Coat of arms of Iceland

Coat of arms of Iceland
Versions
Escutcheon-only
Armiger	Iceland
Adopted	1 July 1944

Coat of arms of the president of Iceland
Armiger	President of Iceland
Adopted	8 July 1944[1]

The coat of arms of Iceland displays a silver-edged, red cross on blue shield, alluding to the design of the flag of Iceland. It is the only national arms to feature four supporters: the four protectors of Iceland (landvættir) as described in Heimskringla, standing on a block of columnar basalt.^[2] The bull (Griðungur) is the protector of northwestern Iceland, the eagle or griffin (Gammur) protects northeastern Iceland, the dragon (Dreki) protects the southeastern part, and the rock-giant (Bergrisi) is the protector of southwestern Iceland. Great respect was given to these creatures of Iceland, so much that there was a law during the time of the Vikings that no ship should bear grimacing symbols (most often dragonheads on the bow of the ship) when approaching Iceland. This was so the protectors would not be provoked unnecessarily.^[3]

The landvættir also decorate the obverse (front) of the Icelandic króna coins, but animals of the ocean (fish, crabs, and dolphins) appear on the reverse (back). The Icelandic presidency uses a swallowtailed Icelandic state flag with a square panel bearing coat of arms. The National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police uses a white flag with the coat of arms, when the use of the state flag is not warranted, and some other state services do as well.