History of the Czech national emblem

The Czech national emblem, its predecessors and present-day appearance

In its present-day appearance, the national emblem of the Czech Republic is the outcome of a fairly eventful evolution, the beginnings of which go back to the twelfth or thirteenth centuries. To quote a mediaeval Czech chronicler known under the name of Dalimil, in the year 1158, Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa bestowed on Czech Prince Vladislav II, in appreciation of the latter's military assistance in the anti-Milan campaign, the title of king and, as a substitute for the emblem of an eagle, armorial bearings with a silver lion in a field of red.

However, the first truly documented lion as a symbol of the ruling dynasty of P?emysl is documented from as late as 1213 on an equestrian seal of the Moravian Margrave Vladislav Jindřich (Henry). Hence, the first version was more like a coat of arms of the Přemysl dynasty while the so called St. Wenceslaus eagle remained the country's symbol. As the rulers of those times strove to consolidate their position, they also laid stress on the priority use of their armorial bearings. This accounts for the fact that the silver lion in a field of red gradually developed into a symbol of not only the dynasty but of the country as a whole, and that it retained this function until 1918.

With the independent Republic of Czechoslovakia coming into existence in October 1918, the need arose to have a new sovereign national emblem designed to represent the new constitutional situation but also the newly established state entity's continuity with the history of the Czech Lands.

Following a public inquiry, Jaroslav Kursa, an official of the Ministry of Interior Archives, prepared designs for small, medium and large national emblems derived from the historical land emblems of the constituent lands. The final artistic versions were subsequently designed by Frantisek Kysela.

The existence of those three emblems of the CSR was confirmed by Act No.252/1920 Sb. of March 30, 1920.

Some of the proposed designs for the CSR emblem

Small national emblem of the CSR

(Art. 4. The small emblem of the Republic of Czechoslovakia is as follows: a silver, two-tailed, open-mouthed, right-looking lion rampant on a red shield, with its tongue and claws put out and a crown on its head, all in gold colour, wearing on its chest a red escutcheon showing three blue hilltops with a silver patriarchal cross rising from the prominent middle one).

Medium national emblem of the CSR

(Art. 5. The medium-sized emblem of the Republic of Czechoslovakia has two shields, a fore one and a rear one. The fore (cardiac) escutcheon carries the emblem of Bohemia: a silver, two-tailed, open-mouthed, right-looking lion rampant on a red shield, with its tongue and claws drawn out and a crown on its head, all in gold colour. The rear one is a quartered shield: in its top right field is the emblem of Slovakia: a shield of red showing three blue hilltops with a silver patriarchal cross rising from the prominent middle one. In the top left field - the emblem of Carpathian Ruthenia: a shield halved lengthwise with three gold beams in the right-hand, blue field, and a right-looking red bear rampant in the left-hand, silver field. In the bottom right field - the emblem of Moravia: a right-looking,crown-wearing, silver-and-red chequered eagle in a shield of blue. In the bottom left field - the emblem of Silesia: in a shield of gold, a right-looking, black eagle in red arms wearing a crown on its head and on its chest a silver spring adorned with clover trefoils at each end and a cross in the middle).

Large national emblem of the CSR

(Art. 6. The large national emblem of the Republic of Czechoslovakia consists of a fore escutcheon and a rear shield. The former carries the emblem of Bohemia: on a red shield, a silver, two-tailed, open-mouthed, right-looking lion rampant with its tongue and claws drawn out and a crown on its head, all in gold colour. The rear shield is divided by three norizontal stripes into seven fields so that the two upper ones are halved, the third one at the bottom portioned in three. The top right field carries the emblem of Slovakia: a shield of red showing three blue hilltops with a silver patriarchal cross rising from the prominent middle one. In the top left field - the emblem of Carpathian Ruthenia: a shield halved lengthwise with three gold beams in the right-hand, blue field, and a right-looking red bear rampant in the left-hand, silver field. In the right-hand middle field - the emblem of Moravia: a right-looking, crown-wearing, silver-and-red chequered eagle on a blue shield. In the left-hand middle field - the emblem of Silesia: in a shield of gold, a right-looking, crown-wearing black eagle with red arms and, on its chest, a silver spring adorned with clover trefoils at either end and a little cross in the middle. In the bottom right field - the emblem of the Tesin region: on a blue field a golden eagle looking to the right. In the bottom middle field - the emblem of the Opava region: a shield halved red and white. In the bottom left field - the emblem of the Ratiboø region: a shield halved in two, in the right-hand blue field a golden coroneted eagle looking to the right, the left-hand field halved white and red.)

Out of these three national emblems, the post-Munich Czecho-Slovak Republic used solely the medium one (as an expression of the autonomous constitutional make-up of the country). During the German Nazi occupation - the period of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia - the cardiac escutcheon was removed from the lion's chest, and only two emblems were used from then on as stipulated in Government decree No. 222/1939 Sb. of Sept. 19, 1939.

