Croatian checkerboard

The Croatian checkerboard or chequy (Croatian: šahovnica ) is the national symbol of Croatia. It is the main shield of the Croatian coat of arms. On top of the main shield is the crown with five smaller shields, each representing a region of Croatia. The squares in the šahovnica are always arranged the right way, colored red and white. Historically, the order varied.

Origin
There is a legend, probably from the 19th century, which talks about how the Croatian king Držislav, captured by the Venetians, played a chess match. His opponent was Doge Pietro II Orseolo. He won and became free, and in some versions of the story he also got power over the Dalmatian cities. Then he put the chessboard in his coat of arms.

It first came into use in Croatian coat of arms around year 1495, as depicted on a temple hall located in Innsbruck, Austria. There is likelyhood that it has been borrowed by the House of Habsburg (who ruled the Hungarian-Croatian throne at the time) from other West Slavic coats of arms, as the silver-red colored pattern was popular among the 12–14th century Polish and Czech noble families. The cheque pattern in European heraldry was likely inspired by the board game of chess.

It is considered as the national symbol of Croatia, and is prominently displayed at sporting events. As such, the pattern in these colors remains associated mostly with the nation of Croatia.

Gallery

References

Category:Coats of arms
Category:History of Croatia
Category:Chess
Category:National symbols of Croatia