Shetland Coat of Arms

The blue shield with a Viking warship at sea recalls the old link with the Nordic countries and Shetland's reliance on the sea. Th blue and gold colours were taken from the old Earldom of Orkney, as the Shetland islands belonged to this Earldom during the Norse era. The raven is taken from the arms of the Borough of Lerwick. The supporters are a well known Shetland Pony and the unicorn with the badge of Scotland.

The motto 'Með lögum skal land byggja' is taken from the Icelandic Njáls Saga and is in old Norse, meaning 'By law shall the land be built up'.

The IBD Home Page and each IBD County Page has or will have (where possible) the relevant Coat of Arms. This is made possible thanks to a fantastic heraldry website called the International Civic Heraldry Website. Sometimes a description is not given due to lack of information, so if anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated. You may visit this superb site by using the link below.