Third Quarter (The Blue Panther): At the dexter base, argent, a panther rampant azure, armed Or. This represents the regions of Lower and Upper Bavaria.[3]
Fourth Quarter (The Three Lions): At the sinister base, Or, three lions passant guardant sable, armed gules. This represents Swabia.[3]
The White and Blue Inescutcheon (Herzschild = "Heart Shield"): The escutcheon of white and blue oblique fusils was originally the coat of arms of the counts of Bogen, adopted in 1242 by the House of Wittelsbach. The white and blue fusils are indisputably the emblem of Bavaria and the heart shield today symbolizes Bavaria as a whole. Along with the People's Crown, it forms part of the official minor or lesser coat of arms.[3]
The People's Crown: The four coat fields with the heart shield in the centre are crowned with a golden band with precious stones decorated with five ornamental leaves. This crown appeared in the coat of arms for the first time in 1923 to symbolize the sovereignty of the people after the dropping out of the royal crown.[3]
Bavaria became a kingdom in 1806, and in 1835 a new coat of arms was created, similar to today's but representing some regions by different coats of arms.
The first known coat of arms of the House of Wittelsbach was azure, a golden fess dancetty. When Louis I married Ludmilla, the widow of Albert III, Count of Bogen, he adopted the coat of arms of the counts of Bogen together with their land. The number of lozenges varied; from the 15th century 21 were used, increasing to 42 when Bavaria became a kingdom in 1806.[5]
until 1623
1623-1777
1777-1799
1799-1804
1804-1806
1806
1806-1835
1835-1923
1923-1950
since 1950
Lit: Wilhelm Volkert; Die Bilder in den Wappen der Wittelsbacher (Wittelsbach und Bayern, Köln, 1980)
Coat of arms of Kraiburg
In the eleventh century the counts of Kraiburg, a branch of the counts of Sponheim originating in what is today Rhenish Hesse, acquired land in Upper and Lower Bavaria. In 1259, after the death of the last male member of the family, the county was sold to the dukes of Bavaria. The coat of arms of the family was the "Lion of Sponheim", although the charge was not a lion but a "panthier" (pronounced as in French), a mixture of a dragon and a lion. Nowadays, the fire-spitting panthier/panther is the coat of arms of the city of Ingolstadt. The coat of arms created for the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1835 included the panthier.
^Siebmacher, Johann (1703). Erneuertes und vermehrtes Wappenbuch... Nürnberg: Adolph Johann Helmers. pp. Part II Table 4.
^Schmöger, Marcus (translator) (28 January 2001). "Constitution of Bavaria 1946". Archived from the original on 2007-10-01. Retrieved 2007-10-12. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
^ a b c d eScheufele, Karl Michael. "Coat of Arms and Flags". Bavarian State Chancery. Archived from the original on 2009-10-20. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
^Schiering, Timo; Kübrich, Christian (2005). "Die Wappen der Deutschen Bundesländer". Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg; Fakultät GGeo; Lehrstuhl für Historische Hilfswissenschaften. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
^Biebel, Christoph (2006). "Das Wappen der Wittelsbacher" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-10-11.[dead link]
^Electorate of Bavaria (1688) at Flags of the World; accessed 2009-05-21