Danish king changes coat of arms amid row with Trump over Greenland

[Jilly_in_VA]

The Danish king has shocked some historians by changing the royal coat of arms to more prominently feature Greenland and the Faroe Islands – in what has also been seen as a rebuke to Donald Trump.

Less than a year since succeeding his mother, Queen Margrethe, after she stood down on New Year’s Eve 2023, King Frederik has made a clear statement of intent to keep the autonomous Danish territory and former colony within the kingdom of Denmark.

For 500 years, previous Danish royal coats of arms have featured three crowns, the symbol of the Kalmar Union between Denmark, Norway and Sweden, which was led from Denmark between 1397 and 1523. They are also an important symbol of its neighbour Sweden.

But in the updated version, the crowns have been removed and replaced with a more prominent polar bear and ram than previously, to symbolise Greenland and the Faroe Islands respectively.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/06/danish-king-changes-coat-of-arms-in-apparent-rebuke-to-donald-trump

For fanden Anders, de er VORES! (Damn it, Donald, they are OURS!)

[DeepWinter]

1. A pettiness level

I can support.

[GreenWave]

2. Only 55.807 live there. Be leery of the Colossus of the New World.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/greenland

[Farmer-Rick]

8. I'm assuming you mean 55.807 thousand

They have more than 55 people. And how do you get 0.807 of a person anyway?

[Lucky Luciano]

10. In Europe, the '.' And the ',' have their roles reversed compared to America.

[sdfernando]

13. Yep...was just about to post that.

It can be confusing for U.S traveling in Europe. The period is the hundreds, thousands, etc. separator and the comma is the decimal separator.

[summer_in_TX]

25. Had no idea!

Thanks for that helpful explanation.

[PJMcK]

14. I love the comma cops!

(wink)

[GreenWave]

28. Well check this out then.

5.000.000.000.000,50

In some countries this is five thousand millions and fifty. A billion to them is a million millions.

[dalton99a]

3. Kick

[brush]

4. NATO, NATO, NATO, you sick fuck. It bites.

[LauraInLA]

5. Greenland is revisiting independence, isn't it?

[Omaha Steve]

6. Here they are, side by side

K&R!

[Renew Deal]

11. Where did they put the dollar sign?

[EarnestPutz]

15. I'd like to know more about the two dudes with the ivy loinclothes and giant clubs. The tiny cross at....

.....the bottom and the little elephant also are in need of some kind of explanation, no?

[Old Crank]

20. This might have the info.

https://www.kongehuset.dk/en/the-monarchy-in-denmark/the-royal-symbols/the-royal-coat-of-arms/#

[eppur_se_muova]

22. They're woodwoses. It's ... obscure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Denmark

[ShazzieB]

24. Interesting!

Wikipedia also has a whole article about the wild man, wild man of the woods, or woodwose/wodewose: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_man

According to the article, "The wild man, wild man of the woods, or woodwose/wodewose is a mythical figure and motif that appears in the art and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to Silvanus, the Roman god of the woodlands."

I find this stuff fascinating!

[Wild blueberry]

7. Good on the king!

Thank you.

[JoseBalow]

9. Why do people insist on feeding trolls?

Haven't they learned yet that it just encourages them?

[Hekate]

12. In a world without Mango Mussolini making his landgrabbing warlike intent clear...

…the notion of a very large region with a tiny population wanting to be free of its colonial past would make sentimental sense.

In a world where the US president-to-be worships Putin, Xi, and Kim — not so much.

[Staph]

16. The Danes have a history of resisting fascists.

In 1943, the [Danish resistance] movement scored a great success in rescuing all but 500 of Denmark's Jewish population of 7,000–8,000 from being sent to the Nazi concentration camps by helping transport them to neutral Sweden, where they were offered asylum. The Danish resistance movement has been honoured as a collective at Yad Vashem in Israel as being part of the "Righteous Among the Nations". They were honoured as a collective rather than as individuals at their own request.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_resistance_movement

[dflprincess]

17. Not as important but still a bit reminiscent

Of when the Danish king began wearing a yellow star during the occupation.

[canetoad]

18. Anyone else notice

In the new coat of arms above, that the clubs are much bigger?

[ShazzieB]

21. You're right!

Also, the 2 dudes' hair color went from blond to brunet! I never noticed any differences until you pointed out the clubs, but now I am seeing all kinds of small alterations. I wonder what it all means (or if it does mean anything).

[canetoad]

23. Yeah, the two dudes

In the new crest are more muscled, heavily set.

[John1956PA]

27. And that the two fellows are more muscular and have broader shoulders.

Also, the coloring of the images of the fellows is bolder.

[cab67]

19. I love the polar bear rampant.

[John1956PA]

26. Fabulous! The bear looks like a boxer throwing an uppercut.

[AZ8theist]

29. The Danish king channeling his inner Tim Walz:

MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!!!!!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

30. Trump leans into the idea about buying Greenland, which still isn't for sale

For reasons unknown, the president-elect isn’t letting go of the idea of adding Greenland to the United States, foreign policy implications be damned.
https://bsky.app/profile/mynewsfeed.link/post/3lf5wth2sra27

Trump leans into the idea about buying Greenland, which still isn’t for sale: For reasons unknown, Donald Trump isn't letting go of the idea of adding Greenland to the United States, foreign policy implications be damned.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-leans-idea-buying-greenland-still-isnt-sale-rcna186545

Three days before Christmas, Trump used his social media platform to declare, “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.” A few days later, he referenced Greenland again in a Christmas Day message, claiming that the island’s people “want the U.S. to be there.”

Evidently, he’s still at it. NBC News reported:

Donald Trump on Monday confirmed that his eldest son will visit Greenland amid increased calls by the president-elect that the U.S. should control the autonomous territory owned by Denmark. “I am hearing that the people of Greenland are ‘MAGA,’” Trump wrote on his social media platform. “My son, Don Jr, and various representatives, will be traveling there to visit some of the most magnificent areas and sights.”

Right off the bat, it’s worth appreciating the fact that when the incoming president uses the phrase, “I am hearing that...,” it generally refers to odd ideas that Trump simply made up out of whole cloth......

A couple of weeks ago, the island’s Prime Minister Mute Egede said in a written statement, “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale.” Trump, by all appearances, is reluctant to take no for an answer.

A Politico report noted, “Trump’s renewed focus on Greenland is being met with exasperation and eye rolls from several current and former U.S. national security officials. Some point out that the island isn’t for sale and talks of acquiring the territory could just alienate Greenlanders and Danes from deeper cooperation with the U.S., which has a military base there.”

The same report quoted Jim Townsend, a former senior Pentagon official who worked on NATO and arctic defense policy, saying, “Pissing everybody off by saying we’re just going to buy them outright really bruises our bilateral relationship with the Danes and more importantly ruins any kind of way for us to work this out with Greenlanders.”

It’s going to be a long four years.

trump is evidently considering using force to take control of Greenland

[Joe Nation]

31. This is just another distraction

Pay no attention.