforms to the municipal seal, and:

D'argent à la bande de gueules chargée d'une licorne d'or,

which are the present arms with different tinctures(36).

The unicorn is rare in French civic heraldry: the only other example that I know is in the arms of Saint-Lô, Manche.

The information is from a tourist leaflet provided by the commune.

SCHILTIGHEIM, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Strasbourg-Campagne.

D'argent à trois merlettes de sable, deux et une.

Argent three martlets sable.

These are the original arms of the commune, which were confirmed by the Armorial Général. There is no indication of the date when the arms were first used(37).

SCHIRMECK, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Molsheim.

De gueules, au T (Tau) fleuronné d'or, aux branches duquel sont appendues deux clochettes d'argent.

Gules a Tau cross flory or from the branches of which hang two bells argent.

The Armorial Général gave:

D'azur à un Saint Antoine vêtu d'une robe longue, tenant de sa main dextre un bâton terminé par le haut en forme de lambel son cochon passant derrière lui, le tout d'or sur une terrasse de même(38).

The emblems of Saint Antoine are a pig and a bell, the first appearing in the arms ascribed to the commune by the Armorial Général, and the second appearing in the present arms. The tau cross is also known as the cross of Saint Anthony.

The illustration is taken from a tourist brochure provided by the commune.

SELESTAT, Bas-Rhin. Arrondissement.

D'argent au lion armé, lampassé et couronné de gueules.

Argent a lion rampant armed langued and crowned gules.

These arms first appeared in the fifteenth century, and were confirmed by the Armorial Général.

Le Grand Larousse, recognising that the tongue and talons are of the same tincture, and therefore indistinguishable, blazons only the crown:

D'argent au lion couronné de gueules.

Many documents give the following:

D'argent à une aigle de sable, armée, lampassée et aux dossiers d'or,

which appear in a stained glass window of the end of the fifteenth century, now in the Museum at Clomar, and were at one time used also by the town of Obernai, Bas-Rhin.

A German text of 1545 gives:

Ein schwartzer adler in weissem feldt,

Argent an eagle displayed sable;

and in the Armorial Général "la justice de la ville de Sélestat" was given:

Diapré (sic) d'argent, à un (sic) aigle de sable couronné becqué et membré d'or ayant le corps traversé par un croissant de même, brochant sur les ailes en fasce.

Here, it is probable that the crescent was a misrepresentation of the dossiers, for an explanation of which see the entry on Obernai, Bas-Rhin.

The lion was the emblem of the Hohenstauffen family who were seigneurs of the area from the eleventh century. When Sélestat became a town in 1217 it continued to use the arms of the family, who were by now Emperors of Germany.

The first seal bearing the lion dates from 1401, but from about 1530 it was supplanted by the eagle, the emblem of the House of Austria. This appeared for the first time in 1470, and during the sixteenth century the town, wishing to show its allegiance to the Habsburgs adopted the eagle.

For a similar political reason, the lion reappeared under the influence of the French in the seventeenth century(39).

SELTZ, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Wissembourg.

D'argent à la fasce ondée d'azur, surmonté d'un portail flanqué de deux tours de gueules.

Argent the west front of a church flanked by two towers gules and in base a fess wavy azure.

A seal of the fourteenth century represents the bust of Saint Peter before a Gothic façade. The present arms appear for the first time in a work of 1644. Later seals show a castle triple towered above more than one fess wavy, but the Armorial Général confirmed the earlier arms(40).

SIERENTZ, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Mulhouse.

Azure an eagle displayed or.

The arms appeared in the Armorial Général, and were confirmed in 1913.

Legend has it that the inhabitants adopted the emblem of the eagle to shown that they were not frightened of their seigneurs, Waldner von Freundstein, who bore:

D'argent à trois pointes de sable, accostées et mourantes de la pointe, supportant chacune un oiseau de gueules.

