1.
Serbia
–
Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a sovereign state situated at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. Relative to its territory, it is a diverse country distinguished by a transitional character, situated along cultural, geographic, climatic. Serbia numbers around 7 million residents, and its capital, Belgrade, following the Slavic migrations to the Balkans from the 6th century onwards, Serbs established several states in the early Middle Ages. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and the Byzantine Empire in 1217, in the early 19th century, the Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the regions first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia formed a union with Montenegro which dissolved peacefully in 2006, in 2008 the parliament of the province of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, with mixed responses from the international community. Serbia is a member of organizations such as the UN, CoE, OSCE, PfP, BSEC. An EU membership candidate since 2012, Serbia has been negotiating its EU accession since January 2014, the country is acceding to the WTO and is a militarily neutral state. Serbia is an income economy with dominant service sector, followed by the industrial sector. The country ranks high on the Social Progress Index as well as the Global Peace Index, relatively high on the Human Development Index, located at the crossroads between Central and Southern Europe, Serbia is found in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E. The country covers a total of 88,361 km2, which places it at 113th place in the world, with Kosovo excluded, the area is 77,474 km2. Its total border length amounts to 2,027 km, all of Kosovos border with Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro are under control of the Kosovo border police. The Pannonian Plain covers the third of the country while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain. The terrain of the part of the country, with the region of Šumadija at its heart. Mountains dominate the third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps stretch in the west and the southwest, following the flow of the rivers Drina, the Carpathian Mountains and Balkan Mountains stretch in a north–south direction in eastern Serbia. Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to the Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system, elevation ranges from the Midžor peak of the Balkan Mountains at 2,169 metres to the lowest point of just 17 metres near the Danube river at Prahovo. The largest lake is Đerdap Lake and the longest river passing through Serbia is the Danube, the climate of Serbia is under the influences of the landmass of Eurasia and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
2.
Serbian culture
–
Serbian culture refers to the culture of Serbia and of ethnic Serbs. Early on, Serbs may have influenced by the Paleo-Balkan peoples. The Serbian Orthodox Church gained autocephaly from Constantinople in 1219, whereas Stephen the First Crowned was declared king by the Pope, the Republic of Venice influenced the maritime regions in the Middle Ages. Central Serbia was the first to emancipate as the Principality of Serbia in 1815, following Serbias autonomy after the Serbian revolution and eventual independence, the culture of Serbia was restrengthened within its people. After the Schism, those who lived under the Byzantine sphere of influence became Orthodox, later, with the arrival of the Ottoman Empire, many Serbs converted to Islam. Their modern descendants are considered to be members of the Gorani, the Serbian Orthodox Church was the westernmost bastion of Orthodox Christianity in Europe, which shaped its historical fate through contacts with Catholicism and Islam. During World War II, the Serbs, living in an area, were persecuted by various peoples. The outcome of these visions was the death of at least 700,000 people, the conversion of 250,000. As with most Western cultures, a child is given a first name chosen by their parents, the given name comes first, the surname last, e. g. Željko Popović, where Željko is a first name and Popović is a family name. Female names end with -a, e. g. Dragan -> Dragana, popular names are mostly of Serbian, Christian, Greek and Latin origin. Serbian, Bogdan, Dragan, Goran, Radovan, Slobodan, Greek, Nikola, Đorđe, Aleksandar, Jelena, and Katarina. Biblical, Ana, Jovan, Marko, Petar, Pavle, most Serbian surnames have the surname suffix -ić. This is often transliterated as -ic or -ici, in history, Serbian names have often been transcribed with a phonetic ending, -ich or -itch. This form is associated with Serbs from before the early 20th century, hence Milutin Milanković is usually referred to, for historical reasons. The -ić suffix, with variants -ović/-ević, is originally a Slavic diminutive, other common surname suffixes are -ov or -in which is the Slavic possessive case suffix, thus Nikolas son becomes Nikolin, Petars son Petrov, and Jovans son Jovanov. Those are more typical for Serbs from Vojvodina, the two suffixes are often combined. The most common surnames are Marković, Nikolić, Petrović, most people in Serbia will have three meals daily, breakfast, lunch and dinner, with lunch being the largest and most important meal. However, traditionally, only lunch and dinner existed, with breakfast being introduced in the half of the 19th century
3.
