ZUG
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Zug is a small but wealthy canton of Switzerland: a quiet town, a lake, and one of Europe's most influential business centers, where cozy old streets coexist with the world's largest companies. Despite this practicality, unicorns are said to have been spotted here.
ZUG: ICONIC LANDMARKS
The small old town on the lakeshore is famous for its sunsets and atmosphere of quiet well-being.
Zug is a canton that has learned to combine pastoral life with the global economy. Small in territory, it is surprisingly large in financial clout. Low taxes have made it a magnet for international companies, but the sound of cowbells can still be heard behind its glass facades.
Zug's old town overlooks the lake with its softly curved facades. The Zytturm tower preserves its medieval silhouette, and the Alps are reflected on embankment in evening. Here, it's easy to believe that wealth can be quiet.
The Zugerberg mountain rises above the city like a natural balcony. From here, the water, rooftops, and distant peaks are visible. The contrast is particularly striking: below are the offices of digital companies, above are pastures and trails.
Zug manages to be pragmatic without being cynical. He seems to be saying: success isn't necessarily noise. Sometimes it's simply the perfect spot between the lake and the horizon.
ZUG: COAT OF ARMS' HISTORY
The simple and austere symbolism reflects the ancient colours of the region and its long history.
The territory of today's canton of Zug was originally settled by the Helvetians and was part of the Roman Empire from the time of Julius Caesar. The settlement of Zug was first mentioned in historical documents in 1255 as a possession of the Counts of Kyburg. In 1273, it was purchased by Rudolf of Habsburg. Interestingly, the population of Zug was free during the era in which its reliable history begins. That is, in the 13th century, the inhabitants of Zug did not know serfdom.
The name Zug is traditionally associated with the process of pulling in fishing nets — the German word zug means "to pull." This was used to describe the historical privilege of the locals to fish in these waters.
The earliest depiction of the local coat of arms dates back to the city seal of 1319 .
The canton inherited its symbols from the city, but local heraldists jealously point out that the cantonal and city coats of arms are "not at all identical." The blue stripe on the cantonal coat of arms is noticeably deeper and darker than on the city coat of arms. To make life easier for those who still confuse the shades, around 1910, a golden city wall was added above the city coat of arms — a kind of architectural cue for observers.
Initially, Zug's flags looked quite different. They resembled the colors of Austria — red, white, and red . This is unsurprising: until the 14th century, the territory belonged to the Austrian dukes. However, after joining the Confederation in 1352, the colors were replaced with the current ones, although the principle of horizontal division remained the same. According to a popular, but unconfirmed, theory, the white represents the Alpine snows , and the blue represents the numerous lakes.
A curious local legend about the origin of the current coat of arms offers a slightly different account. It's said that the residents of Zug, a wealthy yet thrifty people, refused to change their expensive official seals after leaving Austrian rule.
So they simply retained the original seal design, but replaced the red with white, and the white with blue. The coat of arms was transformed without requiring any new expenditure. A perfect example of medieval rebranding and financial efficiency.
ZUG: FUN FACTS
Of the unicorns from heraldic to billion-dollar ones: in Zug, virtue quietly learned how to scale.
The unicorn in heraldry is a character with a strong moral compass: it represents prudence, discretion, purity, and virtue. In the canton of Zug, there's a small town called Hünenberg , whose coat of arms features two unicorns .
The coat of arms is beautiful and bright, but the question arises: should residents live up to the double standard of virtues ? However, the locals don't object — tradition is tradition, but life can be lived with humor.
And then comes Zug’s modern twist: Crypto Valley. A global hub for blockchain startups, where digital unicorns — billion-dollar companies — graze peacefully among tax efficiency, lake views, and quiet Swiss precision.
Here, innovation wears a suit, speaks in code, and occasionally checks the market cap before coffee. Turns out, Zug didn’t abandon its unicorns; it simply upgraded them — from heraldic purity to venture-backed valuation, keeping the magic but adding a balance sheet.
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