The eagle was in direct opposition to the three small birds. The stylised heraldic form of the eagle appeared after 1870, presumably through Germanic influence(41).

The illustration was provided by the commune.

SOULTZ-HAUT-RHIN, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Guebwiller.

De gueules à la croix d'argent cantonnée de quatre oiseaux passants de sable.

Gules a cross argent cantonned by four birds sable.

The cross is that of Saint Maurice, the patron of the parish. Seals dating from a time after Soultz became a town in about 1249, show the saint on horseback; from 1544 the present arms were in use.

The birds are corbeaux, crows, and are symbolic of the warrior and the carnage of the battlefield. Saint Maurice and his legion were massacred for their faith(42).

See the entry on Soults-sous-Forêts, Bas-Rhin, where the birds are defined as aiglons, eaglets.

The illustration on the left was provided by the commune of Sierentz; that on the right is from the notepaper of the Mairie,

SOULTZ-SOUS-FORETS, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Wissembourg.

De sinople à trois fasces d'argent.

Vert three bars argent.

These were the arms of the seigneurs of Fleckenstein, of which Soultz formed part, and were ascribed by the Armorial Général. The illustration is from my database, and is No117 in the Bigot Roll.

Other arms, ascribed by the Armorial to "la communauté de Sultz":

D'or à une croix d'azur cantonnée de quatre aiglons, leurs vols abaissés de sable,

were probably created by analogy with those of Soultz-Haut-Rhin(43).

However, the information on this commune gives a different view. I believe that the fact that two communes of the same name bear such similar arms may indicate that there is confusion in the interpretation of their history.

STRASBOURG, Bas-Rhin. Siege de la Région.

D'argent à la bande de gueules(44).

Argent a bend gules.

These were the arms of the Comtes, and later the Bishops, of Strasbourg. They date from the fourteenth century, when the town was part of the Holy Roman Empire.

The arms are also shown on a postage stamp, and a cigarette card(45) which states that the town was seized by Louis XIV in 1681, but passed to the German Empire in 1871. After the date of the cigarette card, at the end of World War I, Strasbourg once again became part of France.

The Armorial Général ascribed:

D'azur à une Notre-Dame, tenant de sa main droite un sceptre et sur son bras senestre l'enfant Jésus, sous un pavillon et dans un trône, le tout d'or et sous les pieds de la Vierge un écusson d'argent chargé d'une bande de gueules.

Napoleon I granted:

D'azur diapré d'or à la bande d'argent, au chef des bonnes villes de notre Empire qui est de gueules à trois abeilles d'or en fasce.

The arms of Strasbourg are often, more so than other civic arms, shown with diapering, which has often been regarded as part of the shield, as for instance in the entry in Grand Larousse. For a discussion of the term diapré, see the Glossary.

Fox-Davies gives a different tincture for the field:

Or a bend gules(46),

which is reflected in the cigarette card, where, although the original is in poor condition, the field is clearly or.

The illustration at top left is from a postcard provided by the commune; that at bottom right is from Jiri Louda, European Civic Coats of Arms.

THANN, Haut-Rhin. Arrondissement.

Per pale gules a fess argent and azure a fir tree eradicated or.

A seal of 1296 shows the barbels of Ferrette, which are commented upon in the entry on Cernay, Haut-Rhin, flanked by two fir trees.

The present arms were granted in 1469 by Sigismund of Hapsburg, Duke of Austria and Landgrave of Alsace, in response to an original request for a seal by the municipality. The dexter side bears the arms of Austria. The illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

The first grant gave the sinister side of the shield as:

Argent, a fir tree eradicated vert.

In 1498 the arms were modified by a change of tinctures:

Azure a fir tree eradicated or,

by Maximilian, King of the Romans and Landgrave of Alsace, in recognition of the support given to him by the townspeople.

This charter also orders the banner to be charged with the arms of Austria with:

An inescutcheon of the figure of Saint Théobald or,

which was a recognition of the part played in the prosperity of the town by the pilgrimages to the shrine of the saint.

