Coat of arms of Slovakia
Encyclopedia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
consists of a red (gules) shield, in early gothic style, charged
Charge (heraldry)
In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...
with a silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
(argent) double cross
Patriarchal cross
The Patriarchal cross is a variant of the Christian cross, the religious symbol of Christianity. Similar to the familiar Latin cross, the Patriarchal cross possesses a smaller crossbar placed above the main one, so that both crossbars are near the top. Sometimes the patriarchal cross has a short,...
standing on the middle peak of a dark blue mountain consisting of three peaks. Extremities of the cross are amplificated, and its ends are concaved. The double cross is a symbol of its Christian faith and the hills represent three symbolic mountain ranges: Tatra
Tatra Mountains
The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra , are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains...
, Fatra
Fatra
Fatra is the old or imprecise name of two mountain ranges in Slovakia:*Greater Fatra *Lesser Fatra...
and Mátra
Mátra
Mátra is a mountain range in northern Hungary, between the towns Gyöngyös and Eger. The country's highest peak, Kékestető , belongs to this mountain range....
(the last one is in northern Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
). These symbols are very close to the ones used in the Coat of arms of Hungary
Coat of arms of Hungary
The current coat of arms of Hungary was adopted on July 3, 1990, after the end of communist rule. The arms have been used before, both with and without the Holy Crown of Hungary, sometimes as part of a larger, more complex coat of arms, and its elements date back to the Middle Ages.The shield is...
.
Double cross
One of the modern interpretations of the double cross is that it represents Slovakia as an heir and guardian of ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
tradition, brought to the region by St. Cyril
Saints Cyril and Methodius
Saints Cyril and Methodius were two Byzantine Greek brothers born in Thessaloniki in the 9th century. They became missionaries of Christianity among the Slavic peoples of Bulgaria, Great Moravia and Pannonia. Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they...
and St. Methodius, two missionaries from the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
.
The two-barred cross in the Slovak coat of arms originated in the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire in the 9th century. Unlike the Christian cross
Christian cross
The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity...
, the symbolism and meaning of the double cross is not well understood. One interpretation is that the first horizontal line symbolized the secular power and the other horizontal line the ecclesiastic power of Byzantine emperors. Another that the first cross represents the death and the second cross the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the Byzantine Empire of the 9th century, the double cross was a political symbol used by Byzantine clerks and missionaries.
The double cross arrived in the territory of current-day Slovakia probably no later than during the 9th century mission of Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia
Great Moravia
Great Moravia was a Slavic state that existed in Central Europe and lasted for nearly seventy years in the 9th century whose creators were the ancestors of the Czechs and Slovaks. It was a vassal state of the Germanic Frankish kingdom and paid an annual tribute to it. There is some controversy as...
. Though used frequently in Great Moravia, it was not a state symbol at that time, because there were no state symbols in the modern sense in Europe at that time yet. By means of Zwentibold
Zwentibold
Zwentibold was the illegitimate son of the Carolingian Emperor Arnulf of Carinthia. In 895 his father, then king of East Francia, granted him the Kingdom of Lotharingia, which he ruled until his death.After his death he was declared a saint and martyr by the Catholic Church.- Life :Zwentibold...
(the ruler of Lorraine
Lorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....
, son of the German emperor Arnulf of Carinthia and godchild of the Great Moravian king Svatopluk I
Svatopluk I
Svatopluk I or Zwentibald I was the greatest ruler of Moravia that attained its maximum territorial expansion in his reign . His career had already started in the 860s, when he governed a principality, the location of which is still a matter of debate among historians, within Moravia under the...
), this symbol got to Lorraine and is called the cross of Lorraine
Cross of Lorraine
The Cross of Lorraine is originally a heraldic cross. The two-barred cross consists of a vertical line crossed by two smaller horizontal bars. In the ancient version, both bars were of the same length. In 20th century use it is "graded" with the upper bar being the shortest...
there.
The double cross symbol appeared again in rudimentary features on the first coins that Stephen I, the first king of the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
(part of which now forms the territory of present-day Slovakia), had minted at an unknown place. Before he became king in 1000, he was the Grand Prince of the Principality of Hungary
Principality of Hungary
The Principality of Hungary, also Hungarian Principality or Duchy of Hungary , was the first documented Hungarian state, a tribal alliance in the Carpathian Basin, established 895 or 896, following the 9th-century Magyar invasion of Pannonia.The Magyars , a semi-nomadic group of people led by Árpád...
and was living there with his Bavarian wife Gisella. The frequent opinion that the double cross was a cross that the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
granted to Stephen I. around 1000 is still disputed. The opinion arose only in the 15th century based on a legend from the 12th century, which in addition only says that Stephen received an apostolic cross (i.e. a normal, not a double cross).
