Habsburg Coat of Arms

[Harold]

Does anyone know of a source, preferably online, that summarizes the history of the Habsburg coat of arms? I seem to recall that the original Habsburg shield was a red lion rampant on a gold or yellow shield. This was combined later with the shield of Austria, red-white-red stripes. Lastly these were combined with the shield of Lorraine, a red diagonal stripe on a gold shield, with three white birds some sort on the stripe. Does any of this sound correct? Thanks.

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by Harold

Does anyone know of a source, preferably online, that summarizes the history of the Habsburg coat of arms? I seem to recall that the original Habsburg shield was a red lion rampant on a gold or yellow shield. This was combined later with the shield of Austria, red-white-red stripes. Lastly these were combined with the shield of Lorraine, a red diagonal stripe on a gold shield, with three white birds some sort on the stripe. Does any of this sound correct? Thanks.

If you's like to see German sources, you have to google "Wappen" or "Wappenschild" and "Habsburg-Lothringen" or "Haus Habsburg". The German word for Heraldry is Heraldik, if that helps.

[Warren]

Harold, this site may be of use: Austria: Index of All Pages
At the bottom of the page are links to other sites, but I can't find anything immediately which shows the Arms going back to the beginning.

The book Lines of Succession - Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe by Jiri Louda and Michael Maclagan (Orbis Publishing London, 1981) is a must-have for coats of arms (or more correctly, shields) from way back to the present day, as well as extremely detailed lines of descent. If you can get hold of a copy, this book is a treasure-trove and thus highly recommended.

For a descriptive of the original arms I quote from page 150:
"The Duchy of Austria was a union of the two districts of Upper and Lower Austria: the arms of the latter have five gold eagles with red feet on a blue shield, and are sometimes styled Austria ancient. They have been overshadowed by the white bar on red of Austria modern, one of the historic blazons of Eurpoean heraldry, and long linked with the Habsburg dynasty, who virtually abandoned for it the use of their ancestral arms, a red lion on gold with a blue crown."

Here is the Arms of the Counts of Habsburg (the red lion on gold with a blue crown) and some variations of the more "modern" Austrian arms:

[Harold]

Thanks, friends.

[Priest008]

What coat of arms and crown does the Habsburg dynasty have?

[Warren]

The Habsburg Family does have an impressive coat of arms with the Imperial Crown on top.
Here's one version...

[NVDV]

If someone wants to know more about the history of the Austrian arms, there is a website where there are nice pics from Maria Theresia until Franz Joseph I. http://peter-diem.at/History/his.htm
On the internet you can find a lot googling “Wappen des Hauses Habsburg”, translated coat of arms of the House of Habsburg.
For Arms of the Archdukes of Austria, you can use “wappen Erzherzog von Österreich”
Don’t forget to google for the Coat of arms of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany and the Dukes of Modena, Austria-Este, cadet lines of Austria.
For more questions, just ask me. There is to much info.
Greets
Nicolas

[Marengo]

Thanks for that link! Maria Theresia had an enormous coat-of-arms, I wonder what each part stands for. In the lower left corner I do recognise the coat-of-arms they inherited from Maria of Burgundy, with the c-o-a's of Brabant, Limburg, Flanders, Luxembourg and Burgundy.

[NVDV]

Be prepared, here it is:

Quarterly of 9:
1st: Quarterly Hungary Old, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, escutcheon Hungary New, overall surmounted by the Hungarian crown;
2nd: Quarterly Castilia, Leon, Aragon, Sicily;
3rd: Quarterly Moravia, Silezia, Lower Lusatia, Upper Lusatia, escutcheon Bohemia, overall surmounted by the Bohemian crown;
4th: Transsylvania;
6th: Per pale Württemberg and Schwaben;
7th: Quarterly Habsburg, Limburg, Luxemburg, Flanders, escutcheon surmounted by a ducal hat Burgundy Old;
8th: Tierced per pale and per chevron Lombardy-Milan, Mantua, Parma;
9th: Quarterly Jerusalem, Tuscany, Anjou New, Bar, escutcheon surmounted by a royal crown Lotharingen.
5th as escutcheon: quarterly of 9: 1st Styria, 2nd Karinthia, 3rd Krain, 4th Habsburg, 6th Tirol, 7th Kyburg, 8th per pale Gorizia and Gradisca, 9th Burgau, 5th as escutcheon Austria.

For pics of some territories, here's a link: Austria-Hungary
Greets
Nicolas