Coat of arms of the Republic of Macedonia

Coat of arms of the Republic of Macedonia
Details
Armiger	Republic of Macedonia
Adopted	1946-12-31 by the Constitution.[1] Modified on 2009-11-16.

The coat of arms of the Republic of Macedonia is composed of two curved garlands of sheaves of wheat, tobacco leaves and opium poppy fruits, tied by a ribbon decorated with embroidery of traditional Macedonian folk motifs. In the centre of the ovoid frame are depicted a mountain, a lake and a sunrise.^[2] These devices are said to represent "the richness of our country, our struggle and our freedom".

The Macedonian parliament adopted the proposal to change the country’s coat of arms with 80 votes in favor and 18 against, removing the five-pointed star. The national emblem was modified on 16 November 2009. The Macedonian coat of arms that included the red star had been in use since 1946, shortly after the republic became part of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). With the recent change, the coat of arms is composed of two curved garlands of wheat sheaves, tobacco leaves and opium poppy fruits, tied by a ribbon decorated with embroidery of traditional Macedonian folk motifs. A lake, a mountain, and a sunrise are depicted in the centre of the ovoid frame.

The whole composition and design is based upon the pattern of the coat of arms of the SFR Yugoslavia and does not have any roots in the historical heraldic coats of arms of Macedonia. Besides the emblem of Belarus, the device of the Republic of Macedonia is one of the few remaining in Europe to still employ socialist heraldry.

The features of the national coat of arms contain a rising sun which symbolizes freedom, the Šar Mountains^[3] with its peak named Ljuboten^[3] or Mount Korab^[4] and the river Vardar,^[3][4] with Lake Ohrid. The emblem also contains opium poppy fruits; this poppy was brought to Macedonia by the Ottoman Empire in the first half of 19th century.^[5]

Relation to the 1946 Coat of arms

The current emblem is a revised version of the one adopted on July 27, 1946 by the Assembly of the People's Republic of Macedonia. The original version of 1946 represented the Pirin Mountains which are part of the region of Macedonia in order to symbolize a future United Macedonia as part of a new Balkan Federation. The Emblem was created by Vasilije Popovic-Cico.^[6] After Yugoslavia broke with the Soviet Union in 1948, the Soviet Union did not compel Bulgaria and Albania to form a Balkan Federation with Yugoslavia and the concept of a United Macedonia as part of such a federation was no more realistic.^[7]

Two days after its adoption, the symbolism of that device was described in the Nova Makedonija newspaper, as follows:

The [coat of arms] of the People's Republic of Macedonia is a symbol of the freedom and the brotherhood of the Macedonian people and the richness of the Macedonian land. The five-pointed star symbolizes the National Liberation War through which the Macedonian people gained freedom. In the center, there is the Pirin mountain, the highest Macedonian mountain that has been the center of the National Liberation Wars in the past. The river displayed in the emblem is the river Vardar, the most famous Macedonian river in the republic. Pirin and Vardar at the same time symbolize the unity of all parts of Macedonia and the ideal of our people for national unity.^[7]

The supervised version was constitutionally approved by the Constitution of the People's Republic of Macedonia from December 31, 1946.^[1]

Historical coats of arms

Main article: Golden Lion of Macedonia

The symbol of the golden lion on red ground first appeared as a symbol of "Macedonia" in armorial rolls of the late middle ages. The earliest known attestation is in the Fojnica Armory^[8] from 1340, where it contains a 7-pointed crown and appears side by side with entries for Illyria, Bosnia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Serbia and Bulgaria. The Korenić-Neorić armory roll of 1595 included a 5- pointed crown. The Belgrade Museum of Contemporary Art displays a 1620 version of the symbol with 3-pointed crown, while the Berlin Library displays a 17th century version with the 5-pointed crown.^[9] The use of the lion to represent Macedonia was continued in foreign heraldic collections throughout the 14th to 19th centuries^[10][11]

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  The lion symbol in the Korenić-Neorić armory roll, 1595

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  The lion symbol in the Altanoviot Armory, 1614

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  The lion symbol in Grbovnikot, Belgrade Museum of Contemporary Art, 1620

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  The lion symbol in the Fojnica Armorial, 17th century

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  Coat of arms from the Berlin Library, 17th century

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  The 1694 coat of arms, by Pavao Ritter Vitezović ^[12]

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  The lion symbol in "Stemmatographia" by Hristofor Zhefarovich, 1741

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  Collection of historical coat of arms

