National emblem of North Macedonia

The national emblem of North Macedonia depicts two curved garlands of sheaves of wheat, tobacco leaves and opium poppy fruits, tied by a ribbon decorated with embroidery of traditional Macedonian folk motifs. In the center of the ovoid frame are depicted a mountain, a lake and a sunrise.[1] The features of the national coat of arms contain a rising sun which symbolizes freedom, the Šar Mountains[2] with its peak named Ljuboten[2] or Mount Korab[3] and the river Vardar,[2][3] with Lake Ohrid. The emblem also contains opium poppy fruits; this poppy was brought to the area during Ottoman times in the first half of the 19th century.[4] Until 16 November 2009, the emblem also depicted a socialistic five-pointed star in the top. The national parliament adopted the proposal to remove this element with 80 votes in favor and 18 against. This emblem (including the red star) had been in use since 1946, shortly after the republic became part of Yugoslavia.

National emblem of North Macedonia
Versions
As used by the Macedonian government
ArmigerRepublic of North Macedonia
Adopted27 July 1946 (1946-07-27) (original version)
16 November 2009 (2009-11-16) (current version)

The emblem is based upon the emblem of Yugoslavia. Until 2009, along with Belarus and the disputed territory of Transnistria, North Macedonia was one of the few remaining European jurisdictions that continued to employ socialist symbolism in its national emblem.

History

The current emblem is a revised version of the one adopted on July 27, 1946 by the Assembly of the People's Republic of Macedonia. The original version of 1946 represented the Pirin Mountains, which are outside the country's territory, but part of the larger geographical region of Macedonia in order to symbolize a future "United Macedonia" as part of a new Balkan federation. The Emblem was created by Vasilije Popovic-Cico.[5] After Yugoslavia broke with the Soviet Union in 1948, the Soviet Union did not compel Bulgaria and Albania to form a Balkan Federation with Yugoslavia and the concept of a United Macedonia as part of such a federation was no longer realistic.[6]

Two days after its adoption, the symbolism of that device was described in the Nova Makedonija newspaper, as follows:

The [coat of arms] of the People's Republic of Macedonia is a symbol of the freedom and the brotherhood of the Macedonian people and the richness of the Macedonian land. The five-pointed star symbolizes the National Liberation War through which the Macedonian people gained freedom. In the center, there is the Pirin mountain, the highest Macedonian mountain that has been the center of the National Liberation Wars in the past. The river displayed in the emblem is the river Vardar, the most famous Macedonian river in the republic. Pirin and Vardar at the same time symbolize the unity of all parts of Macedonia and the ideal of our people for national unity.[6]

The supervised version was constitutionally approved by the Constitution of the People's Republic of Macedonia from December 31, 1946.[7]

  • Emblem of the People's Republic of Macedonia, 1944 to 1946
    Emblem of the People's Republic of Macedonia, 1944 to 1946
  • Emblem of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, 1946 to 1991
    Emblem of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, 1946 to 1991
  • Emblem of the Republic of Macedonia, 1991 to 2009
    Emblem of the Republic of Macedonia, 1991 to 2009

Proposed heraldic replacement
Main article: Proposed coat of arms of North Macedonia

Between the 16th and the 19th centuries foreign armorials commonly represented the region of Macedonia by means of a golden lion on red field, or of a red lion on a golden field.[8][9] The earliest known example is the Fojnica Armorial from 16th-17th century,[10][11][12] and later examples include the Korenić-Neorić Armorial of 1595,[13][14] a 1630 armorial on display in the Belgrade Museum of Contemporary Art, and a 17th-century armorial in Berlin Library.[15]

On several occasions the reintroduction of the historical coat of arms has been proposed. A proposal by architect and graphic designer Miroslav Grčev was put forward in 1992 to replace it with a revised version of the historical gold lion on a red shield. The Macedonian Heraldry Society considers that coat of arms to have been the best solution for a new state emblem.[16] However, this was rejected on three main grounds:

  • several political parties, notably VMRO-DPMNE, already use that emblem as their party symbols
  • the Albanian political parties of Macedonia considered the proposal to be only representative for the ethnic Macedonians, but not also for ethnic Albanians
  • the state coat of arms of Bulgaria is identical to the Macedonian proposal save for the design of the crown.

As a result, the political parties have agreed to continue to use the current device until a replacement is found. The emblem did not appear on the country's first passports. In 2007, however, the national emblem was put on the front and the inside of the new biometric Macedonian passports, while the parliamentary debate about acceptance of a new national emblem still continues.

According to the provisions of the Article 5, Section 2 of North Macedonia's constitution, the two-thirds majority is required to pass a law on the new symbols of the Republic. The usage of the Coat of arms has been defined by a law.[17]

2014 proposal

On 5 December 2014, the Macedonian government proposed a heraldic design which would replace the old national emblem. According to the Macedonian Heraldry Society, the new coat of arms is based on an illustration from Jerome de Bara book "Coat of Arms" (1581).[18] The illustration from de Bara's book "Le blason des armoiries" depicts a coat of arms attributed to Alexander the Great.[19] It is blazoned as "Or, a lion gules" (on a golden background, a red lion) and topped with a golden mural crown to represent the republican form of government. Parliament still needs to vote on this design.[20]

  • First unofficial proposal for a new coat of arms
    First unofficial proposal for a new coat of arms
  • Second unofficial proposal for a new coat of arms
    Second unofficial proposal for a new coat of arms
  • Coat of arms proposed in 2014 by the Macedonian government
    Coat of arms proposed in 2014 by the Macedonian government[18]
  • Coat of arms proposed in 1992, by Miroslav Grčev. This was the most popular proposed arms before the government's 2014 proposal.
    Coat of arms proposed in 1992, by Miroslav Grčev. This was the most popular proposed arms before the government's 2014 proposal.

See also

References
  1. "Macedonia: Coat of arms". flagspot.net.
  2. World Around Us — the Encyclopaedia for Children and Youth, XI edition, Školska knjiga, Zagreb, 1987, vol. II (A-M), page 242
  3. Со замената на сликата се менува и објаснувањето, Пирин преоѓа во Кораб Archived 2008-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Agricultural Encyclopaedia, Yugoslavian Lexicographical Institute, Zagreb, 1970, vol. II (Krm-Proi), page 131, Author of the article on Poppy is Jordan Đorđevski, dipl. ing. agr., professor of the Agricultural and Forestry Faculty of the University of Skopje, North Macedonia
  5. Jonovski, Jovan. "Coats of arms of Macedonia (Macedonian Herald, Electronic Version @ heraldika.org.mk, No. 3, March 2009., p. 9)" (PDF). heraldika.org.mk.
  6. 62nd birthday of the national emblem of the Republic of Macedonia
  7. Ustav na Narodna Republika Makedonija ("Služben vesnik", No. 1/47, 1947-01-01)
  8. Matkovski, Aleksandar, Grbovite na Makedonija, Skopje, 1970
  9. Александар Матковски (1990) Грбовите на Македонија, Мисла, Skopje, Macedonia - ISBN 86-15-00160-X
  10. Fojnica Armory Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine, online images
  11. Ivan Supercic, Croatia in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance: A Cultural Survey, Philip Wilson Publishers, 2009, ISBN 0856676241, p. 30.
  12. "Fojnica (Municipality, Central Bosnian Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina)". fotw.info. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  13. Zrinka Blazevic, 'Indetermi-nation: Narrative identity and symbolic politics in early modern Illyrism', chapter 6 of: Whose Love of Which Country?: Composite States, National Histories and Patriotic Discourses in Early Modern East Central Europe, Balázs Trencsényi and Márton Zászkaliczky (eds.), BRILL, 2010, ISBN 978-90-04-18262-2
  14. Milic Milicevic, „Грб Србије, развој кроз историју“, Belgrade 1995, ISBN 86-7549-047-X
  15. Macedonian heraldry Archived 2009-09-17 at the Wayback Machine
  16. "The most acceptable design was of Miroslav Grcev, professor of architecture"
  17. Zakon za upotreba na grbot, znameto i himnata na Republika Makedonija ("Služben vesnik na Republika Makedonija", No. 32/97 Archived 2008-04-20 at the Wayback Machine, 1997-07-09)
  18. "Government adopts draft-law on new Macedonia's coat of arms". 5 December 2014.
  19. Bara, Jérôme de (1628). "Le blason des armoiries". google.com.
  20. "Macedonia with new state emblem". Gazeta Express (in Albanian).
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