triune symbol

A brand new coat of arms for the worldwide Strickler families

There exist a number of Strickler coats of arms, which over time have been handed down, however, most often their sources cannot be accurately traced.
In 1950 a new one bearing several cord symbols was created. It is appropriate here to explain to our English speaking Stricklers that the German word for cord is “Strick”, but it is thought to be an inappropriate and misleading graphic symbol for the shield, in that its use implies that the German word for cord, “Strick”, is the root derivation of our family name, which is definitely not true to its history.
Therefore we have decided to create a brand new Strickler family coat of arms using the customary precepts of Swiss heraldry, a coat of arms that will be historically meaningful to all of the branches of Stricklers whose traces stem from our common root, that path or trail then named “am Strick,” which began just at the southernmost edge of Richterswil.

Mounted on a red background are three golden roses, their stems projecting upward from a green triune heraldic symbol. Beside the rose stems are two golden stars For the new coat of arms, we have included three roses, which two branches of the Strickler family have previously employed in their shields. The color selection stems from the two colors used for the shield of the city of Richterswil, the birth land of our antecedent name,”am Strick”. The two golden stars add to the shield’s heraldic authenticity, having been used in various Strickler family coats of arms in the Canton of Schwyz. This new Strickler coat of arms should serve well for all of the branches of the family whose traces lead back to that ancient pathway, “am Strick” in the hills just above the town of Richterswil. Created by Anton Christen, Zurich, july 2000.

Strickler coats of arms over the centuries

	Mounted on a golden background three red roses stemming from a green triune heraldic symbol This shield dates from one used by a Strickler family which had moved from Hombrechtikon to the city of Zurich in 1815, where they were awarded citizenship, however, the family presumably came from the Richterswil area, where they had originally settled in 1384 under the surname ”am Strick” and had then spread out through the area. The shield can be found on the coats of arms display wall of the city of Zurich, in the Jean Eglis Book of Coats of Arms written in 1860 and in the 1992 book, Lexicon of Coats of Arms, by Ottfried Neubecker found in a display at the Battenberg publishing house in Augsburg, Germany. In the first decade of the twentieth century the archives of Zurich accepted this shield as the official Strickler coat of arms, and this is probably how this particular shield found its way to the United States. In the American volume, Forerunners, which was dedicated to Strickler genealogy (Harry M. Strickler 1924), the symbols of the shield were interpreted as Christian ones, and the rose was deigned to symbolize immortality. It is not at all improbable that the family shield did in fact have a Christian significance. The three roses with their three stems positioned above three hills, the green triune symbol (3 x 3), could very conceivably symbolize the Trinity. The absence of a helmet, which is usually found on family coats of arms, could certainly be read as a refutation of affection for battle. The person bears a rose instead of a sword: immortality rather than death and peace in lieu of war. At least this is a comforting interpretation, if not the original one.
	An apothecary’s mortar surrounded by two red roses above the green triune symbol, all positioned on a blue background These symbols are found on an 1859 coat of arms of a Strickler family, which had moved from Langnau am Albis,to the city of Zurich, where they, too, were granted citizenship. In 1869 this coat of arms was cited in the historical coat of arms book of Zurich. Presumably the apothecary’s mortar indicated the profession of the head of the household. According to city of Zurich archives, that branch of the family no longer exists.
	A divided shield, the upper part has a blue background on which appear two entwined golden loops of rope while the lower part shows two red stars above a green triune symbol on a white field This shield was taken from Martin Styger’s 1936 Book of Coats of Arms of the Canton of Schwyz. As people of Richterswil, the descendants of this particular branch of Stricklers were participants in the right to the common land along with the people of the neighboring farmstead of Wollerau. During the Reformation they had come to the old land of Schwyz and consequently had acquired the right to live there ? even though they did not have the full rights of citizenship. Per the 1629 Annual Almanac of Richterswil-Wollerau a Hans Strickler owned tract of land identified as the Rohrwiese in Wollerau. With the division of the families on April 26, 1806 this race of Stricklers with two citizens over twenty years of age were assigned to the Steinerviertel quarter of the city of Zug. This branch of the family is no longer in existence.
	A divided shield, on this one the upper part has a red background upon which appear two entwined loops of silver colored rope, while the lower part displays two golden stars above a green triune symbol on a blue field This shield was sent to us by Karl Strickler of Edmonton, Canada, who had received it from his aunt Paula Kieser-Strickler. Thus far, precise information concerning its origin are not known.
	A bare rooted golden tree positioned above a green triune symbol, all on a solid blue field This shield was also submitted by by Karl Strickler of Edmonton, Canada. It is listed in the Book of Coats of Arms of the Canton of Zug, in Styger’s Book of Coats of Arms of the Canton of Schwyz on page 266 as well as in the book, Menzingen, the Community on the Mountain. The shield can be seen displayed in the church in Neuheim in the Canton of Zug. It appears that the members of this family were farmers, who had lived on a tract of land previously known as Chnaeus, then a part of Wädenswil. They had migrated across the Sihl River in 1512. In 1549 and 1563 deeds of Einsiedeln reflect that there was a Hermann Strickler, who had property i in Finstersee (canton of Zug). Since that time, this group of Stricklers has spread over both communities on the mountain, those of Menzingen und Neuheim. Paul Anton Wickart, a priest and historian of Zug, lists a Strickler having the right of residency in the town of Zug, but he does not provide additional detail.
	This one has a blue background on which appear two entwined golden loops of rope positioned above a gold star This shield was handed down by our father, Jacob Strickler (1915-1991). It had been created in 1950 by the heraldic specialist, Herbert Habluetzel of Winterthur. In general the coat of arms of the Stricklers in the Canton of Schwyz had served as its basis. This coat of arms was intended to represent the Stricklers of Richterswil, Hütten and neighbouring communities of the southwestern shore of Lake Zurich.