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  Emblem of the People's Republic of Macedonia, 1944-1946

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  Emblem of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, 1946-1991

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  Emblem the Republic of Macedonia, 1991-2009

Efforts to update the national emblem

The most popular proposal for a new coat of arms from 1992, by Miroslav Grčev

Such efforts have so far failed, due to political and national disputes over possible replacements. A proposal by architect and graphic designer Miroslav Grčev was put forward in 1992 to replace it with a revised version of the historical gold lion on a red shield. The Macedonian Heraldry Society considers that coat of arms to have been the best solution for a new state emblem.^[13] However, this was rejected on three main grounds:

• several political parties, notably VMRO-DPMNE, already use that emblem as their party symbols
• the Albanian political parties of Macedonia considered the proposal to be only representative for the ethnic Macedonians, but not also for ethnic Albanians
• the state coat of arms of Bulgaria features a lion similar to the Macedonian^{[14][citation needed]}

Because of these reasons, the political parties agreed to continue to use the current device until a solution is found. The emblem did not appear on the country's first passports, however, in 2007 the device was put on the front and the inside of the new biometric Macedonian passports, while the parliamentary debate about acceptance of a new national emblem still continues.

According to the provisions of the Article 5, Section 2 of the Constitution of Macedonia, the two-thirds majority is required to pass a law on the new symbols of the Republic. The usage of the Coat of arms has been defined by a law.^[15]

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  First unofficial proposal.^[16]

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  Second unofficial proposal.^[16]

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  Second modern version of the historical lion, also used on an ethnic Macedonian flag and by other organizations^[17]

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  Stylized Macedonian lion on a shield as shown in 1620.

See also

• Flag of the Republic of Macedonia
• Emblems of the Yugoslav Socialist Republics

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Ustav na Narodna Republika Makedonija ("Služben vesnik", No. 1/47, 1947-01-01)
2. ^ A quotation from the 8th Article of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia The emblem is framed by a garland of ears of wheat, tobacco and opium poppy fruits, tied by a ribbon with the pattern of a traditional costume. In the centre of the circular space there are mountains, rivers, lakes and the sun; where the ears join there was a red five-pointed star. All this represents "the richness of our country, the struggle and the freedom.
3. ^ ^{a b c} World Around Us — the Encyclopaedia for Children and Youth, XI edition, Školska knjiga, Zagreb, 1987, vol. II (A-M), page 242
4. ^ ^{a b} http://www.heraldika.org.mk/Drzaven.htm Со замената на сликата се менува и објаснувањето, Пирин преоѓа во Кораб.
5. ^ Agricultural Encyclopaedia, Yugoslavian Lexicographical Institute, Zagreb, 1970, vol. II (Krm-Proi), page 131, Author of the article on Poppy is Jordan Đorđevski, dipl. ing. agr., professor of the Agricultural and Forestry Faculty of the University of Skopje, Macedonia
6. ^ Jonovski, Jovan. Coats of arms of Macedonia, Macedonian Herald, Electronic Version @ heraldika.org.mk, No. 3, March 2009., p. 9.
7. ^ ^{a b} http://www.heraldika.org.mk/xnews/news.php?xnewsaction=fullnews&newsarch=072008&newsid=2 62nd birthday of the national emblem of the Republic of Macedonia
8. ^ Fojnica Armory, online images
9. ^ Macedonian heraldry|http://heraldika.org.mk/zemski.htm
10. ^ Matkovski, Aleksandar, Grbovite na Makedonija, Skopje, 1970
11. ^ Александар Матковски (1990) Грбовите на Македонија, Мисла, Skopje, Macedonia - ISBN 86-15-00160-X
    
12. ^ Makedonsko Heraldicko Zdruzenie/Macedonian Heraldry Society, Zemski Grbovi
13. ^ http://www.heraldika.org.mk/eng/State.htm "The most acceptable design was of Miroslav Grcev, professor of architecture"
14. ^ The lion of the Bulgarian coat of arms from WikiCommons
15. ^ Zakon za upotreba na grbot, znameto i himnata na Republika Makedonija ("Služben vesnik na Republika Makedonija", No. 32/97, 1997-07-09)
16. ^ ^{a b} "Macedonian coat of arms on heraldika.org.mk". http://heraldika.org.mk/Drzaven.htm. Retrieved 8 October 2010. 
17. ^ used on the coat of arms of the World Macedonian Congress and the magazine Australian Macedonian Weekly