Palatine Lion
After the Second World War the Palatinate Lion re-emerged as the regional symbol of the Palatinate, for example, on postage stamps in the French Zone of Occupation. Following the creation of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in 1946, to which the Palatinate belonged, the Palatine Lion occupied a central place in the state coat of arms of Rhineland-Palatinate. The other elements of the Rhineland-Palatine coat of arms are the Wheel of Mainz ("Mainzer Rad") and the Cross of Trier ("Trierer Kreuz"). Even the semi-official coat of arms of the Province of Palatinate, which existed from 1946 to 1968 and dated to the 19th century, bore the Palatine Lion, which after the inclusion of the former territories of Electoral Mainz and Electoral Trier, symbolised the region of the present-day Palatinate.
North Rhine
It was formed on 5 June 1945 on the basis of the Berlin Declaration and the resulting creation of occupation zones for the victors of World War II out of the administrative regions ("Regierungsbezirke") of Aachen, Düsseldorf and Cologne, which were all part of Prussia's Rhine Province. The southern part of Rhine province, consisting of the administrative regions of Koblenz and Trier became part of the French occupation zone on 5 June 1945. The division of the Rhineland, which had been united in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna under the Prussian crown, was thus pre-destined to be split between different governments and administrations - from summer 1946 into the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. Rhine Province existed until 20 October 1946. On that day the government formed in August 1946 for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia dissolved the upper councils of the provinces of North Rhine and Westphalia on the instructions of the British occupying power.