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The coat of arms of Estonia depicts a golden shield, which includes three slim blue lions passant gardant with red tongues in the middle and golden oak branches along both sides of the shield. The lesser coat of arms lacks these oak branches. The three lions derive from the arms of Danish king Valdemar II who had conquered northern Estonia in 1219.
The lions became part of the greater coat of arms of Tallinn, the centre of Danish government in Estonia, and the knightages (ger. ritterschaften) of Harria and Viru.
In 1346, Denmark sold its Estonian dominion to the Teutonic Order after its power had been severely weakened during the St George's Night Uprising of 1343-1346. The three lions, however, remained the central element of the greater coat of arms of Tallinn. In later centuries, the motif of the three lions transferred to the coat of arms of the Duchy of Estonia, the Ritterschaft of Estland, and to the coat of arms of the Governorate of Estonia. The Riigikogu (the state assembly) of the independent Republic of Estonia officially adopted the coat of arms on 19 June 1925.
The coat of arms was officially banned following the occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in 1940, and was replaced with the Soviet-inspired coat of arms of the Estonian SSR which consisted of a branch of the coniferous tree on the left, stalks of wheat on the right side and the red star on top. The re-adoption of the national symbols, which was finally achieved on 7 August 1990, marked one of the high points in the struggle for the restoration of an independent Estonian state. The use of the coat of arms is regulated by the Law on State Coat of Arms, passed on 6 April 1993.
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