Coat of arms of Košice

Statue of the first municipal coat of arms in Europe - Košice, Slovakia

Košice (today in Slovakia; previously part of the Kingdom of Austria-Hungary, Kassa in Hungarian, Cassovia in Latin) was the first town in Europe to be granted its own coat of arms. It was granted by King Louis I the Great at the Castle of Diósgyőr in Diósgyőr, present Miskolc-Diósgyőr, Hungary in 1369.

The original coat of arms featured only the red and silver stripes and three fleur-de-lis on a blue background ([1], first picture). The coat of arms used today features symbols of historical counties (in Slovak: Abov, Gemer, Spiš, Tornaľa, Užská stolica, Zemplín) and hasn't changed since 1502.

Košice is unique in that it was the first city in Europe to gain a royal warrant for a coat of arms. The city is further unique in that by the year 1502, in the period of active heraldry, it had obtained altogether four armorial warrants from four monarchs.

The statue of the first municipal coat of arms in Europe (its author is eminent Slovak sculptor Arpád Račko) was inaugurated in December 2002 at Hlavná ulica (Main Street).

See also

• Waxworks museum of the Castle of Diósgyőr

External links

• The coat of arms on the city's official site
• Symbols of Košice

Gallery

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