In 1896 Wilhelm II caused the arms to revert to the tinctures of 1496(47).

The fir tree is a rebus, Tanne being fir tree in German. The unusual illustration on the right is from a floral design in the municipal park.

TRUCHTERSHEIM, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Strasbourg-Campagne.

D'argent à un chevron de gueules, accompagné en pointe d'un soc de charrue de sable, en pal, la pointe en haut.

Argent a chevron gules in base a ploughshare in pale the point in chief sable.

The arms had been in use for some time before being confirmed by the Armorial Général(48).

In the accompanying illustration, the charge appears to be more like a spear head than a ploughshare, which is relatively common.

UFFHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Sierentz.

Coupé, au premier d'or au lion issant de gueules, au second d'azur à la roue de moulin d'or.

Per fess or a lion rampant issuant gules and azure a millwheel or.

The arms were created in 1979.

The chief part of the shield recalls the arms of the family of Uffheim between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries: a Swiss armorial gives arms of knights of the same name:

D'or au lion de gueules à la bordure d'azur.

The base is a reminder of the mills on which the prosperity of the commune once depended.

The Armorial Général gave:

D'argent à la lettre capitale U de gueules.

UNGERSHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

D'azur à trois trèfles d'or, deux et un.

Azure three trefoils or.

According to legend, the first inhabitants cleared the forest and created grasslands, and the trèfles, or clover leaves, are a reference to this.

The illustration was provided by the commune of Soultz.

VILLE, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Sélestat-Erstein.

De gueules à trois tours d'argent sur une terrasse de sinople.

Gules three towers argent on a champagne vert.

The arms were ascribed by the Armorial Général(49).

The illustration is from a sticker provided by the commune.

WALTENHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Sierentz.

Parti, au premier d'or au croissant tourné d'azur, au second d'azur au croissant contourné d'or.

Per pale or and azure overall two crescents addorsed counterchanged.

The arms were adopted in 1973, and were those of the family of Waltenheim in the fifteenth century.

WASSELONNE, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Molsheim.

D'azur au gril d'or posé en barre.

Azure a gridiron in bend sinister or.

These arms have been borne since the seventeenth century, although the Armorial Général ascribed the following:

D'azur à un Saint-Laurent, vêtu en diacre tenant un gril de sa main dextre abaissée, et une palme de sa senestre, le tout d'or,

which were based on an old parish seal.

The present arms, with the emblem of Saint Laurence, were confirmed by Wilhelm II, by means of a Wappenverleihung in 1909. The gridiron of Saint Laurence was once ascribed to Woerth, Bas-Rhin(50).

WINTZENHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Colmar.

De sinople à un lévrier rampant d'argent accolé et bouclé d'or.

Vert a greyhound rampant argent gorged or.

The arms arms are a rebus on the German Windhund, greyhound. The emblem is first found on a boundary stone of 1550, and the Armorial Général ascribed the tinctures(51).

The illustration on the left was provided by the commune of Sierentz; that on the right is from a tourist leaflet provided by the Mairie. There was no further information, although the image image appears to have been taken from a relatively ancient source. There is an interesting use of diapering, suggesting that the greyhound has a background of grass or foliage.

WISSEMBOURG, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Wissembourg.

De gueules à un château-fort coulissé à deux tours crénelées d'argent et maçonné de sable.

Gules a castle double towered with portcullis argent masoned or.

The arms are canting, since Wissembourg is the earlier Weissenburg, white town, and have their origin in a seal of the abbey dating from the thirteenth century.

They took their present form during the fourteenth century, and were confirmed by the Armorial Général(52).

The illustration is taken from a card provided by the commune.

WITTENHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Mulhouse.

D'or à la fasce de gueules accompagnée de trois léopards de sable, deux en chef et un en pointe.

Or a fess gules between three lions passant gardant sable.

