ABOUT CZECHIA

The symbol of the Czech state, a white-red-and-blue flag in a simple geometric pattern, was created in 1920, shortly after the founding of the first independent Czechoslovak state. The white, red, and blue colors are both symbolic and historic. White (or silver) is the traditional color of Bohemia and represents the sky. Moravia is symbolized by the color red which also represents the bloodshed for the freedom of the state. Blue is the traditional color of Slovakia. It is also symbolic of impartiality and sovereignty. When Czechoslovakia split into two independent states in January 1993, the Czech Republic kept this flag as its own. While the blue triangle no longer represents Slovakia, it does remain a symbol of impartiality and sovereignty.

The banner of the president of the republic is white, and its selvage consists of a number of alternating white, red, and blue flame-shaped ornaments. In the middle of the white field is the large state emblem with a white (silver) inscription under on a red ribbon underlaid with yellow (golden) linden twigs on both sides saying “TRUTH WILL PREVAIL”.

Together, the national colors of the Czech Republic are one of the national symbols of the Czech Republic, which officially represent the Czech Republic. The colors that make up the tricolor go in the following order: white, red, and blue. The national colors come from the flag of the Czech Republic.

The Czech coat of arms dates back to the 13^th century. It consists of a shield divided into four squares. The top left and bottom right squares are red, with a white, double-tailed crowned lion. The lion is the symbol of Bohemia and signifies power and sovereignty. The top right square is blue and contains a crowned red-and-white checkered eagle. This is the Moravian eagle, adapted from the Saint Wenceslas eagle of the Holy Roman Empire. The bottom left square is gold and contains a crowned black eagle, which symbolizes the Silesian region of the country. Today, the Czech lion by itself is also used as a symbol of the Czech Republic.

The small state emblem consists of a red shield displaying a silver double-tailed lion rampant with a golden crown and golden claws.

The coat of arms of the Czech Republic displays the three historical regions—the Czech lands—which make up the nation. The current coat of arms, which was adopted in 1992, was designed by Czech heraldist Jiří Louda.

Since 1990, the Czech Republic has had a seal with the great coat of arms. This is the work of Zdeněk Přikryl.

“Kde domov můj” (“Where My Home Is”) is the national anthem of the Czech Republic, written by the composer František Škroup and the playwright Josef Kajetán Tyl.

The piece was written as a part of the incidental music to the comedy Fidlovačka aneb Žádný hněv a žádná rvačka (Fidlovačka, or No Anger and No Brawl). It was first performed by Karel Strakatý at the Estates Theatre in Prague on 21 December 1834. The original song consists of two verses (see below). Although J. K. Tyl is said to have considered leaving the song out of the play, not convinced of its quality, it soon became very popular among Czechs and was accepted as an informal anthem of a nation seeking to revive its identity within the Habsburg Monarchy.

Soon after Czechoslovakia was formed in 1918, the first verse of the song became the Czech part of the national anthem, followed by the first verse of the Slovak song “Nad Tatrou sa blýska”. The songs reflected the two  nations’ concerns in the 19th century when they were confronted with the already fervent national-ethnic activism of the Germans and Hungarians, their fellow ethnic groups in the Habsburg Monarchy. Because of the linguistic and ethnic diversity of the First Republic, official translations were made into Hungarian and German as well.

With the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the Czechoslovak anthem was divided as well. While Slovakia extended its anthem by adding a second verse, the Czech Republic’s national anthem was adopted unextended, in its single-verse version.

In 1882, Antonín Dvořák used Kde domov můj in his incidental music to the František Ferdinand Šamberk play Josef Kajetán Tyl, Op. 62, B. 125. The overture is often played separately as a concert work entitled Domov můj (My Home).