Coat of arms of Nuuk The red siminar, with gold windows and a weathercock, represents education and culture, while the yellow paddle, also known as the "kayak paddle", symbolizes the way of life of the indigenous peoples of Greenland, hunters of fish and other sea creatures; most importantly, it also symbolizes that Nuuk is the true power of Greenland. The blue and white waves, which are collected in three sets, growing larger as they get to the red siminar, represent two different things: the blue waves represent the sea fjord near Nuuk, and the white waves represent the sea ice. The coat of arms, against
Nuuk occupied by the Dorset culture around the former settlement of Kangeq but they disappeared from the Nuuk district before AD 1000. The Nuuk area was later inhabited by Viking explorers in the 10th century (Western Settlement), and shortly thereafter by Inuit peoples. Inuit and Norsemen both lived with little interaction in this area from about 1000 until the disappearance of the Norse settlement for uncertain reasons during the 15th century. The city proper was founded as the fort of Godt-Haab in 1728 by the royal governor Claus Paarss, when he relocated the missionary and merchant Hans Egede's earlier Hope Colony