Editing Øygarden (section)

==General information==
[[File:Hellesundet 01.jpg|thumb|left|View of Hellesundet]]
The municipality of Øygarden was established on 1 January 1964. It was created by a merger that was set in motion by the [[Schei Committee]]. The newly created Øygarden was made up of all of the old municipality of [[Hjelme]] (population: 956) and almost all of the municipality of [[Herdla]] (population: 2131) that was located west of the [[Hjeltefjorden]] (except for the islands of [[Turøy]] and [[Misje]] which went to the neighboring municipality of [[Fjell]]).<ref name="Dag">{{Cite web |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 2020, the three neighboring municipalities of [[Fjell]], [[Sund, Norway|Sund]], and Øygarden were merged into one large island municipality called ''Øygarden''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vår nye kommune |url=http://www.varnyekommune.no/ |access-date=2017-10-28 |language=no}}</ref>

The [[administrative centre]] of Øygarden has changed three times over the years. From 1964 until 2009, it was located at the village of [[Tjeldstø]]. From 2009 through 2019, it was located in the village of [[Rong, Norway|Rong]]. In 2020, the [[administrative centre]] was moved to the large village of [[Straume, Øygarden|Straume]] after the municipal merger with Fjell and Sund.

===Name===
The municipality of Øygarden was created in 1964 and the name was created at the same time. The name is the finite form of {{lang|nn|øygard}} which means "island group" or more specifically "row (fence) of [[island]]s". The first element is identical to the word {{wikt-lang|no|øy}} which means "[[island]]". The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|garden}} which means "the farm".<ref name="snl">{{Cite web |last=Store norske leksikon |author-link=Store norske leksikon |title=Øygarden |url=https://snl.no/%C3%98ygarden |access-date=2014-11-28 |language=no}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
[[File:Øygarden komm -2019.svg|thumb|left|100px|Arms from 1966 until 2020]]
[[File:Øygarden komm.svg|thumb|left|100px|Arms since 2020]]
The original [[coat of arms]] was granted in 1966, shortly after the establishment of the municipality. The [[blazon]] was ''"Azure, a [[fess]] [[Engrailed (heraldry)|engrailed]] [[argent]] below a [[cairn]] sable and argent"''. This means the arms have a blue [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a reference sea [[cairn]] sitting on an islet rising above a sea wave. The wave and a small stripe on the buoy both have a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[argent]] which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The municipality consisted of larger and smaller islands and islets. The design was chosen to symbolize the importance of fishing and sea navigation for the area. Hence the importance of sea cairns, [[buoy]]s and [[lighthouse]]s for safety in the municipality. The arms were designed by Magnus Hardeland. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref name="nk">{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Øygarden |access-date=2023-05-22 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Øygarden kommune, våpen |url=https://foto.digitalarkivet.no/fotoweb/archives/5003-Kommunev%C3%A5pen/Kart%20og%20tegninger%20og%20segl/%C3%98ygarden%20fra%20SNL.JPG.info#c=%2Ffotoweb%2Farchives%2F5003-Kommunev%25C3%25A5pen%2F%3Fq%3D%25C3%25B8ygarden |access-date=2023-05-22 |website=Digitalarkivet |publisher=Arkivverket |language=no}}</ref>

A new [[coat of arms]] was adopted in 2019 for use starting on 1 January 2020 after a municipal merger where Sund, Fjell, and Øygarden merged to form a new Øygarden municipality. The new municipality decided to use the coat of arms for the old [[Sund, Norway|Sund Municipality]] which had originally been granted to that municipality on 23 March 1988. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Argent]], a lighthouse [[couped]] [[Azure (heraldry)|azure]]"'' ({{langx|no|På sølv grunn ei blå fyrlykt}}). This means the arms have a [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[argent]] which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a [[lighthouse]]. The lighthouse reflects the municipality's close ties to the sea, and the white colour represents the light emitted from the lighthouse. The arms were designed by Even Jarl Skoglund. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref name="nk" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sund, Hordaland (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-12-45.html |access-date=2023-05-22 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Sund_(Hordaland) |access-date=2020-02-02 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kommunevåpen for Sund kommune |url=https://www.sund.kommune.no/om-sund/kommunevapen/ |access-date=2014-12-17 |publisher=Sund kommune |language=no}}</ref>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has four parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Øygarden. It is part of the [[Vesthordland prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Bjørgvin]].

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Øygarden'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|Blomvåg||[[Blomvåg Church]]||[[Blomvåg]]||1931
|-
|rowspan="3"|Fjell||[[Fjell Church]]||[[Fjell (village)|Fjell]]||1874
|-
|[[Foldnes Church]]||[[Foldnes]]||2001
|-
|[[Landro Church]]||[[Landro, Hordaland|Landro]]||1977
|-
|rowspan="2"|Hjelme||[[Hjelme Church]]||[[Seløyna]]||1971
|-
||[[Old Hjelme Church]]||[[Seløyna]]||1875
|}