The bear of Bern on the coat of arms

​The hero of Bern is the Bear. There is a bear park in Bern worthy of a visit and in easy walking distance from the main rail station. The Bear has long served as namesake, emblem, mascot and — at times — personification of Bern.
The founding legend has it that Duke Berthold V of Zähringen vowed to choose as namesake the first animal his hunt met in the wood that was to be chopped down for the new city. The hunt for the bear as depicted in the Tschachtlan chronicles. See the original coat of arms above the gate.

This then became an upright black bear on a white shield (which is, incidentally, the coat of arms of Berlin).
 And now today’s image