A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Friberg family of Switzerland.
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“D'azur à trois fusées accolées en fasce d'arg., touchant les flancs de l'écu. C.: un panache de plumes.”
The Friberg arms were recorded in Switzerland, c. 1745.
Arms such as these were typically recorded in Bern.
Bern was the largest of the Swiss cantons and ran itself, with its own council and its own courts. Its governing families held office for generations, and office of that kind carried a shield with it.
This is where the arms were entered in the register. Families often moved to other parts of the country, so the same name can turn up in more than one region.
The body that granted and recorded arms in Switzerland in this period.
In Switzerland, coats of arms were not restricted to the nobility and were often adopted by common citizens and families. These symbols were passed down through generations to show family identity. When branches of a family grew, they often changed small details of the design to distinguish their own line from the original group.
The surname Friberg is a topographic name that originates from the Germanic languages, combining the words for peace or free and mountain or hill. This suggests that the earliest ancestors likely lived near a prominent hill or a protected settlement that offered safety. By the mid-eighteenth century, the family was well-established in the city of Bern, Switzerland. Records confirm their presence there by 1745, a time when Bern was a powerful city-state governed by a strict patrician class. Families living in Bern during this period were often involved in the city’s vibrant trade networks or served in the local administration. As the family grew, they became part of the social fabric of the region, contributing to the local economy and the historical development of the Swiss cantons.
Peace and mountain or fortified hill.
