Cantons · SZ
Coat of arms · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Schwyz
- Capital
- Schwyz
- Joined the Confederation
- 1291
- Official language
- German
- Population
- approx. 162'000
- Municipalities
- 30
Schwyz is a Swiss canton with capital Schwyz, which joined the Confederation in 1291. Explore the cantonal coat of arms and collect the crests of its municipalities.
Blazon
Gules, a couped cross in the dexter chief argent.
Origin & meaning
The red field is documented from the Middle Ages and gives the Swiss flag its red ground. The small white couped cross in the canton was added permanently only after 1815, as a religious sign.
In the old Confederacy Schwyz first carried a plain red banner, the “Blutfahne”.
The flag
The square cantonal flag is red with the white couped cross in the upper hoist.
Sources
- Mühlemann, L. (1991). Wappen und Fahnen der Schweiz. Bühler-Verlag.
- Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz — «Schwyz (Kanton)».
