Today we will talk about the coat of arms and other symbols of Amsterdam, the capital of Holland, to gradually get to know details and curiosities of this city that many have called the Venice of the North and for which you have to get lost, at least once in your life.
As I was saying today, I will talk about the coat of arms and other symbols of the city of Amsterdam. The shield It consists of three crosses, the so-called "crosses of San Andrés" in honor of the apostle Andrés, who was a fisherman, who was martyred on a cross X-shaped and each one of them represents the days it took to die. It has its origin in the 500th century, so we are talking about more than XNUMX years old.
Some historians read that the Crosses They represent the three dangers that affected Amsterdam the most: flood, fire and the Black Death.
Then in the XNUMXth century lions were added that we can see today.
In 1489, Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg presented the city with the Imperial Crown of Austria to thank the services and loans that Amsterdam had offered him. The crown it meant imperial protection and served Dutch merchants when they moved abroad.
La flag de Amsterdam consists of three horizontal stripes, red the upper and lower and black, with the three white blades of the shield, the central one. It is based directly on the shield.
El official motto of the city it is Heldhaftig, Vastberaden, Barmhartig, which comes to be translated as Heroic, resolute and merciful. The three words come from the official name given by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands in 1947, in honor of the city's courage during World War II.