The coat of arms of the Swiss Confederation shows the same white-on-red cross as the flag of Switzerland, but on a heraldic shield instead of the square field.

While the simple coat of arms was in wide use, especially on coins, and from the early 20th century also on car number plates and passports, the full seal did not see official use beyond its representation in stained glass in the Federal Palace of Switzerland (c. 1900).

A frequently seen shield shape is the "Iberian" or "curved" type, specifically used to mark Swiss embassies and border crossings, and also used on the five franks coin.

Another frequently seen variant is a Renaissance-style articulated shield, shown as being held by the national personification Helvetia on the ½, 1 and 2 franks coins.

Use of the emblem is attested with certainty in the context of the Old Zürich War, for the year 1444, when the Tagsatzung defended itself against allegations that the troops of the Confederacy had deceptively used two different field signs (Heerzeichen).

Aegidius Tschudi (Chronik II.390) cites a song containing this allegation, specifying that the Swiss were bearing "two kinds of crosses, white at the back and red in front" (Si trügend zweierlei Crützeren, [...] Hinden wiß und vornen rot) to deceive the Zürich side.

The first known example where the cantonal coats of arms are shown as surrounding a Swiss cross representing the Confederacy is a medal commissioned by the Tagsatzung from Zürich goldsmith Hans Stampfer in 1547 as a gift for the French princess Claude.

Similar representations are found throughout the early modern period, on commemorative medals and on regimental seals used by Swiss Guards in French service.

[4] The Napoleonic Helvetic Republic adopted an official seal on 12 May 1798, showing William Tell and his son, holding the apple pierced by the crossbow bolt.

[9] The legislation, passed on 12 December 1889 (SR 111), explicitly invokes the Tagsatzung decision of 1815 as retaining validity, with the only addition of specifying the proportions of the cross, the four arms having equal length, in a ratio to their width of 7:6.

The heraldic shield was of the "baroque" type, with an engrailed top, in the 1900/06 models produced from 1909–1914 by Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken (DWM).

The representation of the Swiss coat of arms in a convex triangular shield representing the federal administration is a tradition introduced in the early 20th century.

[13] In spite of the more restrictive 2017 definition of the "Swiss coat of arms", other styles of heraldic shield remain in official use, specifically on coins and number plates.