Trump is right to be concerned about Greenland
Behind the Trumpian rhetoric, there are serious issues at stake in the Artic, which has become a key geopolitical theatre.
Heraldry buffs around the world are likely to find that the next edition of whichever journal of their specialist interest they subscribe to will contain an article on significant changes to the coat of arms of one of Europe’s oldest ruling families. The newly acceded King Frederik X of Denmark has ordered major alterations to the royal arms of his country.
The old coat of arms featured the dynastic arms of three crowned blue lions with nine red hearts in the first and fourth quarters; the two blue lions of Southern Jutland in the second quarter; and in the third quarter the historical three gold crowns of the Kalmar Union above rather diminutive representations of a polar bear representing Greenland and a white ram representing the Faroe Islands.
The new version restricts the ancient lions and hearts arms derived from the House of Estridsen (1047-1412) to the first quarter. The two lions of Southern Jutland have been transferred to the fourth quarter and replaced, in their former position in the second quarter by the ram of the Faroe Islands. In the third quarter the Crowns of Kalmar have been removed and replaced by a rampant polar bear representing Greenland. This means that fully half of the royal arms of Denmark is now occupied by representations of the monarchy’s claim to authority over the Faroes and Greenland. That may turn out to have been a rash decision.