From: velde2@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Francois Velde)
Subject: Balkanic Heraldry
Organization: HAC - Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 23:44:16 GMT


All this talk of Serbia and Byzantium, as well as the question on the
current flag of Bosnia, got me searching the various national arms 
of the area. I have limited myself to the former Yugoslavia for the
moment. Sources are mainly old Encyclopaedias (back when people cared
about coats of arms :-( such as Nouvelle Encyclopedie Larousse (in 
French), old editions of the Britannica, Meyer's Lexicon of 1840,
Brockhaus Enkyklopaedia (both in German). Additional help from 
Neubecker's Heraldry and the odd history book.
Don't trust me too much on the history, I write from short-term memory.

Very rough historical outline: first, there was the Byzantine empire,
whose arms we discussed (Gules, a double-headed eagle displayed Or).
A number of slav tribes had settled in the Balkans in the High Middle
Ages, and slowly moved out of the direct domination of the Byzantines.
Thus emerged Valachia (to become Rumania), Serbia, Croatia, etc. When
the Turks started invading Europe in the 14th century, these small
fiefs and kingdoms lost their independance one after the other. With
the end of the Ottoman Empire starting in the early 19th century, they
re-emerged one after the other, except Slovenia and Croatia still under
Austrian rule. After 1918, Yugoslavia was created as a kingdom, uniting
all Southern Slavs. It became "sort of communist" after 1945.  We all
know the current state of affairs.

Yugoslavia: As a kindgom (1918-1945), ruled I think by the Serbian royal
family, it had its arms. Namely: Gules, a double-headed eagle Argent, 
beaked, membered and tongued Or, bearing an escutcheon: tierced per 
pairle inversed, Serbia, Croatia, and Azure, a crescent Argent below
three stars Or per fesse.

Serbia: it emerged in 1817 as an autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire
and became a full-fledged kingdom in 1882.  I have seen variants of the 
same arms. Gules, two fleur-de-lys Or below a double-headed eagle Argent, 
beaked, membered and tongued Or, bearing an escutcheon: Gules, a Cross 
Argent between 4 B's (or firesteels) Or.
The variant is on the escutcheon: in some cases, the horizontal arms 
of the cross bear the dates 1389 and 1817, and there is a sword Or per
pale on the cross. 1389 is the battle of Kosovo, when the Serbs lost their
independence. 1817 is the date they regained their autonomy. In the arms
of Yugoslavia above, "Serbia" refers to the simple version of the escutcheon
with cross and 4 B's.
These arms were used from 1882 to 1918. I suspect the cross with 4 Bs are
now being used again, if only informally.

Croatia: checquy Argent and Gules. That seems to date to the early 16th
century.  Croatia itself united with Hungary very early, as soon as the 
12th century, and followed Hungary into the Habsburg dominions all the
way until 1918. In the arms of Yugoslavia above, "Croatia" refers to
these arms. They were used on the flag of the puppet regime in 1941-45,
but (interestingly) they also appeared on the seal of the republic of
Croatia after 1946. So there is nothing new about these arms, and their
current use on the tri-color flag of Croatia is not historically shocking.

Slovenia: it never really existed as a distinct entity, it seems. It was
early on incorporated into the Habsburg's possessions. Modern Slovenia is
made up of parts of Crain (now Krajina), Steiermark (in Austria), and 
Istria. The first two had the following arms: Crain, Argent an eagle
displayed Azure, crowned Or, langued and armed Gules, with a crescent 
checquy Or and Gules on its breast. Steiermark, Vert, a goat clymant 
Argent, armed and tongued Gules. 

Montenegro: existed as a seperate entity in the Middle Ages, resurrected
in 1908 as a kingdom. From 1908 to 1918 it had the following arms:
Gules, a double-headed eagle Argent (do you see a pattern?), beaked, 
membered and tongued Or, bearing an escutcheon: Azure, a lion passant
Or on a champagne Vert. 

Bosnia: that one is intriguing. It existed as a semi-independent fief
(occasionally dominated by the Serbs) until the early 16th century. One
ruler was given the title of Duke of the Holy Roman Empire, and part
of his lands became known as "ducatus Sancti Abbas" (duchy of Saint Abbas),
or Herzogtum in German, and Hercegovina in Serbo-Croat. The kings of the
time (end 14th century) seemed to have the arms: Gules, a crescent Argent
beneath an 8-pointed star of the same. The crown was an Eastern crown, 
i.e. with "spikes".  That was also the arms in most encyclopaedias of
the 19th century, but the German encyclopaedias, Woodward's treatise
follow the Austrian practice, where the arms of Esclavonia or Bosnia are:
Or, issuing from the sinister flank an arm embowed proper, vested Gules, 
holding a sabre Argent.  Bosnia-Hercegovina was annexed by Austria from
Turkey in 1908. 

A clear conclusion: the Byzantine double-headed eagle was a heavy favorite,
albeit with a "mark of cadence" (the eagle is Argent instead of Or). I
already discussed Albania in another posting, where the double-headed
eagle ended up Sable on a Field Gules (ugh).

Other conclusion: I have no idea where the bend and 6 fleur-de-lys Argent
on a field Azure of the current Bosnian flag come from. I checked the arms
of Sarajevo, which have nothing to do (a bridge, a mountain and other stuff).
Still a mystery to me.
-- 

	Francois Velde

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