Historical Bohemian flag in the work of Jacob Koebel: Wapen. Des heyligen Römischen Reichs Teutscher nation (1545)
The flag of Bohemia is a historic flag, which now forms part of the design in the modern flag of the Czech Republic. The flag, a horizontal bicolour, was based on the colours of the former monarchs of Bohemia.
The heraldic flag of Bohemia (the flag of Bohemia in the form of the flag with coat of arms) is described and drawn for example in the work of Jacob Koebel: Wapen des heyligen römischen Reichs teutscher Nation from 1545.[1] The even older description of this flag (13th century) can be read in the chronicle of Ottokar aus der Gaal (Otacher ouz der Geul, Ottokar von Steiermark) (* about 1265; † between 1318 and 1322): Die Steirische Reimchronik.[2]
Hern Dietrich Spatzmanen sach man die banier leiten: in einem rȏten samît breiten was gewohrt ein lewe wîz. ouch heten ir baniere flîz, die von Merhaeren wârn: ein geschâchzabelten arn von rȏter und von wîzer varbe sach man ob in begarbe waejen von dem winde.[3][4]
History and use
The oldest depiction of coat of arms of Bohemia in Gozzoburg Castle in Krems
"The colors of the flag, white and red, were derived from the coat of arms of the King of Bohemia (silver lion on a red field) which was granted to the king Vladislaus I in the 12th century. This quickly became the coat of arm of the whole kingdom."[5]
The oldest surviving full colour depiction of the arms of Bohemia is represented by the fresco in the hall of the castle of Gozzoburg in Krems an der Donau, that comes from the early 1270s.[6] A further depiction can be found in the manuscript of abbes Kunigunde from the 1310s.[7]
The bicolor white-red banners were therefore carried into battle by the armies of the Bohemian kings and in the 19th century the colors were adopted by the Czech national movement. But when the goals of the movement were fulfilled in 1918 by the restoration of the independent Czech state, the need for the significant symbols, including a flag which was not identical to that of neighbouring Poland, led to the approval of the new flag of Czechoslovakia in 1920. This new flag still included the white and red horizontal stripes from the flag of Bohemia.
In 1990, the Bohemian flag was adopted as the official flag of the Czech Republic, then part of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (ČSFR, 1990–1992).[8] The flag was adopted in reaction to the adoption of separate Slovak symbols. However, the Czech flag was used much less than the wider flag of Czechoslovakia, whereas the flag of Slovakia (then without coat of arms and thus identical to flag of the World War II Slovak Republic[9]) was widely used in Slovakia. This difference mirrored prevailing separatist tendencies in the Slovak Republic and federalist tendencies in the Czech Republic. Another problem, again, was the Bohemian flag's similarity to the flag of neighbouring Poland, because the only difference was the proportion 2:3 (Polish flag is 5:8). For these reasons, Czech politicians decided to preserve the flag of Czechoslovakia as the symbol of the state with which most of Czech society was identified.
Since 1993, the flag of Bohemia has had no legal status and is only rarely seen today in the Czech Republic.
The hall with coats of arms in Gozzoburg Castle in Krems
↑ {{cite web | title=Ottokar von Steiermark: 'Steirische Reimchronik' | url=http://www.handschriftencensus.de/werke/602 | publisher=handschriftencensus.de | access-date=25 June 2017}}
↑ Aptly expressed by František Palacký in his Dějiny národu českého v Čechách a v Moravě I–V ("The History of the Czech Nation in Bohemia and Moravia"), 1836–1867: "Známé povídačky o rozdávání nových erbův rodinám českým, ba i království českému, v ležení před Milánem, nechceme zde ani připomínati, ana sama v sobě hloupá jest a od jiných před námi již dávno vyvrácena byla." (cited from: Rostislav Nový: K počátkům feudální monarchie v Čechách II. Časopis národního musea 1978; for the history of the coats of arms of historical Czech lands: Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, see the entry on Czech Wikipedia: Heraldické znaky českých zemí.)
↑ Krejčík, Tomáš; Pícha, František (2009). "Český a moravský znak ve znakové galerii v Gozzoburgu v Kremsu". Genealogické a heraldické informace 2008: Moravská genealogická a heraldická společnost, o. s. 2009 (in Czech). Vol.13. Brno. pp.49–57. ISSN0862-8963.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ "Sbírka Národní knihovny ČR". ces.mkcr.cz. Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic: Central Registry of Museum-type Collections. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
↑ Constitutional act on the state symbols of the Czech Republic 67/1990 Coll.
↑ Constitutional act on the name, coat of arms, flag, seal and anthem of the Slovak Republic 50/1990 Coll.
Bohemia is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohemian kings, including Moravia and Czech Silesia, in which case the smaller region is referred to as Bohemia proper as a means of distinction.
