The logging tongs appearing in Konnevesi's coat of arms refer to local forestry.

The coat of arms was designed by Gustaf von Numers, and the Konnevesi municipal council approved it in its meetings on 23 April 1964.

The Ministry of the Interior approved the coat of arms for use on 21 August that year.

The name is derived from the lake Konnevesi, which in turn likely refers to a Sámic word meaning "deer" (reconstructed proto-Sámic *kontē).

The dialect is transitional between the Central Finnish and Northern Savonian subgroups, with the speech of the western villages having more Central Finnish features while the speech in the eastern villages (such as Mäkäräniemi) is closer to the Northern Savonian dialects.