Coat of arms of Serbia
–
The coat of arms of Serbia is a re-introduction of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Serbia adopted by the Republic of Serbia in 2004 and later slightly redesigned in 2010. The coat of arms consists of two heraldic symbols which represent the national identity of the Serbian people across the centuries, the Serbian eagle. The Emblem of the Socialist Republic of Serbia was adopted the same time as the flag and it was designed by Đorđe Andrejević-Kun. The traditional shield of arms of Serbia with 4 fire steels, the cross which has always been included shield of arms was removed for ideological reasons of socialist atheism. It was placed above a rising sun with a cog wheel symbolizing the workers and surrounded with a wreath of wheat and oak leaves. A red ribbon with dates 1804 and 1941 which refer to the dates of the first Serbian uprising against the Ottomans, the socialist coat of arms remained in official use long after the dissolution of socialist Yugoslavia and after the red star was removed in 1992 from the flag. The National Assembly recommended usage of the old symbols of the Kingdom of Serbia on August 17,2004, the recommended usage was made Law on May 11,2009 thus officially replacing the socialist heraldic Coat of arms. The principal field stands for the Serbian state and it consists of a white double-headed eagle on a red shield, its body and wings in white, and tongues, beaks, legs and claws in gold, between two golden fleur-de-lis. The inescutcheon stands for the Serbian nation, in a red shield, all of the letters face horizontally outwards. A blazon in heraldic terms is, Gules, a bicephalic eagle Argent armed Or, overall an escutcheon Gules, a cross Argent between four firesteels Argent. All crowned with a royal crown, the design on the inescutcheon has been used by Serbian states and the Serbian church since the Middle Ages. The four shapes around the cross are a stylized form of letters. Although Serbia is now a republic, the coat of arms features the crown of the former monarchy. The lesser arms is used frequently, appearing on passports, identity cards, drivers licenses. The use of the eagle dates back to the late Byzantine era. The double-headed eagle can be more often on inscriptions, medieval frescoes and embroidery on the clothes of Byzantine. Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja was among the first in Serbia who used the symbol, the survived golden ring of Queen Teodora has the symbol engraved. The Nemanjić dynasty coat of arms was the double-headed eagle, during the reign of Emperor Stefan Dušan, the double-headed eagle can be seen on everyday objects and state related documents, such as vax stamps and proclamations
4.
Heraldry
–
The beauty and pageantry of heraldic designs allowed them to survive the gradual abandonment of armour on the battlefield during the seventeenth century. Heraldry has been described poetically as the handmaid of history, the shorthand of history, in modern times, heraldry is used by individuals, public and private organizations, corporations, cities, towns, and regions to symbolize their heritage, achievements, and aspirations. Various symbols have been used to represent individuals or groups for thousands of years, similar emblems and devices are found in ancient Mesopotamian art of the same period, and the precursors of heraldic beasts such as the griffin can also be found. In the Bible, the Book of Numbers refers to the standards and ensigns of the children of Israel, the Greek and Latin writers frequently describe the shields and symbols of various heroes, and units of the Roman army were sometimes identified by distinctive markings on their shields. The Book of Saint Albans, compiled in 1486, declares that Christ himself was a gentleman of coat armour, the medieval heralds also devised arms for various knights and lords from history and literature. Notable examples include the toads attributed to Pharamond, the cross and martlets of Edward the Confessor, and the arms attributed to the Nine Worthies. These too are now regarded as an invention, rather than evidence of the antiquity of heraldry. The development of the modern heraldic language cannot be attributed to an individual, time. Yet no individual is depicted twice bearing the arms, nor are any of the descendants of the various persons depicted known to have borne devices resembling those in the tapestry. A Spanish manuscript from 1109 describes both plain and decorated shields, none of which appears to have been heraldic, in England, from the time of the Norman conquest, official documents had to be sealed. A notable example of an armorial seal is attached to a charter granted by Philip I, Count of Flanders. Seals from the part of the eleventh and early twelfth centuries show no evidence of heraldic symbolism. One of the earliest known examples of armory as it came to be practiced can be seen on the tomb of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. An enamel, probably commissioned by Geoffreys widow between 1155 and 1160, depicts him carrying a shield decorated with six golden lions rampant. He wears a helmet adorned with another lion, and his cloak is lined in vair. A medieval chronicle states that Geoffrey was given a shield of this description when he was knighted by his father-in-law, Henry I, in 1128, but this account probably dates to about 1175. Since Henry was the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, it seems reasonable to suppose that the adoption of lions as an emblem by Henry or his sons might have been inspired by Geoffreys shield. Richard is also credited with having originated the English crest of a lion statant and it is from this garment that the phrase coat of arms is derived
5.
