A lion is of course male so what else should it have between its legs? But then again I have seen cows in cartoons depicted as male. No wonder children grow up confused nowadays.

"Does anyone know the Latin for "Make Love - Not War?" Would it be: "Facit Amare - non Bellum"?"

Garth, I vaguely remember from secondary school Latin that the verb always goes at the end so "amare non bellum facit" - facit - he she or it makes? Imperative should be something more like "facere"? "Amare non bellum facere"? (A very long time since I opened a Latin book)

Peter, Dublin, Ireland

And yet, it still has a mane...

andrew O, cleveland, United States

"American military blogger sneered." Ahh, the Lesser American chickenhawk showing once again how Americans are toughest when they're blogging.

Dave C., Heanor,

"FACIT AMARE - NON BELLUM"?

The solution to this dilemma is very obvious!

Have/show TWO lions rampant on the Coat of Arms!: One with a willy...the other with a ...jilly! - or is it a "dilly"?! Now, what could be more elegantly egalitarian and politically correct?

Just don't have Willy and Jilly rampanting rampantly with each other, OK? We all know that those Swedes are very sexy, and so on and so forth, but ...think of the children!

On the other hand...on second thought...in the spirit of "Make Love - NOT WAR!" showing a little hanky-panty..may not be such a terrible thing! Just think about it! They could sell those Coats of Arms like HOT cakes! The Swedish Treasury would be rolling in dough!

Does anyone know the Latin for "Make Love - Not War?" Would it be: "Facit Amare - non Bellum"?

Garth Rex, Glendale Heights, USA/IL

The original lion rampant, as illustrated, owes more to the imagination of some unknown Swedish Herald Pursuivant, who seems to have grafted a facsimile of human male genitalia onto the stylised lion. In life, the lion's testicles are apparent caudal to the haunches, and the penis (except when erect) is camouflaged by ventral fur. Thus, the apparently castrated lions rampant throughout European heraldry are rather more realistic than their Swedish counterpart.

Of more concern is the fact that women in the Swedish armed forces are so prudish that they apparently feel offended enough to demand this artistic emasculation, especially since Sweden has long been recognised as one of the more progressive nations when it comes to sexuality.

Bill Q, Derby,

Has Paul seen South African women in army uniform??
Some are lovely and others downright ugly.
There should be no such thing as women soldiers. It is not good for good order and discipline. Believe me I know.

Brian O Cinneide, Durban, South Africa

"Coats of arms containing lions without genitalia were given to those who betrayed the Crown."
That says it all.

PC now stands for political castration.

Mike R.

Mike R, Germany,

If you see a swedish woman in uniform you are in for a treat!

paul anthony, johannesburg, south africa