The black panther ( sl, črni panter), also known as the Carantanian panther () after the Medieval principality of Carantania, is a Carinthian historical symbol, 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 So ...

. 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, 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 (su ...

; 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 R ...

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, Mu ...

. 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 family from Carinthia. The historian Peter Štih has denied any historically attested relation to symbols of Carantania. On the contrary, the economist Jožko Šavli, an adherent of the autochthonist Venetic theory, believed that it originated from the Roman province of

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

, 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 Jožko Šavli in the 1980s. Šavli claimed that he had discovered several feudal families originating from the old Carantanian 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 Carantania. Šavli's reconstruction soon gained some popularity among younger generations of Slovenian patriots and nationalists.

Symbol of Carinthia

Several academic historians, such as Peter Štih, have disputed the hypothesis that the black panther was the symbol of Carolingian and

Ottonian The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the ...

Duchy of Carinthia. 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

Jožko Šavli'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 ( 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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