Subdivisions of Switzerland difficulties maintaining the civil services they need to perform the duties they are required to do. In an effort to reduce expenses, many municipalities are combining together (through mergers or the creation of special-purpose districts). This restructuring is generally encouraged by the cantonal governments and the rate of these unions is increasing. "Cities" ("villes" or "Städte") are the municipalities with more than 10'000 inhabitants or smaller places which had medieval town rights. There is no specific designation for smaller communities such as "village" or "town". Some subdivisions that exist are: Subdivisions of Switzerland The Swiss Confederation comprises the 26 cantons
Flags and arms of cantons of Switzerland arranging cantonal insignia in shields ("escutcheons") as coats of arms arises in the late 15th century. The "Tagsatzung" in Baden was presented with stained glass representations of all cantons in ca. 1501. In these designs, two cantonal "escutcheons" were shown side by side, below a shield bearing the Imperial Eagle and a crown, flanked by two banner-bearers. Based on these, there arose a tradition of representing cantonal arms in stained glass ("Standesscheiben"), alive throughout the early modern period and continued in the modern state. The flag of Zürich is derived from a blue-and-white design attested since the 1220s, the diagonal