The direct predecessor of the current coat of arms of Slovakia can be found in the coat of arms used by Béla, the prince of the Nitrian frontier principality (1046-1060) and later the king of the Kingdom of Hungary. Béla was a member of the house of Árpáds and was named after the Prague bishop Adalbert, who had baptized King Stephen, the cousin of Béla's father, some decades ago. Béla conducted his own internal and international policy in his Nitrian frontier principality. The Byzantine emperor, involved in a quarrel with the Hungarian king, even sent Béla a prince's crown to Nitra. Furthermore, Béla had own coins minted in 1050 in Nitra, the capital of his principality – coins which deliberately differed from those of the Hungarian king and which bore the double cross symbol.
The appearance of the double cross in coins before Béla III is highly disputed. According to recent view It is a simple misinterpretation of two normal crosses.
It was only 100 years later, around 1189, that the double cross is known to have been used again – it was used during a crusade of the Hungarian king Béla III as his royal symbol. The three hills seen in the modern Slovak and Hungarian coats of arms were still not present in the standard. This time, the symbol was already used as a coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
, because coats of arms became fashionable in Europe at that time. He chose the symbol, because it was a Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
symbol and because it was the oldest symbol used in his kingdom.
Béla's successors Emeric
Emeric of Hungary
Emeric I , , King of Hungary and Croatia . He was crowned during his father's lifetime, but after his father's death he had to fight against his brother, Andrew, who forced Emeric to assign the government of Croatia and Dalmatia to him...
and Andrew II
Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II the Jerosolimitan was King of Hungary and Croatia . He was the younger son of King Béla III of Hungary, who invested him with the government of the Principality of Halych...
, however, did not use anymore the double cross, which was associated with the Nitrian frontier principality situated in the northern part of the kingdom and dissolved in 1107, as their symbol, but they used a red-and-white-stripes symbol associated with the new frontier principality created in Croatia and Dalmatia in the end of the 11th century (see the coat of arms of Hungary
Coat of arms of Hungary
The current coat of arms of Hungary was adopted on July 3, 1990, after the end of communist rule. The arms have been used before, both with and without the Holy Crown of Hungary, sometimes as part of a larger, more complex coat of arms, and its elements date back to the Middle Ages.The shield is...
for a picture).
King Béla IV used the patriarchal cross again – the reasons for this decision are unknown. Some historians suggest that he simply copied Béla III, his ideal, though this is only an assumption. At the time of his rule, the patriarchal cross also became the symbol of the Prešporok (Bratislava) county
Bratislava Region
The Bratislava Region is one of the administrative regions of Slovakia. Its capital is Bratislava. It is the smallest of the eight regions of Slovakia.-Geography:...
, although in a slightly modified form. When the Kingdom of Hungary was split in two parts temporarily in 1262, the double cross was used as the symbol for the northern and western part (encompassing present-day Slovakia) and the stripes as the symbol for the other part of the kingdom.
The last Árpád king, Andrew III (1290–1301), used only the patriarchal cross.
During the throne struggles after 1301, Ladislaus
Wenceslaus III of Bohemia
Wenceslaus III Premyslid was the King of Hungary , King of Bohemia and the king of Poland ....
used the double cross as his symbol (see chapter "Three hills" for details), while Charles Robert of Anjou (1307–1342) used a bipartite coat of arms consisting of the Angevin
Capetian House of Anjou
The Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily, a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century...
symbol and the above mentioned stripes symbol of King Stephen V
Stephen V of Hungary
Stephen V , was King of Hungary from 1270 to 1272.-Early years:...
, whose daughter Maria Charles Robert had married.
After the Mongol invasion in 1241-1242 many of the newly founded towns in the Kingdom of Hungary received the right to use the royal double cross as their coat of arms. The first, biggest and most towns of the kingdom arose in present-day Slovakia - the part of the kingdom that was characterized by German settlers, extensive mining activities and thus the most advanced economy at that time. It was probably partly due to this use in municipal coats of arm that the double cross became a clear symbol of the northern part of the kingdom again from the 15th century onwards – that part that is known to have been also called Slovakia from the 15th century and Upper Hungary
Upper Hungary
Upper Hungary is the usual English translation for the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia...
from the 18th century.
