A Standesscheibe is a stained glass

Stained glass

The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...

 representation of the full coat of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 of a canton

Cantons of Switzerland

The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...

 (Stand) of the Old Swiss Confederacy

Old Swiss Confederacy

The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....

, sometimes arranged in a complete armorial of all cantonal coats of arms of Switzerland.
Standesscheibe is the specific term for a stained glass window depicting a cantonal coat of arms.
The generic terms for coats of arms depicted in stained glass windows was Wappenscheibe.

The fashion of stained glass coats of arms arises ca. 1485, together with the Swiss illustrated chronicles

Swiss illustrated chronicles

Several illustrated chronicles were created in the Old Swiss Confederacy in the 15th and 16th centuries. They were luxurious illuminated manuscripts produced for the urban elite of Bern and Lucerne, and their copious detailed illustrations allow a unique insight into the politics and daily life of...

 reflecting an increased self-esteem after the victories of the Burgundian Wars

Burgundian Wars

The Burgundian Wars were a conflict between the Dukes of Burgundy and the Kings of France, later involving the Old Swiss Confederacy, which would play a decisive role. Open war broke out in 1474, and in the following years the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was defeated three times on the...

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In ca. 1501, a full set of cantonal Standesscheiben was presented to the hall of the Swiss diet

Tagsatzung

The Swiss Tagsatzung was the legislative and executive council of the Swiss confederacy from the beginnings until the formation of the Swiss federal state in 1848. It was a meeting of delegates of the individual cantons...

 in Baden

Baden, Switzerland

Baden is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Aargau, on the west bank of the river Limmat, located in the Limmat Valley , northwest of Zürich. It is the seat of the district of Baden...

, made by Lukas Zeiner of Zürich

Zürich

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

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The fashion of stained glass cantonal coats of arms remained alive in Switzerland throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, and to some extent continued in the 19th and early 20th centuries with the coats of arms of the cantons of modern Switzerland

Switzerland as a federal state

The rise of Switzerland as a federal state began on September 12, 1848, with the creation of a federal constitution, which was created in response to a 27-day civil war in Switzerland, the Sonderbundskrieg...

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See also

• Cantonal coats of arms (Switzerland)