451. Which coat of arms belongs to the Free State of Thuringia?

Answer options

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4

Explanation

Thuringia’s state arms display, on blue, a red-and-silver striped, gold-crowned lion (the “Thuringian Lion”) surrounded by eight silver stars; this distinguishes it, for example, from Hesse’s similar lion, which lacks stars. The stars commemorate the eight small states that merged in 1920 to form the Free State of Thuringia (including the Ernestine duchies, the two Reuss lines, and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and -Sondershausen). After the Land was re-established in 1990, the arms were defined by a Thuringian Coat of Arms Act (1991), and the state symbols are anchored in the Thuringian Constitution. The term “Free State” historically denotes a republican form of government and, under the Basic Law’s federal order, confers no special legal status compared to other Länder.