May my club use the Bern coat of arms?

Not for a logo: under Art. 8 para. 1 of the federal Act only the public body may use the arms, and they cannot be licensed (para. 3). Para. 4 allows, among other things, decorating festivals and cups or commemorative coins for festivals. For a specific case, ask the State Chancellery of the canton of Bern.

May I hang up the Bernese flag?

Yes. Cantonal flags may be used under Art. 10 of the federal Act, unless the use is misleading or contrary to public order, morality or applicable law.

What does “gezotet” mean in the Bern coat of arms?

“Gezotet” is a German heraldic term meaning that the animal’s genitals are shown. The Bernese ordinance (BSG 105.31 Art. 3 para. 1) describes the bear with red claws, tongue and genitals.

Why does the bear on New Bern’s coat of arms have no genitals?

New Bern in North Carolina received the arms in February 1896 from a Swiss delegation in a version without genitals. SRF assumes that version was also common in Bern at the time, and the oldest depictions in the Bernese chronicles already showed the bear without.

Who keeps the register of Bernese municipal arms?

The State Archives of the canton of Bern (BSG 105.31 Art. 4 para. 3). They also notify the cantonal and municipal arms to the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (Art. 7). Municipalities keep their existing arms and may change them with the approval of the cantonal government (Art. 2 para. 2).

Who is in charge if the Bern coat of arms is misused?

For the canton, the State Chancellery takes action (BSG 105.31 Art. 5 para. 1), for municipal arms the municipality itself (para. 2). Civil actions under the federal Act go to the Commercial Court as the sole cantonal instance (Art. 6).

🛡️ 26 Cantons · Coats of arms

Bern coat of arms and flag: city and canton not identical

Q: Are the city and canton of Bern coats of arms the same?

No. Under the Bernese introductory ordinance (BSG 105.31 Art. 3 para. 2) the cantonal arms carry the crown of sovereignty, which sets them apart from the arms of the municipality of Bern with a mural crown. Until the end of 2025 the ordinance also named the arms of the district of Bern, with nothing above the shield.

Key takeaway

The canton and the city of Bern do not have the same coat of arms: under the ordinance (BSG 105.31 Art. 3 para. 2) the cantonal arms carry the crown of sovereignty, which sets them apart from the arms of the municipality of Bern with its mural crown. Anyone may use the flag (Art. 10 of the federal Act), the arms only the public body, with exceptions such as festival decorations and festival cups.

Open armorial with two identical empty shield outlines, in front a pewter cup, a seal stamp with red sealing wax and beside it a red cloth with a diagonal gold band

Same bear, different crown. How do you spot the city’s arms?

Jump to the Bern Arms Check

Same bear, two crowns: the canton wears the crown of sovereignty, the city a mural crown. Until the end of 2025 the Bernese ordinance even provided for a third bear, with no crown at all, and only one of its 26 district coats of arms showed the whole bear. Here is what the law prescribes for the bear, who may use it, and why New Bern in North Carolina received it without one detail.

Updated 13 November 2026· BSG 105.31 · WSchG · SRF

crowns

of sovereignty (canton), mural (city)

1 of 26

district arms with the whole bear

version until 2025

1896

New Bern receives the arms

from a Swiss delegation

cases in the Arms Check

with the cited paragraph

🐻 Bern coat of arms description: what the ordinance prescribes

The cantonal government defined the Bernese bear down to its tongue, in a single sentence of the introductory ordinance (BSG 105.31 Art. 3 para. 1): shield, bend, colours, gait and three red details.

Official description (blazon)

«In Rot ein goldener Schrägbalken, belegt mit einem schreitenden rot bewehrten, bezungten und gezoteten schwarzen Bären.»

Official German text, BSG 105.31 Art. 3 para. 1, version of 1 January 2026. In English, paraphrased: on red, a golden bend charged with a black bear passant, with red claws, tongue and genitals. Paraphrase: the Bernese ordinance is official only in German and French.

