Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the local river Jølstra (Old Norse: Jǫlmstr) since it runs through the lower parts of the municipality. The may be derived from the word jálmr which means "noise", likely referring to the noise and rumble of the river.^[10]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 22 July 1983. The official blazon is "Gules, a cross fleury Or" (Norwegian: På raud grunn ein gull liljekross). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a cross fleury. The cross has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The arms are loosely inspired by the medieval arms of Audun Hugleiksson who was from Hegranes in Jølster. He was a medieval nobleman (died in 1302) who built Audunborg, one of only two private stone castles in Norway. On his seals, he used a shield with a rose that was surrounded with double tressure flory-counterflory. He also used the fleur-de-lis as ornamentation throughout his castle. The arms of Jølster were derived from this tressure and the fleur-de-lis. The modern arms were designed by Elsa Norunn Håheim Nydal who based it off an idea by Magnus Hardeland. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.^[11][12][13]

Churches

The Church of Norway had two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Jølster. It was part of the Sunnfjord prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Jølster was made up of 25 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors

The mayors (Nynorsk: ordførar) of Jølster:^[32]

Astruptunet

Astruptunet was the home of the painter Nikolai Astrup (1880–1928) for the last fourteen years of his life. The Astrup Farm (Astruptunet) was the artist's home and small farm, but today it is a museum and art gallery, kept as it was in Astrup's days, nestled among the steep but fertile slopes on the south side of Jølstravatn. The barn was torn down and rebuilt as a gallery, but in the same style as the old barn. The gallery has permanent exhibitions of Astrup's work such as paintings, graphics, wood-engraving plates and sketches. Most of his scenes have been taken from Jølster and Nikolai Astrup has since remained one of the most Norwegian of our national artists.

Nikolai Astrup lived most of his life in Jølster. Astrup often is regarded as the artist of Western Norway, as he found virtually all of his motives in his home surroundings. He's considered the "most Norwegian" of all the national artists of Norway.^[34]

Eikaas Gallery

Another Norwegian painter and graphic artist, Ludvig Eikaas, is closely connected to Jølster. The artist grew up in Jølster, but later moved to Oslo. He is among other things famous for his non-figurative art and portraits/self-portraits.

The Eikaas Gallery was originally an old dairy farm in Ålhus that was purchased by the municipality of Jølster and converted to a modern art gallery. The collection contains about 300 works of art by Ludvig Eikaas.^[34]

Jølstra Museum

The Jølstra museum is a private village green with many original Jølstra buildings and a collection of around 3,000 artifacts. There are also exhibitions of paintings by Ludvig Eikaas and Oddvar Torsheim and of Jølster textiles.^[34]

Jølster Alpine Ski Centre

Jølster alpine ski centre lies at Vassenden. There are lighted ski trails in the villages of Årdal and Dvergsdalen. Jølster also has mountains for Telemark skiing enthusiasts.^[34]