The area of the district was owned by several different states historically. Before 1800 it was split between many minor rulers, then it became the border area between the Baden and Württemberg, and embedded in between was the duchy Sigmaringen.
The duchy Sigmaringen became part of Kingdom of Prussia in 1849, at that time it had the Oberamt Sigmaringen and the Oberamt Gammertingen. Both were merged into the Landkreis Sigmaringen in 1925. In 1973 the district was enlarged by adding municipalities from the neighboring districts Saulgau, Stockach, Überlingen and Reutlingen. A roughly equal portion of the districts area came from all the three historic states.
Geography[]
The district is located in the mountains of the Swabian Alb, Linzgau and Upper Swabia.
Coat of arms[]
The deer in the coat of arms is the symbol of the duchy of Sigmaringen as well as that of the city of Sigmaringen. This symbol probably is from the Counts of Peutengau-Hirschberg who were the Lords of Sigmaringen until 1253. Hirsch is the German word for deer. The red color with the white bar below the deer derives from the Austrian coat of arms, as part of the district belonged to Austria historically.