The top part of the coat of arms shows the location of the district near the Rhine valley. The silver band symbolized the Rhine river. This symbol comes from the coat of arms of the former Prussian province Rhineland. In the left side, the double bars are thought to symbolize a castle; they were used by the earls of Berg at around 1100. In 1225, when the dukes of Limburg did take over, they introduced their sign, the red lion with a blue tongue, into the coat of arms of the earldom.