It is said that it originates from the black (heathen) and white (Christian) horse the Saxon leader Widukind rode on, or Odin's horse Sleipnir.
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The white horse is similar to the one used in the coat of arms for the county of Kent in England, which is likely to have originated in the Rhineland area.
Indeed, continental origins of this emblem can be found from the coat of arms of Lower Saxony, the Dutch region of Twente, the House of Welf (who adapted it in the late 14th century; before then the Welf coat of arms was a golden lion on red ground) and the modern German State of North Rhine-Westphalia: the Saxon Steed.
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