The technical terms, one by one

In the text (German)	What it means
In Rot	The shield is red.
goldener Schrägbalken	A yellow bend runs diagonally from top left (as you look at it) to bottom right.
schreitend	The bear walks, one front paw raised.
rot bewehrt	Red claws.
bezungt	The tongue shows, red as well.
gezotet	The bear’s genitals are shown, red as well.

In heraldry, according to SRF, it is usual to mention the absence of this detail, not its presence. The Bernese ordinance spells it out anyway. Among the 26 district coats of arms of the version in force until 2025, the word appeared exactly twice: for the bear of Bern and for the lion of Schwarzenburg.

🏛️ Bern city coat of arms: how it differs from the canton

“Identical” is what you read almost everywhere, and it said so on this page too until November 2026. The ordinance tells them apart by the crown. Paraphrased: the cantonal arms carry the crown of sovereignty and so differ from the arms of the municipality of Bern, which has a mural crown (BSG 105.31 Art. 3 para. 2).

Three bears, three crests (BSG 105.31 Art. 3 para. 2)

Coat of arms	Above the shield	in the ordinance
Canton of Bern	crown of sovereignty	since 2017, in force
Municipality (city) of Bern	mural crown	since 2017, in force
District of Bern	nothing above the shield	until 31 December 2025

Until the end of 2025 the ordinance even had three bears: the earlier version also set the cantonal arms apart from those of the district of Bern, with nothing above the shield. Since 1 January 2026 the district arms are no longer in the ordinance, and Art. 3 para. 2 names only the city. Paraphrase: the Bernese ordinance is official only in German and French.

Correction

This page used to say that the arms of the city and the canton of Bern were identical. That is wrong: the ordinance expressly tells them apart by the crown.

And the Burgergemeinde, Bern’s old citizens’ corporation? The ordinance gives citizens’ communes a right to keep using the arms of a municipality they already used (Art. 8 para. 1, paraphrased). The conditions follow Art. 35 of the federal Act, and the State Chancellery is the authority that permits it (Art. 8 paras. 2 and 3).

⚖️ Using the Bern coat of arms: the Arms Check

A club may print the Bernese bear on a cup made for its festival, but not in its logo. Both rules sit in the same article of the federal Act, in different paragraphs.

Pick what you want to use the arms for. The Arms Check shows the paragraph (paraphrased in English) and the body in charge in the canton of Bern.

⚖️ Bern Arms Check by ConvivaPlus: pick a use → paragraph and body in charge

Pick a use: the paragraph of the federal Act on coats of arms and the body in charge in the canton of Bern.

What do you want to use it for?

Which coat of arms?

Reserved for the public body

A logo is not one of the cases the Act allows private persons. The arms belong to the public body and can be neither licensed nor transferred.

What the Act says (paraphrase)

Armorial Bearings Act Art. 8 para. 1:Only the public body they belong to may use the Swiss coat of arms and the arms of cantons, districts and communes, including their characteristic elements in connection with a shield and confusingly similar signs.

Armorial Bearings Act Art. 8 para. 3:These signs cannot be licensed or transferred.

Paraphrase. Swiss federal law has no official English version; the binding texts are German, French and Italian.

In charge in the canton of Bern

State Chancellery of the canton of Bern (BSG 105.31 Art. 5 para. 1)

Court for civil actions

Commercial Court of the canton of Bern, sole cantonal instance (BSG 105.31 Art. 6)

Further cases in the canton of Bern? Under Art. 8 para. 5 of the Act, cantons and communes may allow further cases. The Bernese introductory ordinance (BSG 105.31) lists none.

The Arms Check summarises the law; it is not legal advice and no substitute for an answer on a specific case. Only the official texts are binding; the body named answers questions.

Sources: Federal Act SR 232.21 (fedlex.admin.ch), version of 1 July 2025 · BSG 105.31, version of 1 January 2026 · checked 13.11.2026

verified · ConvivaPlus

More Switzerland in numbers

All 26 Swiss cantons compared →Arms, capital, population, area.

Largest cities in Switzerland →Where Bern ranks.

🚩 Bern flag: free to use, the arms are not

Same bear, two rules: as a flag on your balcony you may show it without a permit. With a shield, as a club logo, it belongs to the public body. The Act puts flag and arms in two separate articles.

