The national emblem of Estonia is a golden shield framed by a golden oak wreath, depicting three azure leopards. These leopards symbolize the power of the fortifications of the capital of the country - Tallinn. But not all Estonians, not to mention residents of other states, know that this coat of arms is actually Danish.
How the coat of arms with azure leopards first appeared in Estonia
The Estonian coat of arms has a long history. The last time it was adopted as one of the symbols of Estonia before the collapse of the USSR in 1990.
At the turn of the XII-XIII centuries. German crusaders began active colonization of the Baltic states. In 1201, they began the construction of the port city of Riga, forcibly converting pagan residents to Christianity. Faced with active resistance and realizing that there was no way to manage it on his own, the bishop of Riga in 1218 asked the Danish king Waldemar II for help. Already in the summer of the following 1219, the Danish troops that seized the lands of the Estonian tribes destroyed their fortress and began to build a new fortification in its place, giving it the name Taanilinna (translated as "Danish city").
Subsequently, slightly modified, it began to sound like "Tallinn".
As a sign that Denmark now owns these lands, the Danish coat of arms depicting three azure leopards was granted the fortress.
