Coat of arms of Serbia
The Coat of Arms of Serbia was adopted for usage on August 17, 2004[1]. It is the same as the coat of arms of the former Obrenović dynasty (first adopted in 1882) and features the white bicephalic eagle of the House of Nemanjić (which in turn took on the eagle from the Palaiologos dynasty of the Byzantine Empire). An ermine cape of the style once worn by kings is featured in the background.
Design
The principal field stands for the Serbian State. It consists of a double-headed eagle on a red shield; its body and wings in silver, and tongues, beaks, legs and claws in gold, between two golden fleurs-de-lys. The inescutcheon stands for the Serbian Nation; in a red shield, a cross between four silver firesteels arranged in the quarters around it, all of them facing horizontally outwards.
A blazon in heraldic terms is: Gules, a bicephalic eagle Argent armed Or, two fleurs-de-lys Or. Overall an escutcheon Gules, a cross Argent between four firesteels Argent. All crowned with a royal crown.
The design on the inescutcheon has been used by Serbian states and the Serbian church since the Middle Ages. The firesteels were originally used in the Byzantine imperial coat of arms as stylized Greek letters Β and stood for the imperial motto Basileus Basileon Basileuon Basileusin ("King of kings, ruling over kings") in Greek.
The exact colors used on small coat of arms are[2]:
| Color | Pantone | CMYK |
|---|---|---|
| Red | 193C | 0-90-70-10 |
| Blue | 287C | 100-55-0-0 |
| Yellow | 116C | 0-10-95-0 |
| White | 0-0-0-0 |
The firesteels look like the cyrillic letter С, which represents the /s/ sound. They are often rendered as such, especially when the basic design is drawn by hand. They are commonly associated with the slogan Samo sloga Srbina spasava ("Only unity saves Serbs").
Although Serbia is now a republic, the new coat of arms also features the crown of the former Serbian monarchy. A crown in this manner usually signifies a monarchial form of government. However in recent years several Eastern European nations have used a crown to signify their royal heritage. Russia and Poland have similarly both restored coat of arms bearing crowns despite being republics.
Political background
Although it is used as any state insignia, none of the symbols of Serbia adopted on August 17, 2004 are in fact official as per the Constitution of Serbia, as it can be changed only through a 2/3 majority vote in the Parliament and a referendum. Since the likelihood of meeting the constitutional referendum criteria was low (as several previous attempts failed in the early 1990s), the government changed the usage rules of the symbols, thus temporarily overriding the constitution, on the grounds of the national consensus that the old and outdated socialist symbols were inappropriate. The current symbols have been put into use by Serbian government's "Recommendation" of August 17 2004, publicized in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, no. 93 of the same date.
The socialist coat of arms
After the end of World War II, the new socialist government redesigned the coat of arms, turning it into an example of the arms style used in the Soviet Union and post-war Eastern Europe.
The wheat represented peasants and the cogwheel at the bottom represented workers. The red star at the top symbolised communism, the sun with rays represented a new morning. Oak is traditionally a sacred tree for Serbs, hence the oak leaves and acorns. The years 1804 and 1941 on the red ribbon commemorate the First Serbian Uprising and the beginning of National liberation struggle against Axis occupiers in the Second World war.
The coat of arms featured a shield with the traditional Serbian emblem, but since the socialist government was officially secular, the cross, which represents Christianity, was omitted.
The socialist coat of arms remained in official use long after the break-up of socialist Yugoslavia and after the red star was removed from the flag.
References
See also
External links
- Serbian Heraldic Society; its president and board members are also members of the Privy council of HRH Karadjordjevic and advisors for the Serbian state on State heraldry
- Serbian Coat of Arms