Talk:Coat of arms of Greenland

A fact from Coat of arms of Greenland appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 16 June 2006. The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that the coat of arms of Greenland (pictured) depicts a polar bear raising its left forepaw, breaking with the heraldic tradition of showing the right forepaw raised, because polar bears are left-handed?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2006/June.

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Left-handed polar bears[edit]

It's a facinating idea, but I'd like to see a little stronger evidence than a link to a quote:

"The coat of arms of Greenland - in the Greenlandic version. The version in the royal arms and flag follows the heraldic tradition in raising the right forepaw, while the Greenlandic version raises the left forepaw, because real polar bears are left-handed. The blazon does not specify which forepaw is raised, so there is no conflict between the two versions. Ole Andersen, 8 January 2001"[1]

Who is Ole Andersen, and how does he know that polar bears are left-handed? --Bookandcoffee 08:41, 17 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Googling for polar bear AND ("left-handed" OR "left paw" OR "left paws") reveals that it is a widespread belief among the Inuit, which has spread to Western culture too, that polar bears are left-handed ("left-pawed"), but there's little or no substantiation for it. Polar Bears International's "Myths and Misconceptions" page says it simply isn't true; polar bears use their right and left paws equally. Still, for purposes of a coat of arms, I suppose the traditional belief is interesting enough to be mentioned in the article. Angr (talk) 20:36, 17 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

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