Last modified: 2021-08-25 by 
christopher oehler
Keywords: asnes | rafting pikes | cant hooks | pike poles |
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![[Flag of Åsnes]](../images/n/no-04-25.gif)
image by Jan Oskar Engene, 21 April 2002
Approved on 9 February 2001.
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They're [the charges in the flag] the same things Pascal Gross recently wrote about:
"Flösserhaken" – rafting pikes, used for manoeuvring treetrunks on rivers.
Jarig Bakker, 20 April 2002
Correct. These tools are also known in English as cant hooks or pike poles.
Åsnes kommune was one of the few municipalities in Norway that for a long time used "arms"
that were not officially approved because of its unheraldic contents. These arms, used since the 1970's,
showed a naturalistic scene of a log driver at work. Municipal authorities tried to have this motive approved,
but were turned down by the authorities regulating heraldry in Norway. So, a process aimed at
finding something heraldically acceptable started. As forestry and the rafting of timber has a
long tradition in Åsnes kommune, the end result was that one the most important tool used by log drivers,
the pike pole, was chosen for the arms and flag. Three of these pike poles fill the field, and their
number suggests the three important rivers of the municipality: Glomma, Flisa and Kynna.
The arms and flag were approved by Royal resolution dated 9 February 2001: "The arms of Åsnes municipality
will be: In gold three descending black pike poles. The flag of Åsnes municipality will be:
In yellow three descending black pike poles." The flag was hoisted for the first time at a ceremony held on 7 April 2001.
As the model drawing showed the flag as square, I used the same proportions for my drawing.
Jan Oskar Engene, 21 April 2002
Official blazon in Norwegian: "I gult tre skrått nedvoksende svarte fløterhaker."
Blazoned in English: "In yellow three descending black pike poles."
English blazon by Jan Oskar Engene, 21 April 2002