Hordaland (Old Norse:Hǫrðaland) is the old name of the region which was revived in 1919. The first element is the pluralgenitive case ofhǫrðar, the name of an oldGermanic tribe (seeCharudes). The last element island which means 'land' or 'region' in theNorwegian language.
Until 1919 the name of the county wasSøndre Bergenhus amt which meant '(the) southern (part of) Bergenhusamt'. (The oldBergenhus amt was created in 1662 and was divided into Northern and Southern parts in 1763.)
Hordaland's flag shows two axes and a crown in gold on a red field. The flag is a banner of thecoat of arms derived from the old seal of the guild of St. Olav from Onarheim inTysnes municipality. This seal was used by the delegates ofSunnhordland in 1344 on the document to install kingHaakon V of Norway. It was thus the oldest symbol used for the region and adapted as the arms and flag in 1961. The symbols refer to the patron saint of the guild,Saint Olav, King of Norway, whose symbol is an axe.[4]
Thecoat-of-arms were officially granted on 1 December 1961. They were designed by Magnus Hardeland, but the general design had been originally used in theSunnhordland region during the 14th century. In the early 20th century, leaders of the county began using the old arms as a symbol for the county once again. The arms are on a red background and consist of two goldenaxes that are crossed with a goldencrown above them.[5]
Hordaland county had been around for more than one thousand years. In the 7th century, the area was made up of manypetty kingdoms under theGulating and was known asHordafylke from around the year 900. In the early 16th century, Norway was divided into fourlen. TheBergenhus len was headquartered inBergen and encompassed much of western and northern Norway.[10]
In 1662, thelens were replaced byamts.Bergenhus amt originally consisted of the present-day areas of Hordaland,Sogn og Fjordane, andSunnmøre and the far northernNordlandene amt was subordinate to Bergenhus. In the 1680s, Nordlandene and Sunnmøre were split from Bergenhus. In 1763, theamt was divided into northern and southern parts:Nordre Bergenhus amt andSøndre Bergenhus amt. When the amt was split, the present-dayGulen Municipality was split with the southern part ending up in Søndre Bergenhus amt. In 1773, the border was re-drawn so that all of Gulen was located in the northern part. Søndre Bergenhus amt was renamedHordaland fylke in 1919.[10]
The city ofBergen was classified as a city-county(byamt) from 1831 to 1972. During that time in 1915,Årstad Municipality was annexed into Bergen. In 1972, the neighbouring municipalities ofArna,Fana,Laksevåg andÅsane were annexed into the city of Bergen, creating a much largerBergen Municipality. Also at that same time, the city of Bergen lost its county status, and became a part of Hordaland county.[10]
A county(fylke) is the chief local administrative area inNorway. The whole country is divided into 19 counties. A county is also an election area, with popular votes taking place every 4 years. In Hordaland, the government of the county was theHordaland County Municipality. It included 57 members elected to form acounty council(Fylkesting). Heading theFylkesting was the county mayor(fylkesordførar). The last county mayor for theHordaland County Municipality wasAnne Gine Hestetun.
Since 1949 Hordaland has given a Christmas tree to the Scottish Capital city ofEdinburgh this is to remember the help given toNorwegians duringWorld War II byScots however since 2008 the tree has been sourced inScotland but has remained a gift from the people of Hordaland.[13]
