is a municipality

Municipalities of Norway

Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties , and 430 municipalities...

 in the county

Counties of Norway

Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 430 municipalities...

 of Hordaland

Hordaland

is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark and Rogaland. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county administration is located in Bergen...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. It is located in the traditional district

Districts of Norway

The country Norway is historically divided into a number of districts. Many districts have deep historical roots, and only partially coincide with today's administrative units of counties and municipalities. The districts are defined by geographical features, often valleys, mountain ranges, fjords,...

 of Nordhordland

Nordhordland

Nordhordland is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, consisting of the northern portion of the county of Hordaland. It includes the municipalities Austrheim, Fedje, Lindås, Masfjorden, Meland, Modalen, Osterøy, Radøy and Vaksdal....

. The administrative centre is the village of Dalekvam

Dale, Hordaland

Dale is the administrative centre of Vaksdal municipality, Norway. Its population is 1,159 ....

.

Vaksdal was created as a new municipality on January 1, 1964 after the merger of parts of Bruvik

Bruvik

Not to be confused with Trygve Bruvik or Olav Bruvik.Bruvik is a village and former municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. The village is located in south-eastern costline of the Osterøy island, at the fjord of Sørfjorden....

, Evanger

Evanger

Evanger is a village and a former municipality in Vaksdal municipality, Hordaland county, Norway.-History:The village of Evanger is located in the western part of Voss, in the eastern end of the lake Evangervatnet. It was designated to be a municipality by a split from Voss on January 1, 1885. At...

, and Modalen

Modalen

Modalen is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Modalen was separated from Hosanger on 1 January 1910. The middle part of Eksingedalen was transferred from Modalen to Vaksdal on 1 January 1964.-Name:...

.

Name

The Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 form of the name was probably Vágsdalr. The first element is the genitive case

Genitive case

In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...

 of vágr which means "bay

Bay

A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...

" and the last element is dalr which means "valley

Valley

In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...

" or "dale".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 is from modern times. They were granted in 1990. It shows three shuttle

Shuttle (weaving)

A shuttle is a tool designed to neatly and compactly store weft yarn while weaving. Shuttles are thrown or passed back and forth through the shed, between the yarn threads of the warp in order to weave in the weft....

s for weaving

Weaving

Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...

, which represents the textile industry

Textile industry

The textile industry is primarily concerned with the production of yarn, and cloth and the subsequent design or manufacture of clothing and their distribution. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry....

of the municipality.