Flag of Serbia
–
The flag of Serbia is a tricolor consisting of three equal horizontal bands, red on the top, blue in the middle and white on the bottom. The same tricolor, in altering variations, has used since the 19th century as the flag of the state of Serbia. The current form of the flag was adopted on 11 November 2010. The state flag bears the coat of arms, centered vertically. The flag ratio is 2 to 3, with three horizontal bands of red, blue and white, each taking one third of the height. Recommended colors are, ^α Only used on the greater arms ermine mantling and it is described as vexillum unum de zendato rubeo et blavo—a flag of fabric red and blue, zendato being a type of light, silky fabric. This is the oldest known attestation of colours of a Serbian flag, in 1326, Dečanski sent a delegate to the Mamluk Sultanate in Alexandria and sought a flag in yellow colour, to be used as a war flag. The Byzantines mention that there were several war flags hoisted by the Serbs at the Battle of Velbuzhd, Stefan Dušan was crowned Emperor in 1346, Dušan also adopted the Byzantine tetragramme with four fire-steels, which afterwards became an element of the Serbian flag until today. A flag in Hilandar, seen by Dimitrije Avramović, was alleged by the brotherhood to have been a flag of Emperor Dušan, it was a triband of red at the top and bottom and white in the centre. Emperor Dušan also adopted the Imperial divelion, which was purple and had a cross in the centre. Another of Dušans flags was the Imperial cavalry flag, kept at the Hilandar monastery on Mount Athos, during the First Serbian Uprising, various flags were used. Among the early flags, the one described by Mateja Nenadović could be connected with todays flag, regular armies of the uprising usually had light yellow flags with various symbols, while voivode flags were often red-white, and with a superimposed black two-headed eagle. There were also flags of other colors, including red-yellow, red-white-blue and red-blue and this variety of colors was followed by variety of symbols on the flags, most often taken from Hristofor Zhefarovichs book Stemmatographia of 1741. The most common symbol on the flags were the Serbian cross, followed by coat of arms of Tribalia, most of the flags were made in Sremski Karlovci, designed by Serbian painters Stefan Gavrilović, Ilija Gavrilović and Nikola Apostolović. The 1835 Sretenje Constitution described the colors of the Serbian flag as bright red, white, the constitution was criticized, especially by Russia, and the flag was specifically singled out as being similar to the revolutionary flag of France. The colors are the reverse of those on the flag of Russia, an example, Serbia used the red, blue and white tricolor continuously from 1835 until 1918 when Serbia joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later known as Yugoslavia. After World War II, Yugoslavia was reformed into a socialist federal republic, composed of six republics, each republic was entitled to its own flag on the condition that it contained the socialist red star. 1992 Serbian constitutional referendum asked the voters to choose between the flag with and without the star, with red star gaining the majority of votes, however not the absolute majority of voters
6.
Triband (flag)
–
The triband is one of the most common designs of flag, and is the design of some 30% of all current national flags. As the name suggests, the feature of the design of a triband is three parallel bands of colour. If the three bands have three different colors, the triband is a tricolour, in its simplest form, the triband consists of three equally sized horizontal or vertical stripes and nothing else. Examples of horizontal tribands include the flags of Austria and Germany. In each of these pairs, the second named flag is also a tricolour, diagonal tribands are less common, and often do not have stripes of equal areas or widths. An example is the flag of the Republic of the Congo, such flags are often not considered tribands by vexillologists, but rather are described as having a single diagonal stripe on a one- or two-coloured background. More complex tribands include flags charged or defaced with an emblem or flags with bands of unequal size, the most famous complex triband is arguably the national flag of Canada, which is charged with a maple leaf and has bands of uneven size. The ratio of the bands on this flag has led to the term Canadian pale to refer to any central vertical band on a triband which is twice the size of the bands on either side. Some tribands, such as the flag of the Gambia, are fimbriated and this means that between the stripes there are narrower stripes. This is sometimes done to increase contrast between multiple stripes or to follow the rule of tincture, though in cases the fimbriation also has specific symbolism. Below is a list of tribands organized by continent, some of them are charged, i. e. they have some additional symbol apart from the three simple coloured fields
7.