Moravia is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The Sudetenland is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the border districts of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia since the Middle Ages. Since the 9th century the Sudetenland had been an integral part of the Czech state both geographically and politically.
The history of the Czech lands – an area roughly corresponding to the present-day Czech Republic – starts approximately 800,000 years BCE. A simple chopper from that age was discovered at the Red Hill archeological site in Brno. Many different primitive cultures left their traces throughout the Stone Age, which lasted approximately until 2000 BCE. The most widely known culture present in the Czech lands during the pre-historical era is the Únětice Culture, leaving traces for about five centuries from the end of the Stone Age to the start of the Bronze Age. Celts – who came during the 5th century BCE – are the first people known by name. One of the Celtic tribes were the Boii (plural), who gave the Czech lands their first name Boiohaemum – Latin for the Land of Boii. Before the beginning of the Common Era the Celts were mostly pushed out by Germanic tribes. The most notable of those tribes were the Marcomanni and traces of their wars with the Roman Empire were left in south Moravia.
The Czechs, or the Czech people, are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, culture, history, and the Czech language.
The Czech lands or the Bohemian lands is a historical-geographical term that, in a historical context, refers the three historical regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia together before Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic were formed. Together the three have formed the Czech part of Czechoslovakia since 1918 and the Czech Republic since 1 January 1993.
The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was a partially-annexed territory of Nazi Germany that was established on 16 March 1939 after the German occupation of the Czech lands. The protectorate's population was mostly ethnic Czech.
The flag of the Czech Republic is the same as the flag of the former Czechoslovakia. Upon the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in December 1992, the Czech Republic kept the Czechoslovak flag while Slovakia adopted its own flag. The first flag of Czechoslovakia was based on the flag of Bohemia and was white over red. This was almost identical to the flag of Poland, so a blue triangle was added at the hoist in 1920. The flag was banned by the Nazis in 1939 as they established a government nominally in control of Bohemia and Moravia, and a horizontal tricolour of white, red, and blue was used for the duration of the war. The 1920–1939 flag was restored in 1945.
František Palacký was a Czech historian and politician, the most influential person of the Czech National Revival, called "Father of the Nation".
The coat of arms of the Czech Republic is divided into two principal variants. Greater coat of arms displays the three historical regions—the Czech lands—which make up the nation. Lesser coat of arms displays lone silver double-tailed lion in red shield. The current coats of arms, which was adopted in 1992, was designed by Czech heraldist Jiří Louda.
The coat of arms of Czechoslovakia were changed many times during Czechoslovakia’s history, some alongside each other. This reflects the turbulent history of the country and a wish to use appropriate territorial coats of arms.
Městec Králové is a town in Nymburk District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,900 inhabitants.
The history of Moravia, one of the Czech lands, is diverse and characterized by many periods of foreign governance.
The Margraviate of Moravia was one of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire and then Austria-Hungary, existing from 1182 to 1918. It was officially administered by a margrave in cooperation with a provincial diet. It was variously a de facto independent state, and also subject to the Duchy, later the Kingdom of Bohemia. It comprised the historical region called Moravia, which lies within the present-day Czech Republic.
An official version of the flag of Moravia, unlike the provincial Moravian coat of arms, does not exist, because such a flag has never been granted to Moravia. However, there are several documented variants of Moravian flags used in the past. The first recorded version dates from the mid-13th century.
Music of the Czech Republic comprises the musical traditions of that state or the historical entities of which it is compound, i.e. the Czech lands. Czech music also constitutes a substantial part of the music culture of its direct predecessor, Czechoslovakia.
The national symbols of the Czech Republic are flags, heraldry, cultural expressions and other symbols that represent the Czech Republic, Czech people and their history, culture and nationhood. There are six official symbols which are declared in the Constitution of the Czech Republic. However many other historical, cultural and geographical symbols of the Czech republic and Czech people do exist.
The coat of arms of Moravia has been used for centuries to represent Moravia, a traditional province in the present-day Czech Republic. The coat of arms is also present in a field of the coat of arms of the Czech Republic.
The Coat of arms of Styria is the historic coat of arms of the region of Styria, a federal state of Austria. It shows a white heraldic panther with red horns and claws breathing red fire on a green field. The shield is crowned with the ducal hat of Styria. The coat of arms is also used in several municipal arms of the state, including Graz and Steyr.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
The hall with coats of arms in Gozzoburg Castle in Krems
Banner of arms of Bohemia
Bohemian flag (from about the 19th century)
Banner of arms of Bohemia (with modern design of the coat of arms of Bohemia)
Flag used by the Bohemian team at the 1912 Olympic Games: the arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia displayed on a white field.