The Bernese ordinance defines the arms down to the bear’s tongue, but does not mention the flag at all. Only federal law covers it. Art. 8 protects the arms and their characteristic elements in connection with a shield. Flags fall under Art. 10, where use is the rule: it sets no permit requirement. Its limits are use that is misleading or contrary to public order, morality or the law. Turning the flag into a company sign that looks official can run into the limit of being misleading.

Federal Act Art. 10 (paraphrase)

Flags and other emblems of the Confederation, cantons, districts and communes may be used unless the use is misleading or contrary to public order, morality or applicable law. (Paraphrase. Swiss federal law has no official English version; the binding texts are German, French and Italian.)

📜 Old Bern coat of arms: what the earliest images show

The oldest depictions of the Bernese arms in the Bernese chronicles show the bear without red claws and without genitals. Both details the ordinance demands today were missing at the start.

Bern has used the bear since the 13th century. We will give a precise year for the oldest record only once we have read it in the original text. According to SRF, the oldest depictions in the chronicles had neither red claws nor genitals, two details the ordinance demands today. For the 19th century, SRF assumes the detail was often left out, and New Bern still shows it.

🇺🇸 New Bern coat of arms: the bear that came without

The Bernese arms also fly in North Carolina, and there the bear lacks one detail. New Bern received them in February 1896 from a Swiss delegation, without the genitals.

New Bern was founded in 1710 by Bernese emigrants led by Christoph von Graffenried and is the oldest of the American namesakes. According to SRF, the accompanying letter presented the arms as a symbol now shared by the Swiss and the American Bern. It was not American prudishness either: SRF assumes the version without genitals was common in Bern itself in the 19th century and was handed over as such.

💡Did you know?

Until the end of 2025 the Bernese ordinance set 26 district coats of arms. Only one showed the whole bear: Bern.

Source: BSG 105.31

🐾 Bern bear: a whole bear in one district out of 26

The bear is the canton’s heraldic animal, but until the end of 2025 only one of the ordinance’s 26 district coats of arms showed the whole bear: Bern. The eagle was more common (3 times).

Animals in the 26 district arms (version until 2025)

eagle3

bear’s paw3

lion2

whole bear1

ibex1

half bear1

crane1

All 26 district coats of arms (BSG 105.31 annex 1, until 31 December 2025)

No.	District	Animal	Blazon (official German text)
1	Aarberg	eagle	In Silber auf rotem Dreiberg ein auffliegender golden bewehrter und geschnabelter, rot bezungter schwarzer Adler.
2	Aarwangen	no animal	Gespalten von Silber mit einem schwarzen Balken und von Schwarz.
3	Bern	whole bear	In Rot ein goldener Schrägbalken, belegt mit einem schreitenden rot bewehrten, bezungten und gezoteten schwarzen Bären.
4	Biel	no animal	In Rot zwei gekreuzte silberne Beile mit goldenen Schneiden und goldenen Schäften.
5	Büren	bear’s paw	In Rot vom linken Schildrand eine silberne Bärentatze.
6	Burgdorf	no animal	Gespalten von Schwarz und Silber mit goldenem Schildrand.
7	Courtelary	no animal	In Rot ein silberner Schrägbalken, nach der Figur belegt mit drei gestürzten grünen Lindenblättern.
8	Erlach	bear’s paw	In Rot vom linken Schildrand eine schwarze Bärentatze, die eine ausgerissene grüne Erle mit goldenem Stamm hält.
9	Fraubrunnen	lion	In Rot eine goldene Schrägleiste, begleitet von zwei schreitenden goldenen Löwen.
10	Frutigen	eagle	In Silber ein golden gekrönter, bewehrter und bezungter schwarzer Adler.
11	Interlaken	ibex	In Silber ein halber rot bezungter schwarzer Steinbock.
12	Konolfingen	no animal	In Rot ein silberner Schildhauptpfahl.
13	Laupen	no animal	In Silber eine ausgerissene grüne Linde mit sieben Blättern.
14	Moutier	no animal	In Rot ein zweitürmiges silbernes Münster.
15	La Neuveville	no animal	In Rot auf grünem Dreiberg zwei gekreuzte silberne Schlüssel.
16	Nidau	bear’s paw	In Silber vom linken Schildrand eine rote Bärentatze.
17	Niedersimmental	no animal	In Rot eine zweitürmige silberne Burg.
18	Oberhasli	eagle	In Gold ein golden bewehrter und bezungter schwarzer Adler mit goldener Kaiserkrone.
19	Obersimmental	half bear	In Gold ein halber rot bezungter und silbern bezahnter schwarzer Bär.
20	Saanen	crane	In Rot auf silbernem Dreiberg ein schreitender golden bewehrter und schwarz bezungter silberner Kranich.
21	Schwarzenburg	lion	In Silber auf grünem Dreiberg ein steigender rot bezungter und gezoteter schwarzer Löwe.
22	Seftigen	no animal	In Rot eine erniedrigte eingebogene silberne Spitze, besteckt mit einer golden besamten silbernen Rose mit grünen Kelchblättern.
23	Signau	no animal	Fünfmal gespalten von Silber und Blau, überdeckt von zwei roten Balken.
24	Thun	no animal	In Rot ein silberner Schrägbalken, oben belegt mit einem siebenstrahligen goldenen Stern.
25	Trachselwald	no animal	In Rot eine ausgerissene grüne Tanne mit goldenem Stamm, rechts oben begleitet von einem goldenen Stern.
26	Wangen	no animal	In Silber zwei gekreuzte blaue Schlüssel.