The arms were ascribed to the commune by the Armorial Général, although during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries adopted:

Argent a Tau cross gules.

The arms are probably based on those of Haus de Wittenheim, although it is not clear what difference, if any, has been added(53).

The illustration was provided by the commune of Sierentz.

WOERTH, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Wissembourg.

Parti de gueules au col de cygne alésé d'argent et d'argent au lion de sable, à la bordure de gueules.

Per pale gules a swan's neck erased argent and argent a lion rampant sable a bordure gules.

The arms were adopted in 1946.

The Armorial Général ascribed the following:

D'azur à un Saint-Laurent vêtu en diacre tenant un gril de sa main dextre levé, accosté et appuyant sa senestre sur son éote, le tout d'or, le saint accosté à dextre d'un écusson d'or, chargé d'un bonnet d'Albanais de sinople, et à senestre d'un autre écusson d'argent chargé d'un lion de gueules.

This was an interpretation of seal of 1529, in which the swan's neck from the crest of the arms of Lichtenburg was transformed into the Albanaisian bonnet(54). The gridiron of Saint Laurence also appears in the arms of Wasselonne, Bas-Rhin; the Albanaisian bonnet in those of Guebwiller, Haut-Rhin; and the arms of Lichtenburg in those of Bouxwiller, Bas-Rhin.

The present arms are an adaptation of those of Lichtenburg ancient, before 1480(55), in which the commune is called Woerth-sur-Sauer. The commune once formed part of the comté de Hanau-Lichtenburg.

WUENHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Argent a branch of a fir tree vert flanked by a sickle the blade contourned and a ploughshare the point downwards gules.

The area is famous for its wine, and the charge in the arms is likely to be a representation of a vine, although it looks more like a tree.

The illustration was provided by the commune of Soultz.

The most common charges in the heraldry of the région are the lion and the eagle. These two emblems had a political signification in the Middle Ages, the eagle being the symbol of the supporters of the German Emperor and the lion that of his adversaries.

The lion rampant appears in the arms of ten communes in the région, and the eagle in six.

Without further evidence, the bearing of either the eagle or the lion does not in these cases signify political allegiance.

ECCLESIASTIC

Evêché de Strasbourg

FEUDAL

Bavaria

Ferrette

Hohenstaufen

Lichtenburg

Lorraine

Lutzelstein

Ribeaupiere

Saarwerden

Waltenheim

Werd

Wurtemburg

The purpose of the list to to enable some comparative study to be made, although I have restricted it to contain only the arms of the communes themselves. I have not included seigneurial arms, where they are not those of the communes, nor the arms of départements, pays or provinces. The list is also incorporated into the Chapter: List of Arms, where the picture is as complete as I can make it.

Argent a bend gules. STRASBOURG, Bas-Rhin. Siege de la Région.

Argent a bradawl in pale the point downwards gules. KOESTLACH, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Argent a branch of a fir tree vert flanked by a sickle the blade contourned and a ploughshare the point downwards gules. WUENHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Argent a capital S sable and in base a mount of three peaks vert. BERRWILLER, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Argent a chevron gules in base a ploughshare in pale the point in chief sable. TRUCHTERSHEIM, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Strasbourg-Campagne.

Argent a dextrochère raised in blessing in pale proper clothed azure between three inescutcheons gules. RIBEAUVILLE, Haut-Rhin. Arrondissement.

Argent a dragon's? foot couped in pale gules. LUEMSCHWILLER, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Argent a four arched bridge gules masoned sable on a champagne vert. MANSPACH, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Argent a gate or portcullis sable. BARR, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Sélestat-Erstein.

Argent a lion rampant armed langued and crowned gules. SELESTAT, Bas-Rhin. Arrondissement.

Argent a mill wheel of four spokes in cross eight paddles and a square hub gules. MULHOUSE, Haut-Rhin. Arrondissement.

