Editing Vaksdal (section)

==General information==
[[File:Bergsdalen kyrkje.jpg|thumb|left|Bergsdalen Church]]
[[File:Vaksdal.jpg|thumb|left|View of the village of Vaksdal]]
The municipality of Vaksdal was created on 1 January 1964 after a major municipal restructuring after the [[Schei Committee]]'s recommendations. Vaksdal was formed from the following places:<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}}</ref>
* All of [[Bruvik (municipality)|Bruvik]] municipality, except for the [[Bruvik, Hordaland|Bruvikbygda]] area on [[Osterøy (island)|Osterøy]] island (population: 5,264)
* The [[Bergsdalen]] and [[Eksingedalen]] valleys from the municipality of [[Evanger]] (population: 251)
* The rest of the [[Eksingedalen]] valley that was located in the municipality of [[Modalen]] (population: 151)

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the village of [[Vaksdal (village)|Vaksdal]] ({{langx|non|Vágsdalr}}), one of the main villages in the municipality. The first element is the [[genitive case]] of the word {{wikt-lang|non|vágr}} which means "[[bay]]" or "[[inlet]]". The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|dalr}} which means "[[valley]]" or "dale". Alternately, the first part of the name could be derived from a local river name spelled ''Vaxa'' or ''Veksa'' which would mean the valley of the river Vaxa/Veksa.<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=316 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
[[File:Vaksdal komm.svg|thumb|left|90px|Current arms since 1990]]
[[File:Bruvik komm.svg|thumb|left|90px|Arms from 1964 until 1990]]
On 1 January 1964, the new municipality of Vaksdal was established upon the merger of [[Bruvik (municipality)|Bruvik]] municipality with some neighboring areas. The old [[coat of arms]] for Bruvik Municipality was carried over to the new municipality. Bruvik's arms were granted on 14 December 1960, just a few years earlier, and they were in use until 16 November 1990 when a new design was approved. The [[blazon]] for the old arms was ''"[[Azure (heraldry)|Azure]], a [[Chevron (insignia)|chevron]] over a [[cogwheel]] [[argent]]"''. This means the arms have a blue [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a [[cogwheel]] with a chevron shape above it. The charge 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 design was chosen to symbolize the importance of industry in the municipality. 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=Bruvik |access-date=2023-05-18 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref>

A new [[coat of arms]] was granted on 16 November 1990 to replace the old arms. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Or (heraldry)|Or]], three shuttles [[Sable (heraldry)|sable]] palewise two and one"'' ({{langx|no|På gul grunn tre opprette svarte skytlar}}). This means the arms have a [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[Or (heraldry)|Or]] which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a set of three [[shuttle (weaving)|shuttle]]s for [[weaving]] that are lined up vertically. The shuttles were chosen to represent the past and present [[textile industry]] of the municipality. The [[Dale of Norway]] company is based here and it is an international company renowned for its wool sweaters. The arms were designed by Charles Lunde, a graphic designer who based the design on an idea by the local artist E. Eriksen. 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=Vaksdal |access-date=2023-05-18 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Vaksdal, Hordaland |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-12-51.html |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1990-11-16 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1990-11-16-1047 |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has six parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Vaksdal. It is part of the [[Hardanger og Voss prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Bjørgvin]].

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Vaksdal'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|Bergsdalen||[[Bergsdalen Church]]||[[Bergsdalen]]||1955
|-
|Dale||[[Dale Church (Vaksdal)|Dale Church]]||[[Dalekvam]]||1956
|-
|Eksingedal||[[Eksingedal Church]]||[[Flatkvål]]||1883
|-
|Nesheim||[[Nesheim Church]]||[[Nesheim, Vaksdal|Nesheim]]||1908
|-
|Stamnes||[[Stamnes Church]]||[[Stamneshella]]||1861
|-
|Vaksdal||[[Vaksdal Church]]||[[Vaksdal (village)|Vaksdal]]||1933
|}