Although the first city coat of arms and the city coat of arms today also feature skis, the name Skien has nothing to do with the former "means of transportation" and later the sports equipment skis.
And the town is not called Ski-en in Skien, but Sche-en.
The skis were already included in the first city coat of arms known from the 17th century and they have remained in the coat of arms.
The crossed ski poles in today's city coat of arms are a modification of an older cross. The two "rose trees" on the side may only have been intended as a decorative element, but they have also been interpreted as Solum and Gjerpen, which surround Skien.
The town's name also originates from the word ski, but then the meaning is a split or split log of wood, as in vedski and skigard.
But which split or which division is Skiða?
Most likely, Skiða is the mountain ridge that separates the inland waterway in Hjellevannet and the beginning of the Skienselva in Bryggevannet.