Quarterly: first and fourth gules, a lion rampant queue forchée argent armed, langued and crowned Or (Bohemia); second azure, an eagle displayed chequé gules and argent armed, langued and crowned Or (Moravia); third Or, an eagle displayed sable armed and langued gules crowned of the field and charged on the breast with a crescent terminating in trefoils at each end with issuing from the centrepoint a cross patée argent (Silesia).
Thecoat of arms of theCzech Republic (Czech:Státní znak České republiky) is divided into two principal variants. Greater coat of arms displays the threehistorical regions—theCzech 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 heraldistJiří Louda.[1]
The arms ofBohemia show a silver double-tailedlion on a red background.[2] This Bohemian Lion makes up the first and the fourth quarters of the greater coat of arms, so it is repeated in the shield. TheMoravian red-and-silver chequeredeagle is shown on a blue background. Between 1915 and 1918 the Moravian Eagle was chequered in the red-and-gold colors. The arms ofSilesia is a black eagle with theclover stalk (lat.perisonium) in its breast on a golden background, although only a small south-eastern part of the historical region (Czech Silesia) belongs to the Czech Republic (the main part is now in Poland).
The rulers of Bohemia originally identified with aSt. Wenceslas flaming eagle. In the 12th century,Emperor Frederick granted new arms toKing Vladislaus II consisting of a silver lion on a red field, to symbolise his valor. The lion was at first represented with one tail. Later a second tail was added, for the help provided by the King Přemysl Otakar I fighting the Saxons (A legend from Dalimil's chronicle).[3] During the first half of the 13th century the kings of Bohemia used a coat of arms bearing a black eagle in a silver shield. Red gonfanons had appeared earlier. From 1253 a two-tailed silver lion in a red field had been the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia. This lion was originally a sign of the Moravian margraves.[4][5][6][7][8]
The oldest surviving full color depiction of the arms of Bohemia appears in thePassional of Abbes Cunegund from the 1310s.[9] TheMoravian Eagle was first documented on the seal of Ottokar's uncle, Margrave Přemysl (d. 1239). TheSilesian Eagle stems from the ruling dynasty of thePiasts and was first applied by DukeHenry II the Pious (1238–1241). The shields also appeared on the emblems of theCrown of Bohemia established by EmperorCharles IV.
The greater coat of arms is blazoned in Czech law as follows:
A shield quartered: first and fourth gules, alion rampant queue forchée argent armed, langued and crowned Or; second azure, an eagle displayed chequé gules and argent armed, langued and crowned Or; third Or, an eagle displayed sable armed and langued gules crowned of the field and charged on the breast with a crescent terminating in trefoils at each end with issuing from the centrepoint a cross patée argent.[10]
Přemyslid dynasty (Duchy of Bohemia) Right: The earliest known colored coat of arms of Přemyslids depicted in the Passional of Abbes Kunigunde (1310s)
Kingdom of Bohemia (Royal Arms of Bohemia) Right: The oldest depiction of coat of arms of Bohemia, castle Gozzoburg inKrems, fresco painting from the beginning of 1270s
Right: The oldest depiction of coat of arms of Moravia, castle Gozzoburg inKrems, fresco painting from the beginning of 1270s
Lesser Royal Arms ofBohemia Right: Colored coat of arms of Bohemia depicted in the Passional of Abbes Kunigunde (1310s)
^Blazonied asgules, a lion rampant, queue fourchee argent, crowned, langued and armed or.
^LOUDA, Jiří: Království české: erby a rodokmeny vladnoucích rodů (Czech Kingdom: Coats of Arms and Family Trees of Governing Arostocratic Families) … Havířov : Petr P.Pavlík, 1996. s. 22-23.ISBN80-85574-09-8.
^Česká panovnická a státní symbolika. Vývoj od středověku do současnosti (Czech Sovereigns´ and State´s Symbols). Ed. Eva Gregorovičová. Státní ústřední archiv, Praha 2002, s. 10.
^Umění doby posledních Přemyslovců, Praha 1982, kapitola K ikonografii pečetí posledních Přemyslovců
^"Sbírka Národní knihovny ČR".ces.mkcr.cz. Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic: Central Registry of Museum-type Collections. Archived fromthe original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved12 January 2015.
^Original text of Czech statute 1993:3, 1 §, states:Velký státní znak tvoří čtvrcený štít, v jehož prvním a čtvrtém červeném poli je stříbrný dvouocasý lev ve skoku se zlatou korunou a zlatou zbrojí. Ve druhém modrém poli je stříbrno-červeně šachovaná orlice se zlatou korunou a zlatou zbrojí. Ve třetím zlatém poli je černá orlice se stříbrným půlměsícem zakončeným jetelovými trojlístky a uprostřed s křížkem, se zlatou korunou a červenou zbrojí.
^Original text of Czech statute 1993:3, 1 §, states:Malý státní znak tvoří červený štít, v němž je stříbrný dvouocasý lev ve skoku se zlatou korunou a zlatou zbrojí.
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