Swiss Shooting Sport Federation (Swiss Shooting)

SSV/FST

Last modified: 2024-08-24 by martin karner
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• Schweizer Schiesssportverband / Fédération sportive suisse de tir / Federazione sportiva svizzera di tiro / Federaziun svizra dal sport da tir
• Cantonal sections
• Other members

See also:

• Sporting Flags – Switzerland
• Swiss Army flags
• Switzerland
• European Shooting Confederation
• International Shooting Sport Federation
• International Practical Shooting Confederation
  
  
• About the origins of organized shooting (example of Valais canton) (by Bernard Pralong, Intrépide St-Martin, French)
  ( >>> If the link doesn't work, read the PDF)

Schweizer Schiesssportverband / Fédération sportive suisse de tir / Federazione sportiva svizzera di tiro / Federaziun svizra dal sport da tir

Former Flag (until 2015)

Medal from 1993 with former flag of the Swiss Shooting Sport Federation (picture).

Logo

Jubilee Logo (2024)

The Swiss Shooting Sport Federation (Schweizer Schiesssportverband SSV / Fédération sportive suisse de tir FST / Federazione sportiva svizzera di tiro FST / Federaziun svizra dal sport da tir FST), or Swiss Shooting, was created
in 2001 from the merger of the Schweizer Schützenverband (founded in 1824) with the Schweizerischer Sportschützenverband (1898) and the Schweizerischer Arbeiterschützen-Bund (1917). With around 130'000 members, the SSV/FST
is the fifth largest sports association in Switzerland. The federation has around 2600 shooting clubs, which are represented by 36 member associations (Similar to the Swiss umbrella organization, umbrella organizations have also come
together at the cantonal level).
Despite several clubs and associations chose the designation "Sport" in their name, Swiss Shooting still has tight connections to the Army. For example the annual Federal Shooting (Feldschiessen / Tir Fédéral), the world's biggest
shooting festival, or the courses for young shooters are under the auspices of the Army. Also the promotion of top-class sport of Swiss Shooting has strong support from the Army. Nevertheless social change is likely to play a role, which
is why shooters today refer to themselves more often as sport shooters; thereby increasing the proportion of sport shooters, which always had been smaller in earlier times.
Due to the decline in the number of militiamen and the associated obligation to successfully shoot and pass the compulsory shooting every year, the number of members in the shooting clubs has decreased significantly.
For this reason alone there have been mergers at the local level. (Information: Swiss Shooting; Schweizer Schützenmuseum, Bern)

The new flag of Swiss Shooting was introduced in 2015 at the Federal Shooting Festival in Visp (Valais) (Photos: #1 [with old and new flag], #2, #3, #4). It followed older versions from 1824, 1849, 1851 (or 1857), 1934, 1974 and 1998.
The double-sided square flag (200x200 cm) shows the white Swiss Cross on a red background with stylized target rings (quarter of a round shooting target). The small field at the top corner at the hoist side has a darker shade, symbolizing
the center field of the target. The federation's name is written in white letters in the four Swiss languages German, French, Italian and Romansh in the upper corner on the hoist side along the curvature of a ring.

Martin Karner, 31 January 2024

Cantonal sections