Black panther (symbol)

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The Carantanian black panther, as reconstructed by Jožko Šavli.

This article is about a Carinthian historical symbol. For other uses of the term black panther, see black panther (disambiguation).

Black panther (Slovene črni panter) is a Carinthian historical symbol which represents a symbolized black panther. As a heraldic symbol, it first appeared around 1160 in the coat of arms of the Carinthian Duke Hermann Spanheim 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 Austrian state of Styria, although the colours have been changed.

The symbol of the black panther in its current version was first reconstructed by the Slovenian Dr. Jožko Šavli in the 1980s. Šavli discovered that several feudal families originating from the old Carantanian erea had a black panther in their dynastical coat of arms. He also discovered several documents mentioning the black panther as an ancient symbol of Carinthia. From all these evidences he made a reconstruction of how the symbol of Carolingian Carantania most probably looked like.

Šavli's reconstruction soon gained a widespread popularity among younger generations of Slovenian patriots and nationalists. In the last two decades, it has become one of the most recognizable symbols of Slovenian patriotism. It is also used by several nationalistic groups.

Several academic historians, such as Peter Štih, have disputed the hypothesis that the black panther was the symbol of Carolingian and Ottonian Duchy of Carinthia. According their views, all mentions which would suggest such a concusion are vague. Furthermore, there is no direct evidence of the symbol dating to the time of the Slavic principality of Carantania. Nevertheless, the ties of the black panther symbol with the territory of the early Ottonian Carinthia seem to be beyond doubt.

The origines of the symbol are unclear. Some maintain it comes from ancient Noricum. Indeed, the figure of two panthers guarding the arbor vitae can be seen in an ancient Roman carved stone built into the church of Maria Saal, which was the religious and administrative center of the old Carantanian principality. Furthermore, the figure of the black panther was very popular in medieval legends: since ancient times, the panther was regarded to be the deadly enemy of the dragon, thus symbolizing the archetypical narrative about the struggle between forces of light and darkness. In early medieval symbology, the panther was often depicted as a symbol of Christ.

Since 1991, there have been several proposals to replace the Slovenian coat of arms with the black panther.

[edit] Sources

Andrej Pleterski, "Karantanski Rašamon ali mit pred mitom" in Delo, y. 39, n. 118 (May 24, 1997).
Peter Štih, "Brskanje po zgodovini in iskanje slovenskih simbolov" in Delo, y. 30, n. 130 (June 6, 1990).
Jožko Šavli, Slovenski simboli (Bilje: Založba Humar, 1995).