Selbu

Selbu is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mebonden. Other villages in Selbu include Flora, Fossan, Hyttbakken, Innbygda, Selbustrand, Trøa, Tømra, and Vikvarvet. The municipality is the 86th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Selbu is the 200th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,090. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 1.2% over the previous 10-year period. The municipality (originally the parish) of Selbu was established on 1 January 1838 (see Formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1901, the eastern part of the municipality was separated to form the new municipality of Tydal. This left Selbu with 4,607 inhabitants. The borders of Selbu have not changed since that date. On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Sør-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county. The municipality (originally the parish) is named "Selbu" (Selabú) after a nearby lake since the first Selbu Church was built near its southeastern shore. The first element is the genitive case of the old name of the lake Selbusjøen (Seli). The old name of the lake is probably derived from the word seli which means "harness" since the lake is long and narrow. The last element is bú which means "rural district". The coat of arms was granted on 31 May 1991. The official blazon is "Argent, 24 lozenges sable in three rosettes two over one" (I sølv 24 svarte spissruter samlet i tre rosetter, 2-1). This means the arms have a field (background) has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The charge is a three selburoses made out of 8 rhombus shapes each. The selburose design is a typical pattern used in the local lusekofte (traditional Norwegian sweaters) and other woollen garments. Home knitting has been a long tradition in the municipality. The arms were designed by John Digernes. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.