Sandefjord

 Sandefjord  is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sandefjord. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipality of Sandar was merged into the municipality of Sandefjord on 1 January 1968.

The city is known for its rich Viking history and the prosperous whaling industry, which made Sandefjord the richest city in Norway. Today it has built up the third-largest merchant fleet in Norway.

General information

Name

The name originally belonged to the fjord (now called the Sandefjordsfjord). The first element is the genitive case of the name of the parish and former municipality of Sandar.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms dates from modern times, having been granted on 9 May 1914. The Viking ship symbolizes the famous Gokstad ship, that was found near Sandefjord in 1880, one of the best preserved Vikings ships known. The whale symbolizes the fact that in the late 19th and early 20th century, Sandefjord was a main home port for whalers operating in the southern oceans.