Argent a rose gules barbed vert seeded or an orle of the second. BOURG-BRUCHE, Bas-Rhin. Commune, arr. Saales.

Argent a rose gules barbed vert seeded or. ROSHEIM, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Molsheim.

Argent a ruined castle the edge of the wall in bend sinister gules pierced of the field on a champagne vert a canton gules a garb or. LIEBSDORF, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Argent a spur in bend the rowel of five points gules charged with a pellet itself charged with six plates the stem sable. COLMAR, Haut-Rhin. Arrondissement.

Argent a square with corners botonny? sable overall a cross gules. LARGITZEN, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Argent a stag's attire in pale and in base a mullet sable. ANDOLSHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Colmar.

Argent a wolf courant in fess sable. MARCKOLSHEIM, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Sélestat-Erstein.

Argent an Albanaisian bonnet gules trimmed and lined azure. GUEBWILLER, Haut-Rhin. Arrondissement.

Argent an oval annulet winged gules and gules a bishop's crosier in pale issuant from base or. COLROY-LA-ROCHE, Bas-Rhin. Commune, arr. Saales.

Argent the west front of a church flanked by two towers and on a plinth gules. MUNSTER, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Colmar.

Argent the west front of a church flanked by two towers gules and in base a fess wavy azure. SELTZ, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Wissembourg.

Argent three martlets sable. SCHILTIGHEIM, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Strasbourg-Campagne.

Azure a bend wavy argent. SARRE-UNION, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Saverne.

Azure a bird of prey statant argent on a curved mount or. KIFFIS, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Azure a castle triple towered or. LAUTERBOURG, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Wissembourg.

Azure a church argent flanked on the dexter by a tower roofed gules and pierced of the field on a champagne vert. ALTKIRCH, Haut-Rhin. Arrondissement.

Azure a cross botonny or. MERXHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Azure a cross double traversed or between two oak branches argent fructed of the second. GEISPITZEN, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Sierentz.

Azure a fish embowed in pale argent holding in his mouth an annulet or. PLAINE, Bas-Rhin. Commune, arr. Saales.

Azure a four arched bridge or on water surmounted by a chevron and in base a sickle in pale argent. ILLFURTH, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Azure a goose statant argent beaked and membered on a bridge of three arches or masoned sable. LAPOUTROIE, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Ribeauvillé.

Azure a gridiron in bend sinister or. WASSELONNE, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Molsheim.

Azure a horseshoe the arms upwards argent. ILLZACH, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Mulhouse.

Azure a lion rampant or overall a bend gules. FELDKIRCH, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Azure a monastery? in perpective of four wings in saltire and a central tower argent pierced sable roofed gules. LUCELLE, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Azure a ram passant or. MUESPACH-LE-HAUT, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Azure a rose argent seeded gules. HAGUENAU, Bas-Rhin. Arrondissement.

Azure a sun in his splendour or and in base a fleur de lis argent. NEUF-BRISACH, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Colmar.

Azure a well into which water flows from a cloud in dexter chief and out of which water flows to the base argent. NIEDERBRONN-LES-BAINS, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Haguenau.

Azure a wheel or to the spokes of which is tied a naked man proper with a halo of the second. MOLSHEIM, Bas-Rhin. Arrondissement.

Azure an eagle displayed or. SIERENTZ, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Mulhouse.

Azure an eagle the head contourned argent perched upon a saltire couped base and between in chief the antique letters H and B or. HABSHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Mulhouse.

Azure in base the antique capital letter L surmounted by a crown or. LUTTER, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Azure on a bend argent three estoiles gules. BENFELD, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Sélestat-Erstein.

Azure Saint George or on a horse courant argent slaying the dragon also or. LIGSDORF, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Azure the antique letters H and S surmounted by a crown or. HIRSINGUE, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Altkirch.

Azure the Virgin carnation clothed gules and azure holding in her dexter hand a sceptre surmounted by a fleur de lis or holding on her knee the Child naked also carnation seated on a throne also or overall in base an inescutcheon gules a bend argent. ROUFFACH, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Guebwiller.

