Names of Switzerland: Confederation, Confoederatio Helvetica, CH

Switzerland has several names. The official name in the Federal Constitution is «Swiss Confederation» (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft). In everyday life people often just say «Confederation» (Eidgenossenschaft). In Switzerland the word means roughly «state». It comes from «Eid», an oath, which is a solemn promise. In the Middle Ages the first places promised each other mutual help. Anyone who made such an alliance was a «Confederate» (Eidgenosse).

Switzerland has four national languages. So that no language is favoured, a Latin name is often used: «Confoederatio Helvetica». Confoederatio means alliance or confederation. The Helvetii were a Celtic people who lived here about 2000 years ago. Since the founding of the federal state in 1848, this has been the official Latin name. It appears, for example, on the 5-franc coin.

The abbreviation CH comes from Confoederatio Helvetica. You see it every day: on car number plates, in the internet address «.ch» and in the currency CHF, the Swiss franc. So if you understand the abbreviation, you also know the Latin name of the country. The authorities like to use it too.

Memory aid: CH as in CHF (Swiss franc) and «.ch»: always Confoederatio Helvetica.