Editing Aurland (section)

==General information==
[[File:View of the Aurlandsfjord, Aurlandsvangen and Flam from below the Prest Summit.jpg|thumb|left|View of the Aurlandsfjorden, [[Aurlandsvangen]], and [[Flåm]]]]
Aurland was established as a [[List of municipalities of Norway|municipality]] on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). The original municipality was identical to the Aurland [[Church of Norway|parish]] ''([[prestegjeld]])'' with the sub-parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) of [[Aurlandsvangen]], [[Flåm]], and [[Undredal]]. In 1859, the sub-parish of Nærøy was created by separating it from the sub-parish of Undredal. The municipal borders have not changed since 1838.<ref name="Dag">{{Cite book |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |year=1999 |isbn=9788253746845 |language=no |access-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901160307/http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |archive-date=1 September 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the old village of ''[[Aurlandsvangen|Aurland]]'' ({{langx|non|Aurland}}) since the first [[Vangen Church (Aurland)|Vangen Church]] was built there. The first element is {{wikt-lang|non|aurr}} which means "[[gravel]]" or "moist earth". The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|land}} which means "land" or "district".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lN1LAQAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Nordre Bergenhus amt |date=1919 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=12 |location=Kristiania, Norge |page=107 |language=no |access-date=8 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709095433/https://books.google.com/books?id=lN1LAQAAIAAJ |archive-date=9 July 2023 |url-status=live |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 22 May 1987. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Azure (heraldry)|Azure]], a goat buck's head [[Erased (heraldry)|erased]] [[argent]]"'' ({{langx|no|På blå grunn eit avrive sølv geitebukkhovud}}). This means the arms have a blue [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is the head of a male [[goat]]. The goat head 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. A goat was considered an appropriate symbol for the municipality since the area is famed for its [[goat farming]] and its production of [[Goat's milk cheese|goat cheese]]. The arms were designed by Inge Rotevatn. 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=Aurland |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008123131/https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Aurland |archive-date=8 October 2022 |access-date=13 May 2023 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Aurland, Sogn og Fjordane (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-14-21.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123045107/https://crwflags.com/FOTW/FLAGS/no-14-21.html |archive-date=23 January 2022 |access-date=13 May 2023 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=22 May 1987 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1987-05-22-446 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420004133/https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1987-05-22-446 |archive-date=20 April 2023 |access-date=13 May 2023 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref> {{see also|Vinje#Coat of arms}}

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

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Aurland'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|Flåm||[[Flåm Church]]||[[Flåm]]||1667
|-
||Nærøy||[[Bakka Church]]||[[Bakka, Sogn og Fjordane|Bakka]]||1859
|-
||Undredal||[[Undredal Stave Church]]||[[Undredal]]||1147
|-
||Vangen||[[Vangen Church (Aurland)|Vangen Church]]||[[Aurlandsvangen]]||1202
|}