Curious...

Ban on wearing the Swiss coat of arms for the national ice hockey team?

By Paula Dauner, Pachmann Attorneys at Law, Zurich, Switzerland

The use of the Swiss coat of arms is, in principle, reserved for the Swiss Confederation (Art. 8 Abs. 1 WSchG).

The Swiss flag, on the other hand, may, in principle, be used unless its use is misleading or contrary to public order, morality or applicable law (Art. 10 WSchG).

The Federal Department of Justice and Police may, upon reasoned request, permit the continued use of the Swiss coat of arms or a symbol that can be confused with it in special circumstances (Art. 35 Abs. 1 WSchG)

In accordance with the above-mentioned articles of the law, Swiss national teams are not allowed to display the Swiss coat of arms on their jerseys, but they are allowed to display the Swiss flag.

As ice hockey fans will know, the jersey of the Swiss national ice hockey team is adorned with the Swiss coat of arms.

Swiss Ice Hockey was already made aware of the misuse of the coat of arms in 2018. An exemption was not granted. The question of whether the crest may remain on the national team jerseys is currently pending before the Federal Administrative Court and has not yet been decided.

Two motions have now been submitted to the National Council. One from FDP Councillor of States Damian Müller (LU) and another from SP National Councillor Matthias Aebischer (BE). Both call for the Coat of Arms Protection Act, which has been in force since 2017, to be amended so that national teams can legally use the Swiss coat of arms.

The Federal Council takes a different view: in its statement on the motions, it insists on the distinction between the Swiss coat of arms and the Swiss cross. The white cross on a red field may be used by all those who meet the requirements. This also includes Swiss sports’ associations. The coat of arms, on the other hand, may only be used by the Swiss Confederation. If the legislation were now to be amended, this would be tantamount to "case-by-case legislation" according to the Federal Council. The associations would be allowed to use the Swiss cross on red, so there would be no need to amend the law.

Despite the Federal Council's comments, the Council of States has approved Damian Müller's motion by 28 votes to 10.

The motion must now be adopted by the National Council.

For further information, log onto the Pachmann Attorneys at Law website at: ‘www.pachmann.law’