| Coat of arms of the Republic of Macedonia | |
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| Details | |
| Armiger | Republic of Macedonia |
| Adopted | 1946-12-31 by the Constitution.[1] Modified on 2009-11-16. |
| Escutcheon | The coat of arms of the Republic of Macedonia is composed of 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 centre of the ovoid frame are depicted a mountain, a lake and a sunrise. These devices are said to represent "the richness of our country, our struggle and our freedom" |
The coat of arms of the Republic of Macedonia is composed of 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 centre of the ovoid frame are depicted a mountain, a lake and a sunrise.[2] These devices are said to represent "the richness of our country, our struggle and our freedom".
The Macedonian parliament adopted the proposal to change the country’s coat of arms with 80 votes in favor and 18 against, removing the five-pointed star. The national emblem was modified on 16 November 2009. The Macedonian coat of arms that included the red star had been in use since 1946, shortly after the republic became part of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). With the recent change, the coat of arms is composed of two curved garlands of wheat sheaves, tobacco leaves and opium poppy fruits, tied by a ribbon decorated with embroidery of traditional Macedonian folk motifs. A lake, a mountain, and a sunrise are depicted in the centre of the ovoid frame.
The whole composition and design is based upon the pattern of the coat of arms of the SFR Yugoslavia and does not have any roots in the historical heraldic coats of arms of Macedonia. Besides the emblem of Belarus, the device of the Republic of Macedonia is one of the few remaining in Europe to still employ socialist heraldry.
The features of the national coat of arms contain a rising sun which symbolizes freedom, the Šar Mountains[3] with its peak named Ljuboten[3] or Mount Korab[4] and the river Vardar,[3][4] with Lake Ohrid. The emblem also contains opium poppy fruits; this poppy was brought to Macedonia by the Ottoman Empire in the first half of 19th century.[5]
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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 part of the 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.[6] 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 more realistic.[7]
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.[7]
The supervised version was constitutionally approved by the Constitution of the People's Republic of Macedonia from December 31, 1946.[1]
The symbol of the golden lion on red ground first appeared as a symbol of "Macedonia" in armorial rolls of the late middle ages. The earliest known attestation is in the Fojnica Armory[8] from 1340, where it contains a 7-pointed crown and appears side by side with entries for Illyria, Bosnia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Serbia and Bulgaria. The Korenić-Neorić armory roll of 1595 included a 5- pointed crown. The Belgrade Museum of Contemporary Art displays a 1620 version of the symbol with 3-pointed crown, while the Berlin Library displays a 17th century version with the 5-pointed crown.[9] The use of the lion to represent Macedonia was continued in foreign heraldic collections throughout the 14th to 19th centuries[10][11]
Such efforts have so far failed, due to political and national disputes over possible replacements. 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.[13] However, this was rejected on three main grounds:
Because of these reasons, the political parties agreed to continue to use the current device until a solution is found. The emblem did not appear on the country's first passports, however, in 2007 the device 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 the Constitution of Macedonia, 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.[15]
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