Azure the Virgin crowned seated on a throne the Infant Jesus on her knees or. BISCHWILLER, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Haguenau.

Azure the west front of a church flanked by two towers and two spires pierced of the field surmounted by crosses argent between the spires the Virgin and Child issuant from a cloud or. DANNEMARIE, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Altkirch.

Azure the west front of a romanesque church with three doors argent masoned and pierced sable on a champagne vert. MARMOUTIER, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Saverne.

Azure three trefoils or. UNGERSHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Barry of six or and gules. JUNGHOLTZ, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Checky of nine argent and gules first third and fifth a fleur de lis couped of the last. LEVONCOURT, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Gules a branch of oak vert (sic) fructed or. BRUMATH, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Strasbourg-Campagne.

Gules a castle double towered with portcullis argent masoned or. WISSEMBOURG, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Wissembourg.

Gules a cross argent cantonned by four birds sable. SOULTZ-HAUT-RHIN, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Guebwiller.

Gules a cross botonny? argent. MERTZEN, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Gules a cup or ensigned by a plate. RAEDERSHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Gules a fess argent. ENSISHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Guebwiller.

Gules a house of two square windows and an arched door pierced the roof masoned sable. MAGNY, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Gules a Tau cross flory or from the branches of which hang two bells argent. SCHIRMECK, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Molsheim.

Gules a tower argent roofed masoned sable flanked by two barbels addorsed of the second. CERNAY, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Thann.

Gules a walled town in perspective argent. MASEVAUX, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Thann.

Gules a winged fish bendwise argent. JETTINGEN, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Gules Saint-Peter? robed argent mantled and nimbed or holding in his dexter hand a key in pale the wards to the dexter and in his sinister an open book of the second. HOCHFELDEN, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Strasbourg-Campagne.

Gules three bars argent overall a lion rampant double queued sable. HARTMANNSWILLER, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Gules three towers argent on a champagne vert. VILLE, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Sélestat-Erstein.

Gules two barbels addorsed or. FERRETTE, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Altkirch.

Or a boar passant sable. SAALES, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Molsheim.

Or a fess gules between three lions passant gardant sable. WITTENHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Mulhouse.

Or a goat rampant sable langued gules. GEISPOLSHEIM, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Strasbourg-Campagne.

Or a horseshoe sable pierced of the field overall on a fess azure three mullets argent. ISSENHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Or a lion rampant double queued sable langued gules a bordure of the last. MONTREUX-VIEUX, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Or a pale between two mullets in fess gules. RANRUPT, Bas-Rhin. Commune, arr. Saales.

Or an axe in pale the handle sable the blade azure. MOERNACH, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Or on a bend sable a unicorn rampant of the field attired and unguled argent. SAVERNE, Bas-Rhin. Arrondissement.

Or three stag's attires fesswise in pale and in chief an estoile sable. RIQUEWIHR, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Ribeauvillé.

Or two arrows in saltire ensigned by an arrowhead gules. OBERMORSCHWILLER, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Per bend sinister argent a cross paty azure and gules a pitcher or between two flames or. LINSDORF, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Per fess argent and gules a lion rampant double queued a bordure engrailed counterchanged. MONTREUX-JEUNE, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Per fess azure three fleur de lis in fess argent and gules three crowns reversed or overall a fess of the last. HUNINGUE, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Mulhouse.

Per fess gules a chevron argent and or. LA PETITE-PIERRE, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Saverne.

Per fess gules and azure overall a crescent argent. SAINT-AMARIN, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Thann.

Per fess or a lion rampant issuant gules and azure a millwheel or. UFFHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Sierentz.

Per pale argent a fess sable an orle gules and or a cross sable. SAINT-BLAISE-LA-ROCHE, Bas-Rhin. Commune, arr. Saales.