Kingdom of Serbia
–
Since 1817 the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynasty. The Principality, suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, de facto achieved independence when the last Ottoman troops left Belgrade in 1867. In 1882 King Milan I proclaimed the Kingdom of Serbia and maintained a foreign policy friendly to Austria-Hungary, between 1912 and 1913 Serbia greatly enlarged its territory through engagement in the First and Second Balkan Wars - Sandžak-Raška, Kosovo Vilayet and Vardar Macedonia were annexed. As outcome of the World War I in 1918 it united with Vojvodina, the Principality of Serbia was a state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian revolution which lasted between 1804 and 1817. At first, the principality included only the territory of the former Pashaluk of Belgrade, but in 1831-1833 it expanded to the east, south, in 1867 the Ottoman army left the Principality, securing its de facto independence. Serbia expanded further to the south-east in 1878, when it won international recognition at the Congress of Berlin. In 1882 it was raised to the level of the Kingdom of Serbia, the Serbo-Bulgarian War erupted on November 14,1885 and lasted until November 28 of the same year. The war ended in defeat for Serbia, as it had failed to capture the Slivnitsa region which it had set out to achieve. Bulgarians successfully repelled the Serbs after the victory at the Battle of Slivnitsa and advanced into Serbian territory taking Pirot. When Austria-Hungary declared that it would join the war on the side of Serbia, Bulgaria withdrew from Serbia leaving the Serbo-Bulgarian border precisely where it had prior to the war. The peace treaty was signed on February 19,1886 in Bucharest, as a result of the war, European powers acknowledged the act of Unification of Bulgaria which happened on September 6,1885. In 1888 Peoples Radical Party led by Sava Grujić and Nikola Pašić came to power, the lost war and the Radical Partys total electoral victory were some of the reasons why King Milan I abdicated in 1889. His son Alexander I assumed the throne in 1893 and in 1894 dismissed the constitution, King Alexander I of Serbia and his unpopular wife Queen Draga, were assassinated inside the Royal Palace in Belgrade on the night of 28–29 May 1903. Other representatives of the Obrenović family were shot as well and this act resulted in the extinction of the House of Obrenović which had been ruling Serbia since 1817. After the May Coup Serbian Skupština invited Peter Karadjorjević to assume the Serbian crown as Peter I of Serbia, a constitutional monarchy was created with the military Black Hand society operating behind the scenes. The traditionally good relations with the Austria-Hungary ended, as the new dynasty relied on the support of the Russian Empire, in April 1904 the Friendship treaty and in June 1905 the customs union with Bulgaria were signed. In response Austria-Hungary imposed a Tariff War of 1906-1909, after the 1906 elections Peoples Radical Party came to power. In 1908 Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia, where Serbia had hoped to expand its territory, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, Britain, Kingdom of Italy, Serbia, Principality of Montenegro, German Empire and France took an interest in these events
8.
National anthem
–
The majority of national anthems are either marches or hymns in style. The countries of Latin America tend towards more operatic pieces, while a handful of countries use a simple fanfare, a national anthem is usually in the national or most common language of the country, whether de facto or official, there are notable exceptions. Amhrán na bhFiann, the anthem of the Republic of Ireland, was written in English, the current national anthem of South Africa is unique in that five of the countrys eleven official languages are used in the same anthem. One of the two national anthems of New Zealand, God Defend New Zealand, is commonly now sung with the first verse in Māori. The tune is the same but the words are not a translation of each other. God Bless Fiji has lyrics in English and Fijian which are not translations of each other, although official, the Fijian version is rarely sung, and it is usually the English version that is performed at international sporting events. There are several countries that do not have official lyrics to their anthems, one of these is the Marcha Real, the anthem of Spain. In 2007 a national competition to write words was held, other anthems with no words include Inno Nazionale della Repubblica, the anthem of San Marino, and that of Kosovo, entitled Europe. National anthems rose to prominence in Europe during the 19th century, the oldest national anthem belongs to the Netherlands and is called the Wilhelmus. It was written between 1568 and 1572 during the Dutch Revolt, but did not become the anthem until 1932. The Japanese anthem, Kimigayo, has the oldest lyrics, which were taken from a Heian period poem, in contrast, the music of Qaumi Taranah, Pakistans national anthem was composed in 1949, preceding its lyrics, which were written in 1952. The Philippine anthem Lupang Hinirang was composed in 1898 as wordless incidental music for the ceremony declaring independence from the Spanish Empire, the Spanish poem Filipinas was written the following year to serve as the anthems lyrics, the current Tagalog version dates to 1962. Spains national anthem, the Marcha Real, written in 1761, was among the first to be adopted as such, in 1770. Denmark adopted the older of its two national anthems, Kong Christian stod ved højen mast, in 1780, and La Marseillaise, Serbia became the first Eastern European nation to have a national anthem – Rise up, Serbia. – in 1804. Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu, the anthem of Kenya, is one of the first national anthems to be specifically commissioned. It was written by the Kenyan Anthem Commission in 1963 to serve as the anthem after independence from the United Kingdom, National anthems are used in a wide array of contexts. Certain etiquette may be involved in the playing of a countrys anthem and these usually involve military honours, standing up/rising, removing headwear etc. In diplomatic situations the rules may be very formal, there may also be royal anthems, presidential anthems, state anthems etc. for special occasions
9.