Blazons in the official German wording: there is no English version.

The ConvivaPlus analysis of the 26 blazons counts five bear motifs: the whole bear in Bern, a half bear in Obersimmental and bear’s paws in Büren, Erlach and Nidau. 14 of the 26 arms show no animal at all, but bars, trees, keys or a castle. Since 2026 the district arms are no longer in the ordinance.

🧑‍⚖️ Protection of the Bern coat of arms: who is in charge

A dispute over the Bernese arms does not start at a regional court: civil actions under the federal Act go straight to the Commercial Court, the sole cantonal instance. For the canton, only the State Chancellery may sue.

Responsibilities under the Bernese introductory ordinance

Task	Body	Basis
Legal action over misuse of the cantonal arms	State Chancellery (for the canton)	BSG 105.31 Art. 5 para. 1
Legal action over misuse of municipal arms	the municipality itself	BSG 105.31 Art. 5 para. 2
Civil actions under the federal Act	Commercial Court, sole cantonal instance	BSG 105.31 Art. 6
Register of municipal arms	State Archives	BSG 105.31 Art. 4 para. 3
Notification to the Institute of Intellectual Property	State Archives	BSG 105.31 Art. 7
Allowing continued use	State Chancellery	BSG 105.31 Art. 8 para. 3

There is no office that rules on every club cup: the Act itself lists the allowed cases. If in doubt, ask the State Chancellery (cantonal arms) or the municipality (municipal arms).

🛡️ Swiss canton coats of arms: Bern is not alone

Bern is not alone with its bear: according to SRF, the Appenzell bear, the Thurgau lions, the Schaffhausen ram and the Graubünden ibex also show their animal’s genitals; only Geneva’s half eagle shows nothing. All 26 coats of arms with names, as a printable sheet and with the wording of the law, are on Swiss canton coats of arms. All 26 cantons with their arms, capital and key figures are on Cantons of Switzerland. The canton of Bern in numbers has its own page, its population is in Population of Switzerland, and the city of Bern’s place in the ranking of the largest cities in Switzerland.

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❓ Questions about the Bern coat of arms

The most common questions, answered from the ordinance and the federal Act.

🔍

The ConvivaPlus verdict

Whoever writes “identical” has not read the ordinance: canton and city of Bern differ by their crown, and until 2025 there was even a third bear. In daily life the difference between flag and arms is what counts: the flag is free, the arms belong to the public body, except at the festival, on the festival cup and in the reference book.