The Coat of arms of Dubrovnik was the

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

symbol of the historical

Republic of Ragusa hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world" , population_estimate = 90 000 in the XVI Century , currency = ...

. It is today used in a variant for the city of

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. Its basic appearance is based on the coat of arms of the

Árpád dynasty The Árpád dynasty, consisted of the members of the royal House of Árpád (), also known as Árpáds ( hu, Árpádok, hr, Arpadovići). They were the ruling dynasty of the Principality of Hungary in the 9th and 10th centuries and of the Kingd ...

History

During the intermittent administration of

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, which lasted until 1205, the use of heraldic symbols such as coat of arms was not in practice. The city used Byzantine imperial flags until 1171. When Dubrovnik passed to the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

the official symbol became the

Lion of Saint Mark The Lion of Saint Mark, representing Mark the Evangelist, pictured in the form of a winged lion, is an aspect of the Tetramorph. On the pinnacle of St Mark's Cathedral he is depicted as holding a Bible, and surmounting a golden lion which is t ...

. With the end of the Venetian rule all the symbols of the previous government were removed, with only one stone tablet remaining showing the ''Venetian lion''.

Coat of arms with red and white bars

With the

Treaty of Zadar The Treaty of Zadar, also known as the Treaty of Zara, was a peace treaty signed in Zadar, Dalmatia on February 18, 1358 by which the Venetian Republic lost influence over its Dalmatian holdings. The Treaty of Zadar ended hostilities between Loui ...

the Republic of Venice relinquished its claims on the eastern coast of the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

in favour of

Louis I Louis I may refer to: * Louis the Pious, Louis I of France, "the Pious" (778–840), king of France and Holy Roman Emperor * Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia (ruled 1123–1140) * Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg (c. 1098–1158) * Louis I of Blois ( ...

and the Venetians left Dubrovnik for good. With the Treaty of

Visegrád Visegrád (; german: Plintenburg; la, Pone Navata or ; sk, Vyšehrad) is a castle town in Pest County, Hungary. It is north of Budapest on the right bank of the Danube in the Danube Bend. It had a population of 1,864 in 2010. The town is the s ...

in 1358, between Dubrovnik and Louis I., they have committed to use his flag or coat of arms which contained the mentioned arms of

(red and white bars). In 1359 they ordered flags to be made from

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

containing the arms of

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

and in 1362 they also ordered flags with Saint Blaise.Vito Galzinski, Državni grbovi, page 344 According to some sources the use of the Hungarian arms depended on various foreign policy conditions and so the government of the

issued an order to all ship captains that they should not assert any other symbols except those of the Republic (with Saint Blaise) and those of the Hungarian kingdom. In Dubrovnik the coat of arms with the red and white bars became widely accepted as the arms of the Republic and as such the Republic kept its use even after the

became independent from the affairs of the Kingdom of Hungary. Although it was recognized as a sign of submission to the King, the arms were now generally accepted as a sign of sovereignty of the Dubrovnik Republic. However, unlike the Hungarian coat of arms, which begins with a red bar at the top, the Ragusan coat of arms was inverted so that it began with a white bar, and that version eventually prevailed. One of the rare (and possibly the only) trace of the arms description in written form is mentioned in a book about voting customs and regulations of the Republic called ''Copioso ristretto degli annali di Rausa'' by Jakov Lukarić (Giacomo Di Pietro Luccari) published in Venice 1605. On page 155 of the book, while describing the electoral procedure, Lukarić mentions the ballot boxes with the arms of the Republic - four white bars on a red shield. These arms were in use until the dissolution of the Republic in 1808. There are numerous examples of the arms: *

Rector's Palace George Rector 878-1947was a restaurateur, raconteur and food authority who wrote several cookbooks in the 1920s and '30s. He appeared on radio on the Columbia Broadcasting System in ''Dine with George Rector''Saint Blaise Blaise of Sebaste ( hy, Սուրբ Վլասի, ''Surb Vlasi''; el, Ἅγιος Βλάσιος, ''Agios Vlasios''; ) was a physician and bishop of Sebastea in historical Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey) who is venerated as a Christian saint and m ...

from 15th century. The arms can be observed in the upper corner of the painting. *

Rector's Palace George Rector 878-1947was a restaurateur, raconteur and food authority who wrote several cookbooks in the 1920s and '30s. He appeared on radio on the Columbia Broadcasting System in ''Dine with George Rector''Rector's Palace George Rector 878-1947was a restaurateur, raconteur and food authority who wrote several cookbooks in the 1920s and '30s. He appeared on radio on the Columbia Broadcasting System in ''Dine with George Rector''1667 Dubrovnik earthquake The 1667 Dubrovnik earthquake was one of the three most devastating earthquakes to hit what is now modern Croatia in the last 2,400 years, since records began. The entire city was almost destroyed and around 3,000 to 5,000 people were killed. The ...

showing the arms in the upper left corner. *

Pavao Ritter Vitezović Pavao Ritter Vitezović (; 7 January 1652 – 20 January 1713) was a Habsburg-Croatian polymath, variously described as a historian, linguist, publisher, poet, political theorist, diplomat, printmaker, draughtsman, cartographer, writer and print ...