Tricolour (flag)
–
A tricolour or tricolor is a type of flag or banner design with a triband design which originated in the 16th century as a symbol of republicanism, liberty or indeed revolution. One of the most famous tricolour, known as Le Tricolore, is the flag of France adopted in the French Revolution. The green-white-red tricolour remained a symbol of republicanism throughout the 19th century and was adopted as national flag by a number of following the Revolutions of 1848. It was also adopted by the Kingdom of Sardinia and this flag was a symbol of opposition against the German Kleinstaaterei and the desire for German Unification. It was at first illegal in the German Confederation, but was adopted as the flag at the Frankfurt Parliament of 1848/9. The flag of Belgium was introduced in a context, in 1831. The first national flag of the New World inspired by this symbolism was the flag of Mexico, the Pan-Arab colors adopted in Arab nationalism 1916 are a comparable concept, even though they combine four, not three, colours. The Indian independence movement in 1931 also adopted a tricolour in the symbolism of national unification and republican self-rule. In 1999, a red, green, and blue tricolour was proposed as the Flag of Mars, the design symbolizes liberty, and also the terraforming of Mars by humanity from a red planet to a green one, and eventually an Earth-like blue one. List of countries by style of national flags Fin flash on military aircraft, sometimes in a tricolor form Triband
10.
Serbian cross
–
The Serbian cross is a national symbol of Serbia, part of the Coat of arms of Serbia, flag of Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church. It is composed of a symbol with four stylized letters S on each of its corners. The Serbian tradition attributes the symbol to St. Sava, 12th century metropolitan of Žiča and Archbishop of Serbs, creation of the motto from those four letters. The actual origin of the symbols is with the Byzantine Empire. The double-headed eagle and the cross are the heraldic symbols which represent the national identity of the Serbian people across the centuries. Crosses with firesteels have been used since Roman times, as symbols, some historians connect it with the labarum, the Imperial flag of Constantine the Great. In the 6th century the cross with four fields, tetragramme, the symbol was adopted by the First Crusaders since the first event, Peoples Crusade. Michael VIII Palaiologos adopted the symbol when he resurrected the Byzantine Empire, with the initials of the motto of the Palaiologos dynasty, King of Kings. It was used in flags and coins, as Alexander Soloviev writes, the use of letters in western heraldry is non existent. Stojan Novaković argues that the use of the Serbian cross, as a national symbol, began in 1397. It was possibly derived from the Dečani polijelej, Serbian historian Stanoje Stanojević argues that it entered its use in 1345, with Stefan Dušans elevation to Emperor. In the Middle Ages, both the Greek style, with closed fire-steels, and the Serbian syle, with open fire-steels, were used in Serbia, a 1439 map by Gabriel de Vallseca used both the Serbian cross and eagle when depicting Serbia. According to Mavro Orbini, it was used by Vukašin Mrnjavčević, next, it is found in the Belgrade Armorial II, the Fojnica Armorial, the Armorial of Stanislaus Rubcich, and Stemmatographia, while still continuing to be used in foreign heraldic sources. The Metropolitanate of Karlovci, established in 1691, adopted it in its seal, during WWII, The Serbian cross was used in the Nazi backed puppet government, Government of National Salvation Flag. Miloš Obrenović adopted the Serbian cross as the flag when forming the first units of the regular army in 1825. The Serbian cross symbol has been used in Serb heraldry. The memorial park in Tekeriš, where the first battle of the Great War was fought, the cross with symbols S as heraldic symbols. Archived from the original on May 21,2013, određivanje nacionalnih heraldičkih simbola na primjeru Srba i Hrvata
