Danish King Changes Coat of Arms Amid Greenland Trump Row

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.

- Miranda Bryant

Less than a year after succeeding his mother, Queen Margrethe – who stood down on New Year's Eve in 2023 – King Frederik 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. But in the updated version, the crowns have been removed and replaced with a more prominent polar bear and ram to symbolise Greenland and the Faroe Islands respectively.

The move comes at a time of increased tension over Greenland and its relations with Denmark, which continues to control its foreign and security policy.