10 Questions with Göran Mörner

With his new book, Göran Mörner hopes that people will finally know what their Coat of Arms should look like. “I realized that there had been a great misconception of the objects and colors in some Coats of Arms. These letter patents hadn’t been shown to the public in 350 years.”
10 Questions with Göran Mörner

In 1890, the Swedish heraldist and genealogist Carl Arvid von Klingspor published his armorial book on the entire Swedish nobility’s coat of arms. Now, on 18 April this year, Sweden will wake up to the publication of Sveriges Ridderskap och Adels vapenbok by baron Otto von Schwerin and Göran Mörner, the first encyclopedia in 134 years describing the coats of arms of the Swedish nobility still living today.

With the publication of Sverige Ridderskap och Adels vapenbok, a link is created to the books of arms that were published during three centuries from 1650 to 1890. The complete coats of arms of 657 living families are presented in the book (with some additions). Extensive research has been carried out to ensure arms that match original shield letters, armorial drawings and other sources that are close to the respective monarch’s original intention. Baron Otto von Schwerin illustrated new weapons from the 13th to 19th centuries for this book. He has also drawn coats of arms for the 2001-2013 and 2022-2025 editions of the Nobility Calendar. The book also includes a foreword by Carl Michael Raab, the former State Herald of the National Archives of Sweden.

Front cover of Sverige Ridderskap och Adels vapenbok
Front cover of Sverige Ridderskap och Adels vapenbok