King Frederick X of Denmark ha the royal coat of arms changed making the symbols of Greenland and the Faroe Islands – a polar bear and a ram – more visible in what was read as a direct message to the future US president Donald Trump. The Guardian reports it. Less than a year after he succeeded his mother, Queen Margaret, who stepped down on New Year’s Eve 2023, King Frederick has clearly stated that he wants to keep the self-governing Danish territory and former colony within the Kingdom of Denmark .
For 500 years, the former Danish royal coats of arms they depicted three crownssymbol of the Kalmar Union which also included the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden and which was led by Denmark between 1397 and 1523. In the updated version, however, the crowns have been removed and replaced with a more obvious polar bear and ram compared to the past, to symbolize Greenland and the Faroe Islands respectively. The decision comes at a time of growing tension over Greenland and its relationship with Denmark, which continues to control its foreign and security policy.
The royal website explains that the changes were made by decree of December 20 due to the king’s desire to “create a modern coat of arms that respects history and heraldic tradition”. In the previous version, adopted in 1972, the symbols of Greenland and the Faroe Islands were placed in one of the four fields of the coat of arms. They are now enlarged and separated into separate fields. Two others are occupied by the coat of arms of Denmark itself and the coat of arms of its region of South Jutland (in both cases these are blue lions).
The change in the coat of arms also follows the words of the president-elect of the United States Trump, who said in December that “ownership and control” of the island is an “absolute necessity” for the United States. The tycoon spoke of plans to purchase Greenland during his first term. Now as then, Prime Minister Mute Egede responded that “Greenland is not for sale.” And today Donald Trump Jr’s plane landed in Nuuk in Greenland, where the son of the new president is expected to make a short private visit just at the moment in which his father relaunches his idea of ’annexing’ this autonomous Danish territory to the United States United. Video footage from the airport showed the plane, a Boeing marked “Trump”, landing just before 2pm Italian time on the runway along the snow-covered fjord.
On January 7, Trump announced a visit by his son to Greenland. “Greenland is an incredible place and people will benefit greatly if and when it becomes part of our nation… Let’s make Greenland great again,” the US president-elect wrote on social media.
Donald Trump Jr. lands in Greenland amid US president-elect’s vow to ‘Make Greenland Great Again’ pic.twitter.com/GzIjPopmVm
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January 7, 2025