Editing Lillesand (section)

==General information==
[[File:Lillesand church.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Lillesand Church]] in the centre of the town]] 
The [[Lillesand (town)|town of Lillesand]] was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). 
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On 1 January 1962, the following areas were merged into a new, larger municipality of Lillesand:<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>
*the [[Lillesand (town)|town of Lillesand]] (population: 1,041)
*the rural municipality of [[Høvåg]] (population: 1,330)
*the rural municipality of [[Vestre Moland]] (population: 2,454)
*the Gitmarkgårdene area of [[Eide, Aust-Agder|Eide municipality]] (population: 22)

===Name===
The municipality was named after the town of [[Lillesand (town)|Lillesand]], originally just ''Sand'' ({{langx|non|Sandr}}). The name is identical to the word {{wikt-lang|non|sandr}} which means "[[sand]]" or "sandy beach". The prefix is {{wikt-lang|no|lille}}, which means "little", was added after the founding of [[Kristiansand (town)|Christianssand]] in 1641 to distinguish it from the greater and more important town nearby.<ref name="snl">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Lillesand |encyclopedia=[[Store norske leksikon]] |publisher=[[Kunnskapsforlaget]] |url=https://snl.no/Lillesand |access-date=2017-11-05 |date=2017-10-31 |editor-last=Thorsnæs |editor-first=Geir |language=no}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
[[File:Lillesand komm.svg|thumb|left|100px|Current coat of arms (since 1987)]]
[[File:Lillesand komm 1954.svg|thumb|left|100px|Previous coat of arms (1954-1987)]]
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 11 September 1987. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Azure (heraldry)|Azure]], three anchors argent in [[Pall (heraldry)|pall]] [[Annulet (heraldry)|annulets]] conjoined"'' ({{langx|no|I blått tre sølv ankere forent i trepass}}). This means the arms have a blue [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is three [[anchor]]s. The anchors 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 blue color in the field and the anchors were chosen to symbolize the connection that the municipality has with the sea. There are three anchors to symbolize the three smaller municipalities that were merged in 1964 to form the present municipality. The arms were designed by Daniel Rike. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref name="kv">{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Lillesand |access-date=2023-01-17 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref name="fw">{{Cite web |title=Lillesand, Aust-Agder (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-09-26.html |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1987-09-11 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1987-09-11-780?q=flagg |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref>

The previous coat of arms for Lillesand was approved on 15 December 1954 and in use until 10 September 1987. The [[blazon]] was ''"[[Azure (heraldry)|Azure]], an anchor under a tern [[Volant (heraldry)|volant]] argent"''. This means the arms have a blue [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is an anchor with an [[Arctic tern]] flying above it. The anchor and tern 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. Both symbols refer to the long coastline of the municipality and the importance of fishing and shipping for the local economy. The arms were designed by Jens T. Thommasen and Kjell Westermark Mørch.<ref name="kv" /><ref name="fw" /> {{see also-text|Coats of arms of [[Coat of arms of Narvik|Narvik]] and [[Coat of arms of Nøtterøy|Nøtterøy]]}}

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has two parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Lillesand. It is part of the [[Vest-Nedenes prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Agder og Telemark]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Lillesand'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="1"|Høvåg||[[Høvåg Church]]||[[Høvåg (village)|Høvåg]]||c. 1100
|-
|rowspan="3"|Lillesand||[[Lillesand Church]]||[[Lillesand (town)|Lillesand]]||1889
|-
|[[Justøy Chapel]]||[[Brekkestø]]||1884
|-
|[[Vestre Moland Church]]||Møglestu||c. 1150
|}