The composition of coats of arms are generally public domain with respect to copyright laws, and may be reproduced freely.
This corresponds to the international traditional usage, and is explicitly stated in some national copyright laws. Some compositions, of more recent origin, may be copyrighted.
This is not a valid license as such, being a "public domain" statement for the coat of arms definition only. It must be completed with the copyright tag associated to the picture creation.
Please note that this applies only to the coat of arms definition (composition / description). The representation of a coat of arms is an artistic creation, subject as such to copyright laws.
Restriction of use - Legal notice: Most of the time, the usage of coats of arms is governed by legal restrictions, independent of the status of the depiction shown here. A coat of arms represents its owner. Though it can be freely represented, it cannot be appropriated, or used in such a way as to create a confusion with or a prejudice to its owner.
Usage on Commons: Please provide licence information for the coat of arm representation, information for the author of the picture, and the source if not self-made work.
This work is in the public domain in Japan according to Article 13 of the Copyright Act of Japan, which states that the following shall not form the subject matter of the rights provided for in this Chapter:
(i) the Constitution and other laws and regulations;
(ii) notifications, instructions, circular notices and the like issued by organs of the State or local public entities, independent administrative organs ("independent administrative organs" means those mentioned in Article 2, paragraph (1) of the Law for General Rules for Independent Administrative Organs (Law No.103, of 1999); the same shall apply hereinafter) or local independent administrative organs ("local independent administrative organs" means those mentioned in Article 2, paragraph (1) of the Law for Local Independent Administrative Organs (Law No.118, of 2003); the same shall apply hereinafter);
(iii) judgments, decisions, orders and decrees of law courts, as well as rulings and decisions made by administrative organs in proceedings similar to judicial ones;
(iv) translations and compilations, of those materials mentioned in the preceding three items, made by organs of the State or local public entities, independent administrative organs or local independent administrative organs.
This work includes material that may be protected as a trademark in some jurisdictions. If you want to use it, you have to ensure that you have the legal right to do so and that you do not infringe any trademark rights. See our general disclaimer. This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required.See Commons:Licensing.
Captions
Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents