Exhibitions

5. 3. 2010

Symbols of the Republic: Pillars of the Czech Statehood

The exhibition under the auspices of the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic

 

Large and Small State Emblems, the State Colours, the State Flag, the State Banner of the President of the Republic, the State Seal, and the State Anthem.

Hrzán Palace

Loretánská Str. 177/9, Prague 1

The exhibition is open to the public daily from 26 February to 7 March 2010 from 10:00 to 18:00.

After this date the exhibition will be accessible every Wednesday 10:00 – 18:00. Advance reservation required.

You can order guided tours via phone: +420 296 15 200

E-mail: icvrezervace@vlada.cz

Admission free.

The official state symbols of the Czech Republic are determined by the Article 14 of the Constitution of 1992. It fulfils in particular the identification and prestige function; nevertheless, it also commemorates the individual stages of more than thousand-year-long history of the state. It commemorate the historical continuity and the connection of the present times with the efforts of tens of generations of our ancestors.

Except for the State Anthem, all the other symbols have their roots in medieval emblems corresponding to the heraldic rules. They have their roots in 12th century in the West-Christian civilization territory; in our territory there was about one-generation delay in comparison with the most advanced regions. Until the beginning of the 20th century the state symbols had been rather symbols of rulers and had fulfilled the same function as current symbols of the republic. It was the 13th century which was crucial for further development. On 23 September 1253 the King Premysl Otakar II inherited the Prague throne and introduced the emblem with the double-tailed lion. In the 14th century, under the reign of the Luxembourg dynasty, the monarchy transformed into the Crown of Bohemian Kingdom and this state outlasted until the mid-18th century. On 29 November 1752 the Empress Maria Theresa introduced unified royal emblem which was common for Austrian and Czech lands. It meant the end of using the specific Czech symbol at the state level in fact.

Declaration of Czechoslovakia on 28 October 1918 returned the statehood from the sphere of theory back to the reality. Apart from symbols of Slovakia and the Sub-Carpathian Russia, also the medieval heraldic symbols of the Bohemian King, the Moravian Margrave, Duke of Opava and dukes of Upper and Lower Silesia appeared in the triplet of republic's emblems. Further medieval emblems of territories of the Crown of Bohemian Kingdom were not included in them. The design of the individual emblems of the republic was made by Jaroslav Kursa, František Kysela, Milan Hegar, Joska Skalník and Jiří Louda who designed the state symbols in 1992.

The National Archives and the National Museum cooperated in preparation of the exhibition; some exhibits have been lent by the Office of the President of the Republic, the Archives of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and the National Library of the Czech Republic.

Authors of the exhibition: Helena Sedláček and Pavel Sedláček

Commissioner: Lucie Wittlichová

Production: Petra Tikalová

Architect: Luděk Novotný

Drawings: Petr Tybitancl and Zdirad J.K. Čech

Graphic design: Filip Blažek, Jan Dobeš, studio Designiq

Execution of the exhibition: LN Design, s.r.o.

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