Over the past month, President-elect Donald J. Trump has repeatedly discussed his desire for the United States to buy Greenland, and during a lengthy news conference on Tuesday he refused to rule out using the military to achieve that goal.
In the most subtle political action that came before the words of Mr. Trump, Denmark’s newly proclaimed king, Frederik X, has made changes to the Danish royal coat of arms that reaffirm his kingdom’s commitment to Greenland, an independent territory.
The Danish royal coat of arms – a more elaborate symbol than the state’s national coat of arms – previously featured a panel with three crowns representing the Kalmar Union between Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Those crowns have now been removed, with separate panels dedicated to Greenland (represented by a polar bear) and the Faroe Islands (represented by a ram). In an earlier royal coat of arms, the Greenland polar bear was in the same lower left panel, but much smaller.
A statement from the Royal House of Denmark said about the new design “The Faroe Islands and Greenland have each received their own territory, which strengthens the Kingdom’s prominence in the royal coat of arms.” The coat of arms is a coat of arms for the king to use, and it is a symbol of the kingdom.
According to the statement, the royal coat received a display last week when it was included in a flag raised at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen for the royal family’s New Year’s banquet, where it also appeared in royal cars as guests arrived.
Lars Hovbakke Sorensen, an expert on the Danish royal family, in an interview with TV 2 that the design change made under the name does not make it a small statement.
“It is important to show on the Danish side that Greenland and the Faroe Islands are part of the Danish state, and that this is not negotiable,” he said. “You mark it like this.”
If the search for heraldic design seems to be a restricted way of conveying a political message, Mr. Trump, by comparison, has been reticent in emphasizing his interest in expanding American territory in Greenland.
In an article on Truth Social last month, in which he announced that he was appointing Ken Howery, the politician and founder of PayPal, as his choice for ambassador to Denmark, Mr. throughout the world, the United States of America feels that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”
He reiterated his intention in a post on Monday, where he said his son, Donald Trump Jr., would be traveling to Greenland soon. “Greenland is an amazing place,” he said, “and people will benefit greatly if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation.”
When Mr. The young Trump, who arrived in the island’s capital Nuuk on Tuesday, accompanied by a delegation that included radical activist Charlie Kirk, told reporters waiting for him at the airport that he would be making a short visit as a tourist.
But his visit was seen by some in the region as an amelioration. Prompted to comment directly, perhaps on the impossibility of redesigning the coat of arms, Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, addressed the public on television.
“Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland,” he said. “Our future and the fight for freedom is our business.”
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