Per pale argent a ploughshare in pale the point uppermost sable and gules a fisherman's gaff in pale the fork in base argent. ILLKIRCH-GRAFFENSTADEN, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Strasbourg-Campagne.

Per pale argent a tree eradicated vert between two martlets affronty gules and barry of six or and sable overall a lion rampant gules. MUESPACH, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Per pale argent three inescutcheons gules and or on a bend gules three alerions argent overall an inescutcheon sable a miner's pick and hammer in saltire argent. SAINTE-MARIE-AUX-MINES, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Ribeauvillé.

Per pale azure an eagle displayed its head contourned or and gules a lion rampant argent. BOUXWILLER, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Saverne.

Per pale azure an estoile argent and gules two barbels addorsed between four crosses crosslet argent. SAULXURES, Bas-Rhin. Commune, arr. Saales.

Per pale gules a bend double cotised flory argent and azure the west front of a church with two doorways and two domed towers the dexter surmounted by a cross and the sinister by a globe or. ERSTEIN, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Sélestat-Erstein.

Per pale gules a fess argent and azure a fir tree eradicated or. THANN, Haut-Rhin. Arrondissement.

Per pale gules a swan's neck erased argent and argent a lion rampant sable a bordure gules. WOERTH, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Wissembourg.

Per pale gules and sable overall an eagle displayed or. OBERNAI, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Sélestat-Erstein.

Per pale or and azure overall two crescents addorsed counterchanged. WALTENHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Sierentz.

Per pale per pale gules and azure overall a tower supporting two houses on its flanks argent masoned sable on a mount vert and argent a gamekeeper's pouch sable buckled and garnished of the field. KAYSERBERG, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Ribeauvillé.

Quarterly first and fourth checky of nine argent and gules second and third azure three eagles or. OBERLARG, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Sable a double headed eagle displayed argent beaked and membered or an inescutcheon gules a capital letter D or. DRULINGEN, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Saverne.

Sable two bishop's croziers in saltire or. BISCHHEIM, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Strasbourg-Campagne.

Vert a bend argent between six martlets or. BOLLWILLER, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Guebwiller.

Vert a bend wavy sinister or between two fish in bend sinister argent. GOLDBACH-ALTENBACH, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Thann.

Vert a greyhound rampant argent gorged or. WINTZENHEIM, Haut-Rhin. Canton, arr. Colmar.

Vert between two millwheels or a bend argent charged with three saltires couped gules. MOOSLARGUE, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

Vert three bars argent. SOULTZ-SOUS-FORETS, Bas-Rhin. Canton, arr. Wissembourg.

Vert two flails in saltire argent tied sable. OBERDORF, Haut-Rhin. Commune, arr. Altkirch.

All works are cited in the main bibliography, but those of special importance to the study of the région are listed below:

Les Armoiries des Communes du Bas-Rhin.

Tome I, Chefs-Lieux de Cantons, l'Administration Départementale du Bas-Rhin, Strasbourg, 1947. The work was undertaken on the instructions of M Cornut-Gentille, Préfet du Bas-Rhin.

Les Armoiries des Communes du Haut-Rhin.

Tome I, Chefs-Lieux de Cantons, 2e ed, l'Administration Départementale du Haut-Rhin, Colmar, 1984.

Tome II, Arrondissement d'Altkirch 1977

Tome III, Arrondissements de Colmar et Guebviller, 1978.

Tome IV, Arrondissements de Mulhouse, Ribeauvillé et Thann, 1981.

de Bartelemy, A, ed: Armorial de la Généralité d'Alsace, Paris, 1861.

Lapaix, C: Armorial de Lorraine.

Schoenhaupt, L: Armorial des Communes d'Alsace, Strasbourg, 1900.

Waltz, J J: L'Art Héraldique en Alsace, Tome I, Les Armes des Villes et des Communes, Paris, 1939.

La France Héraldique, Tomes V-VI, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Editions Sanka, 1900.