Coat of Arms of the Czech Republic: History and Significance

Many countries have gone through a difficult path to independence, which is often reflected in their state symbols. The Czech Republic is no exception. The flag and coat of arms, photographs and drawings of which are used on souvenirs, are popular with tourists, they are loved by the Czechs themselves - they contain the history of the country.

The first mention of state symbols

The modern look is far from the first variant of a significant symbol of the country. The coat of arms of the Czech Republic appeared in the twelfth century, during the military operations of Emperor Frederick the First Barbarossa, whose ally was the Czech prince Vladislav II. Then the image of a silver lion appeared on a scarlet field. The first real embodiment was the seal used in 1213. The symbol, originally a portrayal on the shield of the ruler, began to represent the country as a whole, and this value was preserved until 1918.

Independence of Czechoslovakia

Since 1918, the government has changed in the country. An independent state appeared, because the old coat of arms of the Czech Republic was already out of place. However, the Czechs felt that some of its features must be preserved in order to reflect its attachment to the traditions of their lands and tell stories about history. At the same time, the arms had to demonstrate a new constitutional situation. According to the public opinion, Yaroslav Kursa, representative of the Ministry of Internal Archives, developed several variants of the emblem, the details of which were borrowed from the symbols of different territories of the Czech land that existed before. The final version was created by Frantisek Kysela. In March 1920, life acquired a new coat of arms of the Czech Republic, whose photo is no less famous than the modern version. It reflected the significance not only of Czech, but also of Slovak lands, it was used before the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

Description of the arms in the previous version

The well-known coat of arms of Czechoslovakia was a shield supported on each side by lions. On it was a symbol of Bohemia - a silver lion with an open mouth and two tails, turned his head to the right and depicted on a red background. Other parts of the shield represent the rest of the country. Slovakia was represented by a shield of red color, on which are depicted three blue hills with a silver cross. Ruthenia symbolized a part of the blue color, separated by golden rays, with a red bear looking to the right. Moravia portrayed an eagle of silver and red shades in blue, looking to the right and with a crown on his head. The emblem of Silesia was a golden shield with a black eagle in the crown, painted with red paws and a cross in the center. The Tesin region was represented by a golden bird on the blue, and Opava was symbolized by a shield of red and white halves. Finally, Ratibozh was presented as a divided into two parts field with a blue part decorated with a golden crowned eagle, and a red and white part without images.

Modern look

Now the coat of arms of the Czech Republic represents three areas. These are Moravia, Bohemia and Silesia. Despite this, the shield is divided into four parts. This arrangement symbolizes the previous territorial rules. Bohemia is symbolized by a silvery white lion on a scarlet field, depicted with two tails. It is placed on two parts of four. The remaining occupy two eagles, one - on a blue background and red and white, and the other - in yellow and painted in black. They represent Moravia and Silesia respectively. This coat of arms of the Czech Republic makes it possible to emphasize that Bohemia has always been the main area and has provided brave soldiers defending the country in the war. It was the "Czech lions" who defended their native lands and rarely remained in peace. The modern Czech Republic, whose flag and coat of arms is used after 1993, has state symbols on bills, on the sports uniform of the players of the national team and on many souvenirs that are sold in tourist places.

History and type of cloth

The flag of the Czech Republic always used red and white colors. Since the twelfth century, these shades were on the coat of arms, because the state standard looked exactly like that. In 1918, after the coup d'état, the white-red flag remained an unofficial symbol of Czechoslovakia. In 1920, a blue triangle was added to the side of the shaft. He was the personification of Slovakia. From 1939 to 1945 in the course was a cloth of three horizontal stripes of the same size, white, red and blue. They represented the protectorate of the Czech Republic and Moravia. After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the Czechs returned the flag of the former republic with two horizontal stripes and a blue triangle near the shaft. Thus, they violated the constitutional act adopted at independence, asserting that neither the Czech Republic nor Slovakia can use the former state symbols used during the existence of a single country and depicted both regions at once. Nevertheless, it is this flag that is used by the Czechs, and it is still recognizable all over the world.