Ladislav Čisárik (29 December 1953 – 3 August 2017) was a Slovak

heraldic art 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 branch ...

ist, painter, and

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

. In 1990, Ladislav Čisárik and Ladislav Vrtel co-designed the

Coat of arms of Slovakia The coat of arms of the Slovak Republic consists of a red (''gules'') shield, in early Gothic style, charged with a silver (''argent'') double cross standing on the middle peak of a dark blue mountain consisting of three peaks. Extremities of th ...

, the current

flag of Slovakia The current form of the national flag of the Slovak Republic ( sk, Vlajka Slovenskej republiky) was adopted by Slovakia's Constitution, which came into force on 3 September 1992. The flag, like many other flags of Slavic nations, uses Pan-Slavic ...

, and the

presidential standard The presidential standard or presidential flag is the flag that is used in many countries as a symbol of the head of state or president. In some countries it may be for exclusive use of the president or only raised where the president is present. An ...

of the

President of Slovakia The president of the Slovak Republic ( sk, Prezident Slovenskej republiky) is the head of state of Slovakia and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The president is directly elected by the people for five years, and can be elected for ...

. He also designed or modified the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

and

seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

for more than 100 towns and municipalities in Slovakia.

Biography

Ladislav Čisárik was born on 29 December 1953. He owned and operated his own

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

studio, called Signum, in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

from 1979 until his death in 2017. Ladislav Čisárik worked with the Heraldic Commission of Ministry of the Interior to create new Slovak

national symbol A national symbol is a symbol of any entity considering and manifesting itself to the world as a national community: the sovereign states but also nations and countries in a state of colonial or other dependence, federal integration, or even an ...

s in the aftermath of the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

, including a new flag and

. Working together, he and Ladislav Vrtel, an expert in

heraldry 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 branch ...

, created a new

in 1990. Ladislav Čisárik and Vrtel based their modern design, which includes a double cross, on an existing 14th century coat of arms. However, they chose to enlarge and triple the size of the double cross on their new coat of arms because they considered the cross to be a meaningful national symbol. Čisárik and Vrtel also designed the

, which came into force on 3 September 1992, and the new presidential standard, both of which incorporate their coat of arms. In 1994, Ladislav Čisárik illustrated a guidebook called "''Najstaršie rody na Slovensku''" ("''Oldest Homes in Slovakia''"). He also released a map in poster format in 1996 which shows the official municipal flags and coats of arms for 136 cities in Slovakia. Ladislav Čisárik died on 3 August 2017, following a serious illness, at the age of 63. He was survived by his wife, Emilia Čisáriková.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cisarik, Ladislav 1953 births 2017 deaths Heraldic artists Coats of arms designers Flag designers Slovak graphic designers Slovak artists Slovak painters