From the late 14th century onwards (according to other sources from the 13th century), the double cross symbol was used both as a symbol for northern parts of the Kingdom ("partes Danubii septentrionales, partes regni superiores", i.e. approximately the territory of present-day Slovakia and northeastern Hungary) and as a symbol of kings of the Kingdom of Hungary. For example, the state symbol of Louis the Great (1342–1382) was a quartered coat of arms containing among other symbols the symbol of Charles Robert of Anjou (containing in turn the stripes symbol) as the symbol for the southern parts of the kingdom ("partes regni inferiores") and the symbol for northern parts of the Kingdom (the double cross symbol). A good example of the double meaning of the double cross symbol is the great seal of King Sigismund of Luxembourg (1387-1437): This seal contains the double cross symbol in the middle, surroounded by a circle of smaller coats of arms of territories under his rule. These smaller coats of arms include the double cross symbol (for a second time!) as the symbol of what is today Slovakia and the stripes symbol as the symbol for Pannonia.
Since 1526, when the Habsburgs became kings of the Kingdom of Hungary, the current "combined" coat of arms of Hungary including the double cross symbol and the stripes symbol was used as the symbol of the Kingdom of Hungary (except that the small crown below the double cross was added only in the 17th century).
Three hills
The triple peak represents the three mountain ranges TatraTatra Mountains
The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra , are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains...
, Matra
Mátra
Mátra is a mountain range in northern Hungary, between the towns Gyöngyös and Eger. The country's highest peak, Kékestető , belongs to this mountain range....
and Fatra
Fatra
Fatra is the old or imprecise name of two mountain ranges in Slovakia:*Greater Fatra *Lesser Fatra...
which symbolized the northern mountainous part of the Kingdom of Hungary. (The Tatra
Tatra Mountains
The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra , are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains...
and the Fatra
Fatra
Fatra is the old or imprecise name of two mountain ranges in Slovakia:*Greater Fatra *Lesser Fatra...
ranges are in Slovakia.) This interpretation is probably the oldest and most frequent one – it can be traced back to the 16th century, but stems probably from the 15th century. According to István Werbőczy
István Werboczy
István Werbőczy or Stephen Werbőcz was a Hungarian jurist and statesman who first became known as a scholar and theologian of such eminence that he was appointed to accompany the emperor Charles V to Worms, to take up the cudgels against Martin Luther.He began his political career as the deputy of...
's "Tripartitum" from 16th century, the heaps represent the mountains in this order.
The three mountains below the double cross were used by King Ladislaus
Wenceslaus III of Bohemia
Wenceslaus III Premyslid was the King of Hungary , King of Bohemia and the king of Poland ....
(1301-1305), who was king of Hungary, but was a Czech from the house of the Přemyslids. Since this king was recognized basically only in what is today Burgenland
Burgenland
Burgenland is the easternmost and least populous state or Land of Austria. It consists of two Statutarstädte and seven districts with in total 171 municipalities. It is 166 km long from north to south but much narrower from west to east...
and Slovakia, the three mountains symbolized mountainous present-day Slovakia. Otto of Bavaria
Otto of Bavaria
Otto , was King of Bavaria from 1886 to 1913. He was the son of Maximilian II and his wife, Marie of Prussia, and younger brother of Ludwig II...
(1305-1307), Ladislaus's successor, used this symbol as well – for the same reasons as Ladislaus.
Origins and colors
Not later than in the 16th century, the Slovaks regarded the double cross also as a symbol of their nation. This fact manifested itself during the Revolution of 1848/1849, Slovaks were fighting along with the Austrians against the Magyars (Hungarians). A "Slovak National Council" was established for this purpose in August 1848 in Vienna. The present-day coat of arms was used on the seal of this Slovak National Council for the first time officially as the national symbol of the Slovaks (instead of being the official symbol of Upper Hungary only). From that time onwards, the symbol has been used very frequently.As for the colors, the colors are supposed to be the three "Slavic" colors red-white-blue (Slavic tricolor). Since the Upper Hungary coat of arms was already part of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Hungary
Coat of arms of Hungary
The current coat of arms of Hungary was adopted on July 3, 1990, after the end of communist rule. The arms have been used before, both with and without the Holy Crown of Hungary, sometimes as part of a larger, more complex coat of arms, and its elements date back to the Middle Ages.The shield is...
at that time, only the color of the three mountains had to be changed (it happened on the Slovak flag
Flag of Slovakia
The current form of the flag of Slovakia was adopted by Slovakia's Constitution, which came into force on 3 September 1992. The flag, in common with other Slavic nations, uses the white, blue and red colours....
for the first time) from green to "blue" to receive the red-white-blue combination.
