We begin with Denmark which shows two "wildmen of the woods" (vildmænd) as Supporters, which can be traced back to the early reign of the Oldenburg Dynasty. They are depicted as bearded, naked apart from oak leaves about the loins and temples, and carrying wooden clubs in the outside hand.
Supporters largely came to prominence as an integral part of Heraldry rather than just a decorative idea in the 15th Century. The Oldenburg Dynasty rose to prominence when Count Christian I of Oldenburg in north western Germany was elected as King of Denmark in 1448, of Norway in 1450 and of Sweden in 1457. King Christian I used a total of four Seals during his reign, one replacing the other. The Sigillum secretum shown above was the first, only used in 1449. The Shield represents his titles as King of Denmark (1st Quarter), King of the Goths (3rd Quarter), and King of the Wends (4th Quarter). The second Quarter represents Oldenburg.
The drawing of the Seal dates from around 1882 and is illustrated by Professor Julius Magnus Petersen (4th September 1827 – 1st February 1917). The image comes from page 9 of Henry Petersen's book Et dansk Flag fra Unionstiden i Maria-Kirken i Lübeck, published in Copenhagen by C. A. Reitzel, 1882. It is the first known representation of the vildmænd who are shown 'supporting' the Shield from behind.
The House has occupied the Danish Throne ever since and merged with the House of Glücksburg when Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the fourth son of Duke Friedrich of Glücksburg, was recognized in the London Protocol of 1852 as successor to the childless King Frederick VII of Denmark, a cousin of Christian's mother. The Supporters were retained. Coming from the same family, the former Monarchy of Greece (the Hellenes) has the same Supporters because Prince Vilhelm (William), Christian's second son, was elected King of the Hellenes on 30th March 1863, succeeding the ousted Wittelsbach Otto of Greece and reigning under the name George I.
UPDATE: The Chapter of the Royal Danish Orders of Knighthood has expressed the theory that King Christian I chose Wildmen as Supporters for the Danish Coat of Arms to represent that his kingdom, which encompassed what we would consider the whole of modern Scandinavia, stretched to the wild woodlands of the far North. Lapland's Coat of Arms is still a Wildman today. Lapland straddles Finland, Sweden and Norway. The Coat of Arms shown here is for the Finnish Province of Lapland which shows a Wildman carrying a Club on a red background. The corresponding Coat of Arms for the Swedish Province of Lapland shows the same Wildman but on a white background. The Swedish Arms were granted in 1560. The Norwegian part of Lapland is known as Finnmark and its Arms, granted in 1967, show the Vardøhus fortress founded by King Håkon V in the beginniing of the 14th Century and built as Norway's boundary fortress towards the East. When the Arms were granted, the motive, shown as a golden Castle on a black background, was considered a powerful symbol of the re-building of Finnmark after World War II, rather than a Wildman. |