Lesser Protectorate emblem

(Art.4. The lesser emblem of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia is as follows: in a red shield, a silver, two-tailed, right-looking, open-mouthed, crown-wearing lion rampant with tongue and claws drawn out, all in gold colour).

Greater Protectorate emblem

(Art.5. The greater emblem of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia has a quartered shield. Its top right and bottom left fields carry the emblem of Bohemia: in a red field, a silver, two-tailed, right-looking, open-mouthed, crown-wearing lion rampant with its tongue and claws drawn out, all in gold colour. The top left and bottom right fields carry the emblem of Moravia: in a blue field, a right-looking, silver-and-red chequered eagle with a coronet and drawn-out talons, all in gold colour).

After the liberation of Czechoslovakia in 1945, the small national emblem alone was reintroduced into practical use with the exception of the presidential standard where the large national emblem adorned with the motto Truth Prevails was allowed to survive. True, the 9 May Constitution of 1948 did stipulate that the national emblem and national flag should be laid down by law (Art.169); however, no such specific law was ever adopted.

It was not until November 17, 1960 that Act No.163 introduced a new national emblem (designed by M.Hegar) which was supposed to represent the so called "completion of the building of socialism" in Czechoslovakia. In fact, the emblem was at variance with the rules of heraldry, though it did at least preserve the lion as a symbol of the land of Bohemia.

National emblem of the CSSR

Art. 1. The national emblem of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic is represented by a red shield in the shape of a Hussite pavis with a five-pointed star at the top and a white two-tailed lion rampant with a red escutcheon on its chest showing a blue silhouette of Mount Kriváò and a bonfire in gold colour. The emblem drawings are golden, too.)

It was only natural that the changed political climate resulting from the fall of the totalitarian regime in Czechoslovakia after November 1989 should have required a change in the national emblem, one that should not only express the restoration of democratic principles and continuity of historical development but also represent the federative constitutional framework of the state of Czechoslovakia. After some very complicated discussions, at long last, Constitutional Act No.102/1990 Sb. of April 20, 1990 eventually introduced a new national emblem of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, though not before the National Councils of the two constituent republics had adopted national emblems of their own - the Czech National Council, in its Act No. 68/1990 Sb. of March 13, 1990, a lesser and a greater national emblem as designed by Jiri Louda, and the Slovak National Council in its Slovak National Emblem Act No. 50/1990 Sb. passed already on March 1, 1990.

National emblem of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic

(Para 2/Art. 1 The national emblem of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic is made up of a quartered shield with the first and fourth red fields showing a silver, right-looking, two-tailed roaring lion rampant with gold claws, a gold tongue thrust out, and a gold heraldic crown. The second and third red fields show a silver patriarchal cross rising from the middle prominent summit of three blue hilltops. The quartering of the emblem is marked with silver lines).

Greater and lesser emblems of the Czech Republic

(Para 1/Art.1 The greater national emblem of the Czech Republic is made up of a quartered shield with the first and fourth red fields showing a silver, right- looking, roaring lion rampant with golden claws, a golden tongue thrust out, and a golden heraldic crown. In the second, blue field is a silver-and-red chequered, right-looking eagle with a golden beak, golden talons, and a golden heraldic crown, in the third, golden field - a black, right-looking eagle with a red beak, red talons, a golden heraldic crown, and, on the chest, a silver spring adorned with clover trefoils at each end and a little cross in the middle.

Para 1/Art.2 The lesser national emblem of the Czech Republic is formed by a red shield showing a silver, right-looking, two-tailed roaring lion rampant with golden claws, a golden, thrust-out tongue, and a golden heraldic crown.)

National emblem of the Slovak Republic

(Para 2/Art. 1 The national emblem of the Slovak Republic is formed by a red early-Gothic shield showing a silver patriarchal cross rising from the middle, prominent summit of a blue tripple hilltop).

After the breakup of the Czechoslovak Federation, the Czech National Council, in its Act No.3/1993 Sb. of December 17, 1992, adopted the two national emblems of the Czech Republic as the national emblems of the now independent Czech Republic except that for the lesser emblem the Spanish shield was replaced by a Gothic one.

Greater emblem of the Czech Republic

(Art. 2/1 The greater national emblem is represented by a quartered shield showing a silver, two-tailed lion rampant wearing a golden crown and golden arms in the first and fourth, red fields, a silver-and-red chequered eagle with a golden crown and golden arms in the second, blue field, and a black eagle wearing a silver crescent adorned with clover trefoils at the ends and a little cross in the middle, a golden crown and red arms in the third, golden field).

Lesser emblem of the Czech Republic

(Art. 2/3 The lesser national emblem is represented by a red shield showing a two-tailed lion rampant with a golden crown and golden arms).