The canton of Bern or Berne (German: Kanton Bern; Romansh: Chantun Berna; French: canton de Berne; Italian: Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the de facto capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the canton, displayed on a red-yellow background. Formerly part of the Holy Roman Empire, the canton of Bern entered an alliance with the Swiss Forest Cantons in 1323 and joined the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1353.