Croatian coat of arms
The Croatian coat of arms consists of six smaller coat of arms, where five of them crown the main coat, the so-called šahovnica (checkerboard or chequy).
The šahovnica consists of 13 red and 12 silver (white) fields. The red/white checkerboard has been a symbol of Croatian kings since at least the 10th century, ranging in size from 3×3 to 8×8, but most commonly 5×5, like the current coat.
The oldest source showing this coat is a genealogy of the Habsburger, dated from 1512 to 1518. Maybe it is of an even older origin. 1525 it was used on a votive medal.
The crowning coats are added in 1991, and represent the historical regions, from which Croatia originated. They are, from left to right:
- the oldest known Croatian coat of arms: a golden
six-pointed star (representing the daystar)
over a silver moon on a blue shield. It represents the capital city Zagreb
and central Croatia in general.
- an older coat of arms of the Republic
of Dubrovnik: two red
stripes on a dark blue shield, given to Dubrovnik by the Arpad
dynasty who were Croato-Hungarian kings in the 15th
century.
- the coat of arms of Dalmatia:
three golden, crowned lions, two over one, on a blue shield. Some sources speak
of leopards, but most pictures show lions. This coat was Dalmatian since the 13th
century and probably originates from the Anjou
ruling dynasty.
- the coat of arms of Istria:
a golden goat with red hooves and horns, on a dark blue shield.
- the
coat of arms of Slavonia:
two silver stripes on blue shield (representing rivers Drava
and Sava that mark northern and
southern border of Slavonia), between them on a red field a black, running marten
(kuna), above a six-pointed, golden
star. This coat was assigned to Slavonia by king Wladislaw
Jagiello in 1496.
The issue of the coat-of-arms became a political dispute during the 1990's:
- Some right-winger Croats claimed that the colour of the top
left square is a mark of whether Croatia is independent or ruled by foreigners,
white or red respectively. However, this is a red
herring because only the short-lived Nazi puppet state "Independent State
of Croatia" had the upper left square white with such an intent. Croatia's currently
independent and the first square is red.
- Some groups representing
Holocaust survivors of the Ustaša
WWII regime claimed the symbol had racist connotations. Some British groups were
particularly vociferous during the 1996
European Soccer (UEFA) Championship
in England. This is another red
herring since the same symbols represented Croatia much before the Second
World War.
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