Editing Ølen (section)

==History==
[[File:NO 1214 Ølen.svg|thumb|left|Map of Ølen in Hordaland county prior to 2002 when it was transferred to Rogaland county]]
[[File:Ølen. - no-nb digifoto 20150317 00120 NB MIT FNR 10386.jpg|thumb|left|View of Ølen in the first half of the 20th century]]
[[File:Ølen kirke anno 2018.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ølen Church]]]]
The parish of Ølen was established as a municipality on 1 July 1916 when it was split off from the large municipality of [[Fjelberg]]. Initially, Ølen had 1,715 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipality of [[Vikebygd]] was dissolved and the eastern half of it (population: 578) was merged into the municipality of Ølen.<ref name="Dag">{{Cite book |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |year=1999 |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |language=no |isbn=9788253746845}}</ref>

On 1 January 2002, the municipality of Ølen was transferred administratively from [[Hordaland]] county to [[Rogaland]] county. On 1 January 2003, the people of Ølen and the neighboring municipality of [[Vindafjord]] held a merger referendum which was successful. On 1 January 2006, Ølen and Vindafjord merged, forming a larger municipality called Vindafjord. Before the merger, Ølen had a population of 3,426. The coat of arms of the new Vindafjord municipality bears the design of the old Ølen arms and the colours of the old Vindafjord arms.<ref name="snl">{{Cite web |last=Store norske leksikon |author-link=Store norske leksikon |title=Ølen |url=https://snl.no/%C3%98len |access-date=2015-03-12 |language=Norwegian}}</ref><ref name="Dag" />

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the [[Ølsfjorden]] ({{langx|non|Ǫlund}}) since it was a central geographical feature of the municipality. The meaning of the name is uncertain, but it may come from the word {{wikt-lang|non|ala}} which means "to produce" or "to nourish", possibly referring to the rich fishing in the fjord.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ud5LAQAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Bergenhus amt |date=1910 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=11 |location=Kristiania, Norge |page=91 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 4 April 1986. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Gyronny]] [[embowed]] [[argent]] and [[Vert (heraldry)|vert]]"'' ({{langx|no|Åttedelt av sølv og grønt ved virvelsnitt}}). This means the arms are a whirl design that divides the shield into 8 curved sections. The [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) alternates colors, with half having a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of green and the other half have a tincture of [[argent]] which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The design was chosen to symbolise the way that several major roads come together in the municipality, making it an important centre of trade. The arms were designed by Vigdis Viland. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Ølen |access-date=2023-06-29 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Vindafjord |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-11-60.html |access-date=2023-06-29 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1986-04-11 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1986-04-11-896 |access-date=2023-06-29 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref>