The Arms of a Kingdom

Following along on Katie's trip up the Danube, we come to the city of Passau, Germany, where she found the arms of the Kingdom of Bavaria.

The arms of the Kingdom of Bavaria are: Quarterly Pfalz (Sable a lion rampant crowned gules), Franken (Per fess indented gules and argent), Margraviate of Burgau (for Schwaben, the area of the Staufen family) (Bendy sinister argent and gules a pale or), and Veldenz (Argent a lion rampant [here, queue forchy] azure crowned or), an inescutcheon of the arms of Wittelsbach (the longtime ruling family in Bavaria) (Paly bendy [or Lozengy bendwise] argent and azure).

These were the Bavarian Kingdom coat of arms from 1835 until the end of the monarchy on November 12, 1918.

We have seen these arms before, on a sign in London, England, no less!

The sign is for "King Ludwig Wheat Beer. Beer of Royal Highness".

It was King Ludwig I (reigned 1825-1848) who adopted these arms in 1835. King Ludwig I is not nearly so well known as his grandson, King Ludwig II, "the Mad", also called "the Fairy Tale King", best known for building Neuschwanstein Castle.