Materiały dotyczące heraldyki książąt pomorskich w Archiwum Państwowym w Szczecinie

There are scattered sources to the history of the coat of arms of the Pomeranian princes in the holdings of the State Archives in Szczecin. Only few parchment records with seals are to be found in the archival collections. The oldest among them was issued by prince Otto III in 1458. It presents a single-pole princery coat of arms featuring Griffin in the attack position. Among the diplomas with heraldic seals are records of Boguslaw X (1488 and 1512), Jerzy I and Barnim IX (1524) and Bogusław XIV (1626). Still, the most important archival fond at the holdings of the state archives in Szczecin – The Pomeranian Dukes Archives – contains only one archival unit (I/2428), showing a ten-pole princery coat of arms of 1623. The intention was to put it on the entrance gate of the castle in Szczecinek. Images of the great ten-pole princely coat of arms and its description are still preserved in the fond Manuscripts and Legacies (item no. 450) and the Collection of Loeper (No. 45a). Moreover, the princery coats of arms appear on the maps of Pomerania stored in the Cartographic Collection (a map by Petrus Artopaeus to cosmography Sebastian Münster and a map by Joaness Jannsonius). A library of the archives has in its collection a few old books in which are also to be found signs of the prince. The most important among them is a chronicle of Szczecin by Paul Friedeborn of 1613. It contains a description and image of the greater coat of arms of Pomerania. In addition, ducal signs are in the Pomeranian catechism of 1593 and a chronicle of the Pomeranian Church by Daniel Kramer. The greater coat of arms of the Pomeranian dukes is featured in these works. Sources preserved in Szczecin archives are far from complete and allow only to make a preliminary draft of development proccess of the ducal coat of arms. Full query, for research the developmental paths of the coat of arms Griffin, requires visit at the archives, libraries and museums in Berlin and Greifswald and the Pomeranian Library in Szczecin, the National Museum and the Library of the University of Szczecin.