As for the origin of the red color (in the Slovak and in the Hungarian coat of arms), the coat of arms has often had the red color as an almost inseparable attendant of the double cross in the coats of many Hungarian and Slovak towns since the Middle Ages. Also, the coat of arms of Béla III. is thought to have had red background. In general, red background color was used frequently for coats of arms in the late 12th and early 13th century in central Europe. One of the modern interpretations of the color is that it represents the bloody lining and symbolizes the Slovak 'martyrdom' during the time of Magyarisation (19th century).
The color of the three mountains was originally (from the 14th century) golden and silver; later it became green, and in 1848, as mentioned above, blue.
20th century
In 1920 the Slovak coat of arms became part of the state coat of armsCoat of arms of Czechoslovakia
Several coats of arms were used during Czechoslovakia’s history, some alongside each other.-References:* *...
of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
.
Between 1939 and 1945, it was the state symbol of the WWII Slovak Republic.
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Kriván (peak)
Kriváň is a mountain in the High Tatras, Slovakia, that dominates the upper part of the former Liptov County. Multiple surveys among nature lovers have ranked it as the country's most beautiful peak. Readily accessible along maintained marked trails and with the exceptional vistas afforded from...
and three flames. The three flames were supposed to symbolize the Slovak National Uprising
Slovak National Uprising
The Slovak National Uprising or 1944 Uprising was an armed insurrection organized by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. It was launched on August 29 1944 from Banská Bystrica in an attempt to overthrow the collaborationist Slovak State of Jozef Tiso...
of 1944.
On 1 March 1990, after the Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
, the old coat of arms became the official symbol of the "Slovak Republic", which was still part of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. Based on the Constitution of the Slovak Republic of September 3, 1992, the same coat of arms became the symbol of independent Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, which arose on January 1, 1993. A law of February 18, 1993, precised the details of the coat of arms: for example, though not explicitly defined in the coat's blazon
Blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
in the past, during the WWII era the cross mostly used to be depicted with convex endings of the stake and the bars; therefore the new description clearly reads to depict them as concave.
The coat of arms is used by the Slovak Air Force
Slovak Air Force
The Slovak Air Force, known since 2002 as the Air Force of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic , is the aviation and air defense branch of the Slovak Armed Forces. Operating 70 aircraft from 3 major bases - Kuchyňa, Sliač, Prešov...
as its roundel
Roundel
A roundel in heraldry is a disc; the term is also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of different colours.-Heraldry:...
.
Since 1992 the coat of arms is also placed on the Slovak flag
Flag of Slovakia
The current form of the flag of Slovakia was adopted by Slovakia's Constitution, which came into force on 3 September 1992. The flag, in common with other Slavic nations, uses the white, blue and red colours....
.
Part of other symbols
Jagiellon dynasty
The Jagiellonian dynasty was a royal dynasty originating from the Lithuanian House of Gediminas dynasty that reigned in Central European countries between the 14th and 16th century...
, because Grand Duke of Lithuania Jogaila
Jogaila
Jogaila, later 'He is known under a number of names: ; ; . See also: Jogaila : names and titles. was Grand Duke of Lithuania , king consort of Kingdom of Poland , and sole King of Poland . He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle Kęstutis...
took over the alleged coat of arms of Saint Ladislaus when being baptized as Ladislaus (Wladyslaw). By means of the Jagiellons, the symbol also got into the coat of arms of Lithuania
Coat of arms of Lithuania
The coat of arms of Lithuania, consisting of an armor-clad knight on horseback holding an olden sword and shield, is also known as Vytis . The Lithuanian coat of arms is one of the oldest national coats of arms in Europe...
.
The President of Slovakia
President of Slovakia
The President of Slovakia is the head of state of Slovakia. The President is directly elected by the people for five years, and can be elected for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
uses a banner of these arms.