Present Day Free State of Bavaria
Symbols of democracy disappeared during the reign of the Third Reich. However, with the defeat of Naziism, Bavaria once again became a free state. The democratic republic was re-established as well as the previous coat of arms, although with slight changes. The Weiß-Blau was moved into the center heart-shield; the remaining emblems were rotated a quarter turn, and a blue panther (mythical lion/horse/dragon hybrid creature) from Ortenburg-Kraiburg was added to represent Niederbayern. Lastly, the People’s Crown was once again placed atop.
Thus we have the coat of arms that presently represents Bavaria. It’s easy to think that this will be the final coat of arms from here to eternity. Certainly, in medieval times when lands were easily transferred via war and marriage, rulers probably considered their coats of arms as being variable. Still, to consider current times static would be shortsighted as, in the past three decades, Germany has re-united and the European Union came into existence. While these two changes didn’t impact Bavaria’s coat of arms, to say that the future will be constant would probably be short-sighted.
