Only Unity Saves the Serbs (Serbian:Само Слога Србина Спасава,romanized: Samo Sloga Srbina Spasava,[a] commonly abbreviated asСССС) is a popular motto andslogan inSerbia and amongSerbs, often used as a rallying call during times of national crisis and against foreign domination. The phrase is an interpretation of what is taken to be fourCyrillic letters for "S" (written "С") on theSerbian cross. Popularmythology attributes the motto toSaint Sava, the founder and firstArchbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church, however, the true author isJovan Dragašević, a Serbian military officer and writer.[1]
The motto represents the "idea of betrayal", one of the main themes in theKosovo Myth – the antithesis ofMiloš Obilić's heroism embodied in the figure ofVuk Branković, who legend holds fled the battlefield, the moral of the story being that discord and betrayal among the Serbs had doomed the nation to fall into the hands of theOttomans.[2]
According to legend,[citation needed][year needed] the origin of the С-shaped Serbian cross lies with Saint Sava, the first Archbishop of theautocephalousSerbian Church and thepatron saint ofSerbs, who based his design on theByzantine original.[3] The association of the motto with Saint Sava originates with the 1882 poem "The Death of Saint Sava" (Smrt svetog Save) by Milorad Šimić. Saint Sava is said[clarification needed] to have uttered it to urge the Serbs to declare national autonomy and resist domination by theRoman Catholic Church.[4]
The popular interpretation of the four С's as 'Само Слога Србина Спасава' on the Serbian coat of arms dates to the 19th century, created due to nationalistic and political reasons.Jovan Sterija Popović in his 1847 dramatic historical allegory "The Dream ofPrince Marko" (San Kraljevića Marka) was the first to state that the firesteels were to be read as four С's, which "pious patriotic souls have already took for sure" as said by Đorđe Petrović[who?] in the 1881 edition ofSrbadija magazine [sr].[5] Author Biljana Vankovska argues that the first interpretation of the acronym СССС was "Serbia Alone Saved Herself" (Sama Srbija sebe spasila), which then changed to "Only Unity Saves the Serbs" (Samo sloga Srbe spasava), reflecting the growing national fear of internal enemies.[when?][6][7] In the 1860 poem "Echoes ofgusles" (Jeka od gusala), Jovan Dragašević wrote "Only concord saves the Serb, so it is written for the Serb on the coat of arms" (Samo sloga Srbina spasacva, tako Srbu piše i na grbu).[8] Serbian poet and Orthodox priestJovan Sundečić in the 1868 edition ofOsvetnici, ili nevina žrtva used "Only Unity saves Slavdom" (Samo sloga Slavenstvo spašava).[9] In the 1869 "Poems and traditions" (Pesme i običai), a collection of poetry and traditions collected byMiloš S. Milojević, several interpretations are written.[10] In the introduction ofVladan Đorđević's 1919 "EmperorStefan Dušan: Young ruler" (Car Dušan: Mladi kralj), he writes "Because only unity saves, not only the Serb, but theCroat andSlovene, Orthodox, Catholics and Muslims".[11]
The phrase is found in written on towels and engraved ongusle dating to the 1880s and 1890s.[12][13] Allegedly, the motto was acronymed on theMontenegrin cap.[14]
The phrase was used in songs of theSerbian Sokol movement.[15]
DuringWorld War II, the Main Staff ofChetnik Detachments inCroatian-occupiedBosnia and Herzegovina used it as an appeal in their struggle.[16]
The СССС acronym began appearing inSerbian nationalistgraffiti during the 1980s.[17] In 1989, Serbian PresidentSlobodan Milošević delivered his infamousGazimestan speech before a large, stone Serbian cross bearing the СССС acronym.[18] In the early 1990s, asYugoslavia began todisintegrate, Milošević's propaganda apparatus adopted the phrase.[17] The СССС acronym form of the phrase was featured with the Serbian cross on the insignia of theSerbian Army of Krajina during theCroatian War and on the insignia of theArmy of Republika Srpska during theBosnian War.[19] The Serbian cross with the СССС acronym was also used as a wing andfuselage marking on aircraft used by theRepublika Srpska Air Force.[20] The phrase was often scrawled on the walls of abandoned houses in towns captured by Serb forces, usually followed alongside the acronym JNA (forYugoslav People's Army) and the names of individual soldiers.[21] In the immediate aftermath of theYugoslav Wars, license plates throughout Republika Srpska featured the acronym. These were replaced several years later, following the introduction of nationwide license plates.[22]
Serbian singer-songwriterBora Đorđević adapted the motto as the title to his songSamo sloga Srbina spasava, written during the 1999NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.[23]
In 2010, on the anniversary of theBattle of Loznica,Patriarch Irinej said that "only unity could save the Serb people, andnonunity could ruin it".[24]
In 2013, Slovene politician andEP memberJelko Kacin congratulated thatKosovo Serb representatives had united despite political differences, in a delegation to the EP, with the words "Bravo, Serbs, only unity saves the Serbs".[25]
An international conference of Serbian Orthodox youth with the name "Only unity saves Serbs" has been held in 2015[26] and 2016[27] inRepublika Srpska.
It is traditionally written in acronym form on ačesnica, a type of Serbian Christmas bread, as well as inEaster egg decorating.[28]
