Last modified: 2023-06-03 by 
zachary harden
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The colors of the great and small coat of arms are blue
(PANTONE 285 C) and golden.
The Great and Small State Coats of Arms of the Republic of
Estonia were confirmed by the Riigikogu by a Lawadopted on June
19, 1925, which entered into force on the territory of
the Republic of Estonia on July 21, 1925.
According to the description in that Law, the coat of arms can be
in two shapes, a large coat of arms or a small coat of arms. The
large national coat of arms has three blue lions (or according to
some interpretations, leopards) on a shield with a gold base. The
shield is surrounded on three sides by a wreath of golden oak
leaves. The smaller coat of arms lacks this.
Upon the passing of the Law, proposals were made in the Riigikogu
on possible interpretations of the images on the coat of arms. A
consensus was reached on the suggestions offered by Leopold
Raudkepp:
The golden-yellow shield with three blue lions was used for
the first time as the corporate seal of the association of Tartu
and Viruvassals in 1284. Later it became the coat of arms of
Estonian chivalry, and was used also past its loss of status in
1920, during the first period of independence of the Republic of
Estonia. The coat of arms of Estonian chivalry also served as the
coat of arms of the Province (Guberniya) of Estonia from
1721-1917.
The three lions (leopards) also appear on the City Arms of Tallinn, whose origin is noted to be in
connection with the battle between the Danes and Estonians in
1219 below Tallinn (lions also appear on the Danish coat of
arms).
Until the creation of the Republic of Estonia, the coat of arms
did not exist as a national emblem. Working out of a design for
the coat of arms began immediately after the end of the German
occupation in 1918, and it spanned many years.
On many occasions competitions were advertised for arms designs,
but no original work by any artist won sufficient approval. Other
snags were caused by the opportunity to adapt and utilize the
already existing coat of arms of the Province of Estonia. As the
result of many long discussions, the scales finally tilted in
favor of the coat of arms with the renderings of the three lions
(leopards).
This coat of arms of the Republic of Estonia was in use until the
beginning of the Soviet occupation on June 21, 1940.
The rendering on the coat of arms returned to the public in
connection with the national amnesty started in 1988. For the
first time since a hiatus that lasted decades, the coat of arms
adorned by three lions of the city of Tallinn was used as a
historical element in the Old Town Days of 1988. The City Arms of
Tallinn was reinstated in the same year.
On May 8, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the
Estonian SSR passed a law on the emblems of Estonia. Pursuant to
it, the designation "Estonian Soviet Socialist
Republic" was declared invalid and the use of the Estonian
SSR's coat of arms, flag, and anthem as national symbols was
terminated. The third point of the Law provides Article ~ of the
1938 Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, according to which
the national colors of Estonia shall be blue, black and white,
and that the shape of the national flag and national coat of arms
shall be defined by law.
On August 7, 1990, the Supreme Council of the
Republic of Estonia decided to adopt the national flag and
national coat of arms that were official for the Republic of
Estonia until August 1940.
On October 16, 1990, the Supreme Council of the
Republic of Estonia passed a Law on the use of the national flag
and national coat of arms, which states that the national Arms
can take two shapes - a large coat of arms and a small one. The
large coat of arms shall have three blue lions rendered as
leopards with silver eyes and red tongues, facing to the right
yet gazing at the viewer, on a golden baroque shield. The shield
shall be surrounded on three sides by a garland of two
intertwined golden oak branches. The small coat of arms of the
Republic of Estonia has the same figures, but is without the oak
branches. The 1990 description of the Arms is much more specific
than the 1925 version.
The Law regarding the confirmation of the graphic specifications
for the national flag and coat of arms was passed on July
7, 1992.The Law was confirmed with definitions of the
images appearing on the small and large national coats of arms in
conformance with the international color palette PANTONE 1. The
blue tone on the coat of arms is 285C. Colors of the triad: C 91%
CYAN (blue), M 43% MAGENTA, Y 0% YELLOW, B 0% BLACK (editor
adds: this mean R=23, G=145, B=255).
Toomas Molder
From: http://ew80.www.ee/eng/natsymbols.html:
The Estonian coat of arms comes in two formats, a large one which
shows three blue lions, passant gardant, on a golden shield
framed on each side by gilded branch of the oak tree with the
stems of the branches crossing at the base of the shield. The
small shield is identical except for the gilded branches. The
design of the shield originates from the XII century, when the
Danish King Valdemar II presented the City of Tallinn (Reval)
with a coat of arms similar to that of the state of Denmark,
showing three lions. A similar motif was transposed to the coat
of arms of the Province of Estonia, which was adopted by
Catherine II, Empress of Russia, on the 4th of
October, 1788.The Parliament (Riigikogu) of the Republic of
Estonia adopted the state coat of arms on the 19th of
June, 1925. After the forcible annexation of Estonia by the
Soviet Union in 1940, this coat of arms was banned. The use of
the historic coat of arms as the state coat of arms of the
Republic of Estonia was re-adopted on the 7th of
August, 1990. The Law on State Coat of Arms was passed on the 6th
of April, 1993.
Jorge Candias, 26 October 1998
A question that bothers me is the colour of the tongues of the
Estonian leopards - are they red as shown above or are they blue
as the rest of the leopard - the legal texts quoted does not
mention red at all. A minor questions here is the colour of the
eyes - white?
Željko Heimer, 20 August 2001
The Estonian government site has at <http://www.rk.ee/symb/rvvappe.html>
red tongues. There are legal texts, but only in Estonian. Ralf
Hartemink at <http://www.ngw.nl/int/est/estonia.htm>
has white eyes and red tongues.
Jarig Bakker, 20 August 2001