The black panther ( sl, črni panter), also known as the Carantanian panther () after the Medieval principality of

Carantania Carantania, also known as Carentania ( sl, Karantanija, german: Karantanien, in Old Slavic '), was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern ...

, is a

Carinthian Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carint ...

historical

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

, which represents a stylized heraldic

panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. ***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...

. As a heraldic symbol, it appeared on the coat of arms of the Carinthian Duke Herman II as well as of the Styrian Margrave Ottokar III. In this region it was most frequently imaged on various monuments and tombstones. The symbol can still be found in the coat of arms of the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

, although the colours have changed. The symbol is also widely used within structures of the

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

security forces Security forces are statutory organizations with internal security mandates. In the legal context of several nations, the term has variously denoted police and military units working in concert, or the role of military and paramilitary forces (s ...

; namely by the

Slovenian Armed Forces The Slovenian Armed Forces or Slovenian Army (SAF; sl, Slovenska vojska; 'SV'' are the armed forces of Slovenia. Since 2003, it is organized as a fully professional standing army. The Commander-in-Chief of the SAF is the President of the Repu ...

and the

Slovenian Police The Slovenian National Police Force is the national government agency that handles the responsibility of law enforcement of the Republic of Slovenia. It is composed of the eight police directorates in Celje, Koper, Kranj, Ljubljana, Maribor, Mur ...

. Since 1991, there have been several proposals to replace the Slovenian coat of arms with the black panther.

Origin

The origins of the symbol are unclear. According to the archaeologist and historian Andrej Pleterski, it appears for the first time in the coat of arms of the

Sponheim Sponheim is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany. History Sponheim was the capital of the County of Sponheim. Sponheim Abbey There was a Benedictine abbey which was founded in 1101 by Step ...

family from Carinthia. The historian

Peter Štih Peter Štih (born 27 November 1960) is a Slovenian historian, specialising in medieval history. Štih was born in Ljubljana, but spent most of his childhood years in the town of Most na Soči in the Goriška region of western Slovenia. He atten ...

has denied any historically attested relation to symbols of

. On the contrary, the economist

Jožko Šavli Jožko Šavli (March 22, 1943March 11, 2011) was a Slovene author, self-declared historian and high school teacher in economic sciences from Italy. Šavli was born in Tolmin, then part of the Kingdom of Italy (now in Slovenia). He obtained a degr ...

, an adherent of the autochthonist

Venetic theory The Venetic theory ( sl, venetska teorija) is a pseudohistorical interpretation of the origin of the Slovenes that denies the Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps in the 6th century, claiming that proto-Slovenes (also regarded as the Veneti peopl ...

, believed that it originated from the Roman province of

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celts, Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were th ...

, was later adopted by Carantania, and then by the Styrian nobility.

Later disputed usage

Symbol of Carantania

The symbol of the black panther in its current version was first reconstructed by the historian

in the 1980s. Šavli claimed that he had discovered several feudal families originating from the old

n area that had a black panther in their dynastic coat of arms. He also claimed that he had discovered several documents mentioning the black panther as an ancient symbol of Carantania. From all these evidences he reconstructed the probable appearance of the symbol of

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

Carantania. Šavli's reconstruction soon gained some popularity among younger generations of Slovenian patriots and nationalists.

Symbol of Carinthia

Several academic historians, such as

, have disputed the hypothesis that the black panther was the symbol of Carolingian and

Ottonian The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxons, Saxon dynasty of List of German monarchs, German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I, Holy Roman Empe ...

Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (german: Herzogtum Kärnten; sl, Vojvodina Koroška) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial Sta ...

. According to their views, all mentions which would suggest such a conclusion are vague. Furthermore, there is no direct evidence of the symbol dating to the time of the Slavic principality of Carantania.

Current usage

Slovenia

's stylized version of the black panther is widely used within structures of the

; namely by the

and the

. Within the Slovenian military the symbol is present on a Coat of Arms of the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces ( sl, Generalštab Slovenske vojske) and the United Operational Center ( sl, Združeni operativni center), although in the latter case the symbol is reversed and is facing to the right. The black panther on a white shield is also present within the official emblem of the Medical rescue center of

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

( sl, Zdravstveno reševalni center Koroške). The panther is also used in the Coat of Arms of the special forces unit of the Slovenian Police, although in their case stylized in red and presented on a black shield. This unit is commonly referred to as the ''Red Panthers'' ().

References

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