- ''Stematographia sive armorum illiricorum delineatio, descriptio et restitutio'' (published in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, 1701). On the front page it shows the arms of the Republic * Antonio Primi - ''La legga dell' honesta e del valore'' (published in Venice, 1703). On the front page there are arms with white bars, although the book was printed in black and white it is commonly concluded that the dark colored bars represent the red. * Matija Alberti - ''Oficij B. Marie D.'' (published in Venice, 1617). Shows the arms on the front page in black and white. *

Stjepan Gradić Stjepan Gradić, also known as Stefano Gradi (Latin: Stephanus Gradius; 6 March 1613 – 2 May 1683) was a philosopher, scientist and a patrician of the Republic of Ragusa. Biography Stijepo's parents were Miho Gradi (Gradić) and Marija Benessa ...

- ''Peripateticae philosophiae pronunciata'' shows the arms of the Republic on the front page in black and white. * Sponza Palace (in Dubrovnik) - On the main doors from 18th century. * Credentials of Bartolomeo Lodovico Ghiglione, consul of the

Dubrovnik Republic hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world" , population_estimate = 90 000 in the XVI Century , currency = ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

from 1790. The arms are identical in appearance to the official arms of city of

in use today, but with blue and red bars. Today the original Árpád version of arms (red and white bars) are the official arms of the city of Dubrovnik.

Coat of arms with blue and red bars

Arms of other colors, predominantly blue and red bars, also appear on several historical documents, and some researchers believe that these arms mostly varied in color due to the personal interpretation of the authors who made them. Due to different interpretations of the arms, white (silver) bars started to be replaced by blue bars somewhere at the end of the 18th century. Beginning with the 18th century some arms interpretations started to show white bars being decorated with blue template lines within them until the end of the 18th century when arms with fully blue bars started to appear. In the State Archive of Dubrovnik there is a map of the

(1747) made by Mihajlo Pešić. On the lower end of the map the arms of the Republic are visible showing white and red bars, with the white bars being richly decorated with blue template lines within them. One of the most significant

Armorials A roll of arms (or armorial) is a collection of coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms. The oldest extant armorials date to the mid-13th centu ...

for Dubrovnik heraldic legacy is the one by Ivo Saraka. It can also be seen in the transcription book of Dubrovnik law codes, most likely compiled around the year 1746. It contains several pages of colored arms of Dubrovnik nobility with the arms of the Republic on top. It shows the arms with blue and red lines, however blue lines are interlaced with decorative templates - wavy lines of different shades of blue. Vito Galzinski (who wrote on the heraldry of the Republic) considers that the author's intention was to emphasize the silver coating of the bars. That same manuscript was also used for the procedure of confirming one's noble status and also as a base for the restoration of the mentioned armorial. During the restoration, which was finished in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

in 1956, the darkened silver-coated lines were completely colored blue. At that time there was no serious and systematic research of the history of the Ragusan coat of arms and it was widely believed that the colors were blue and red.Vito Galzinski, Državni grbovi, pages 346-347 The restored armorial is today kept in the

arms used and granted by

File:Dubrovački grb 18. stoljeće.svg, Arms of the Dubrovnik Republic - Pavao Ritter Vizezović (non-Ragusan source) File:Stema.original.republica.ragusea.jpg, Arms on the map by Matija Pešić kept in State Archive File:Stema.dubrovcani.vlastela.jpg, Arms of the Republic and Dubrovnik Nobility - Ivo Saraka File:Ragusan State Letters Patent.jpg, Arms with blue and red bars in Ragusan State Letters Patent File:Ragusan_Consular_Diploma.jpg, Arms with blue and red bars in a Ragusan Consular Diploma (the aforementioned credentials of Bartolomeo Lodovico Ghiglione)

References

{{reflist

Dubrovnik

Republic of Ragusa

History

Coat of arms with red and white bars

Coat of arms with blue and red bars

See also

References