Symbols of Serbia

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The national symbols of Serbia are the symbols that represent Serbia and the Serbian people.

Official symbols[edit]

Type Image Symbol
National flag
Flag of Serbia.svg
Flag of Serbia
The national flag of Serbia is a horizontal tricolour of red, blue, and white with the lesser coat of arms placed left of center. The first recorded use of the Serbian tricolour was in 1835.
Coat of arms
Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
Coat of arms of Serbia
The national coat of arms of Serbia was adopted in 2004 and is based on the original used during the Kingdom of Serbia (1882-1918).
National anthem
Serbian National Anthem

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Bože pravde
The national anthem of Serbia "Bože pravde" (God of Justice) was first used by the Kingdom of Serbia (1882-1918). It was readopted in 2006 as the official anthem of Serbia.

Other symbols[edit]

Type Image Symbol
The phrase "Only Unity Saves the Serbs" (Serbian: Само слога Србина спасава / Samo sloga Srbina spasava) is often said to be displayed on the Serbian cross on the Serbian national coat of arms, in the form of four C-shaped firesteels (sr. "ocila"), which form an acronym of the four Cyrillic letters for "S" (written like Latin "C").
Serbian Cross symbol.svg The Serbian cross is based on the tetragramme, a Byzantine symbol, and is believed to have been adopted at least by the 14th century. It consists of a Greek cross, and four firesteels pointing outwards. It is alleged that the firesteels are acronyms for Only Unity Saves the Serbs.
Tri prsta3.jpg The Three-finger salute is commonly used when expressing Serbian Orthodoxy.
National animal
Canis lupus lupus qtl1.jpg
The Gray wolf is greatly linked to Balkan and Serbian mythology and cults.[1] It has an important part in Serbian mythology.[2] In the Slavic, old Serbian religion and mythology, the wolf was used as a totem.[3] In the Serbian epic poetry, the wolf is a symbol of fearlessness.[4] Vuk Karadžić, 19th-century Serbian philologist and ethnographer, explained the traditional, apotropaic use of the name Vuk (wolf): a woman who had lost several babies in succession, would name her newborn son Vuk, because it was believed that the witches, who "ate" the babies, were afraid to attack the wolves.[5]
Floral emblem
Wegierka Zwykla1.jpg
The Plum is the floral emblem and national fruit, which is known for rakija production in Serbia.
National drink
Various Bottles of Slivovitz.jpg
Šljivovica (Plum brandy) is the national drink of Serbia. The name Slivovitz is derived from the Serbian language.[6] Plum and its products are of great importance to Serbs and part of numerous customs.[7] A Serbian meal usually starts or ends with plum products.[7] Šljivovica is served as an appertif.[7] A saying goes that the best place to build a house is where a plum tree grows best.[7] Traditionally, Šljivovica (commonly referred to as "rakija") is connected to Serbian culture as a drink used at all important rites of passage (birth, baptism, military service, marriage,[7] death, etc.). It is used in the Serbian Orthodox patron saint celebration, slava.[7] It is used in numerous folk remedies, and is given certain degree of respect above all other alcoholic drinks. The fertile region of Šumadija in central Serbia is particularly known for its plums and Šljivovica.[8] Serbia is the largest exporter of slivovitz in the world, and second largest plum producer in the world.[9][10] It has a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).
Heraldic symbol
The Serbian eagle, a double-headed white eagle, is depicted on the coat of arms of the Nemanjić, Mrnjavčević, Lazarević, Crnojević, Obrenović and Karađorđević, as well as others, and is used on the coat of arms and the state flag of Serbia.
Patron saint
Sveti Sava Kraljeva Crkva.jpg
Saint Sava is the founder and first Archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church (1219–1233). He is the patron saint of Serbia, and education in the country. He is also a patron saint in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
National tree
Quercus robur.jpg
Oak is considered a sacred tree in Serbia and was depicted on the Serbian coat of arms between 1835-1882 and 1947-2004. Oak is used in the Serbian Christmas tradition of Badnjak.[11]
National monument(s)
Srednjovekovni spomenici nа kosovu.jpg
Temple Saint Sava crop.jpg
The Cathedral of Saint Sava is the largest Orthodox church in the world. The church is dedicated to Saint Sava. It is built on the Vračar plateau, on the location where his remains were burned in 1595 by the Ottoman Empire's Sinan Pasha. From its location, it dominates Belgrade's cityscape, and is perhaps the most monumental building in the city.
National art
Kosovka devojka.jpg
The Kosovo Maiden, painted by Uros Predic in 1919, is the central figure in a Serbian epic poem by the same name.
National instrument
Serbian Gusle.jpg
The Gusle is commonly seen in Serbian epic poetry.
National hat
The Šajkača commonly seen as part of the national costume of the Šumadija region, Central Serbia. Has its origin in the 18th-century Serbian river flotilla.
National footwear
The Opanak is part of Serbian national costume.
National dish
Ćevapčići are a well-known Serbian national dish.
National poetry
Serbian epic poetry is the national poetry, traditionally transmitted orally by the national bards (guslari, "gusle players"). Vuk Stefanović Karadžić (1787-1864), the father of the study of Serbian folklore and a major reformer of the Serbian language, collected and wrote down epic poems of the Serbs in the early 19th century.[12]
National dances
Serbian dances

See also[edit]


  1. ^ Marjanović, Vesna (2005). Maske, maskiranje i rituali u Srbiji. p. 257. ISBN 9788675585572. Вук као митска животиња дубо- ко је везан за балканску и српску митологију и култове. Заправо, то је животиња која је била распрострањена у јужнословенским крајевима и која је представљала сталну опасност како за стоку ... 
  2. ^ Brankovo kolo za zabavu, pouku i književnost. 1910. p. 221. Тако стоји и еа осталим атрибутима деспота Вука. По- зната је ствар, да и вук (животиња) има зпатну уло- I у у митологији 
  3. ^ . У старој српској ре- лигији и митологији вук је био табуирана и тотемска животиња.  Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Miklosich, Franz (1860). "Die Bildung der slavischen Personennamen" (in German). Vienna: Aus der kaiserlich-königlichen Hoff- und Staatdruckerei. pp. 44–45. 
  5. ^ Karadžić, Vuk Stefanović (1852). Српски рјечник (in Serbian). Vienna: Typis congregationis mechitaristicae. p. 78. 
  6. ^ Haraksimová, Erna; Rita Mokrá and Dagmar Smrčinová (2006). "slivovica". Anglicko-slovenský a slovensko-anglický slovník. Praha: Ottovo nakladatelství. p. 775. ISBN 80-7360-457-4. 
  7. ^ a b c d e f Mennell 2005, p. 383
  8. ^ Grolier Incorporated 2000, p. 715
  9. ^
  10. ^
  11. ^ Hackspiel-Mikosch, Elisabeth; Haas, Stefan (2006). Civilian uniforms as symbolic communication: Sartorial representation, imagination, and consumption in Europe (18th - 21st century). ISBN 9783515088589. The oak, symbol of Serbia, symbolized strength, longevity, and the olive branch represented peace and fertility. 
  12. ^ Guerber, H. a (2003) [1916]. Book of the Epic. p. 489. ISBN 9780766159020. This fund of national poetry, transmitted orally by the Serbian guslari or national bards through five centuries of subjection to the Turk, was collected and written down at the beginning of the nineteenth century by