Swiss national teams should be allowed to wear the Swiss coat of arms on their jerseys. After the Council of States, the responsible National Council committee also welcomes a corresponding amendment to the law.
Last week, the Federal Administrative Court ruled that Swiss ice hockey nats must take to the ice without the Swiss coat of arms. In principle, only the Swiss Confederation has been permitted to use the coat of arms since the revised Coat of Arms Protection Act came into force in 2017.
However, companies and clubs had the opportunity to apply for permission to continue using the coat of arms within two years - if they had been using it for thirty years. As the Federal Administrative Court stated in its ruling, the ice hockey association missed the deadline. The ruling is not yet legally binding and can be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, politicians have already reacted. In the summer, the Council of States decided that the Swiss coat of arms should be permitted on national team jerseys. By 9 votes to 4 with 2 abstentions, the Science, Education and Culture Committee of the National Council (WBK-N) has now also requested that the Council amend the Coat of Arms Protection Act accordingly, as reported by the Parliamentary Services on Friday. The decision on a motion is expected to be made by the large chamber in December.
Specifically, all Swiss national teams should be able to legally use the Swiss coat of arms in future. According to the communiqué, the majority of the WBK-N is of the opinion that the national teams represent Switzerland and that it is unproblematic in terms of legal certainty if the national teams use the Swiss coat of arms in addition to the national flag.
SDA