Coat of arms of the Republic of Ragusa

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The Coat of arms of the Republic of Ragusa was the

heraldic symbol of the historical Republic of Ragusa. It is Coat of arms of the Republic of
today used in a variant for the city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Its Ragusa
basic appearance is based on the coat of arms of the rpd Coat of arms of Dubr ovnik
dynasty.

Contents
1 History
1.1 Coat of arms with red and white bars
1.2 Coat of arms with red and blue bars
2 Gallery
3 See also
4 References

Versions
History
During the intermittent administration of Dubrovnik by
Byzantine Empire, which lasted until 1205, the use of
heraldic symbols such as coat of arms was not in practice.
The city used Byzantine imperial flags until 1171.[1] When
Dubrovnik passed to the Republic of Venice the official
symbol became the Lion of Saint Mark. With the end of the
Venetian rule all the symbols of the previous government
were removed, with only one stone tablet remaining showing
Alternative version (inaccurate), originating as a
the Venetian lion.[2]
misinterpretation.

Coat of arms with r ed and white bars Details

With the Treaty of Zadar the Republic of Venice relinquished its claims on the eastern coast of the Adriatic in
favour of Louis I and the Venetians left Dubrovnik for good. With the Treaty of Visegrd in 1358, between
Dubrovnik and Louis I., they have committed to use his flag or coat of arms which contained the mentioned
arms of rpd dynasty (red and white bars). In 1359 they ordered flags to be made from Venice containing the
arms of Kingdom of Hungary and in 1362 they also ordered flags with Saint Blaise.[3] According to some
sources the use of the Hungarian arms depended on various foreign policy conditions and so the government of
the Republic of Ragusa issued an order to all ship captains that they should not assert any other symbols except
those of the Republic (with Saint Blaise) and those of the Hungarian kingdom.[3]

In Dubrovnik the coat of arms with the red and white bars became widely accepted as the arms of the Republic
and as such the Republic kept its use even after the Republic of Ragusa became independent from the affairs of
the Kingdom of Hungary. Although it was recognized as a sign of submission to the King, the arms were now
generally accepted as a sign of sovereignty of the Dubrovnik Republic.[4]

One of the rare (and possibly the only) trace of the arms description in written form is mentioned in a book
about voting customs and regulations of the Republic called Copioso ristretto degli annali di Rausa by Jakov
Lukari (Giacomo Di Pietro Luccari) published in Venice 1605. On page 155 of the book, while describing the
electoral procedure, Lukari mentions the ballot boxes with the arms of the Republic - four white bars on a red
shield. [5] These arms were in use until the dissolution of the Republic in 1808.[6]
 There are numerous examples
of the arms:

Rector's Palace - painting of

Saint Blaise from 15th century.
The arms can be observed in the
upper corner of the painting.
Rector's Palace - memorial
painting of Vladislav Bui (de
Bucchia) from 17th century, by
the side of the memorial there
Painting of Dubrovnik (17th century) - are arms of the republic with
arms in upper corner red and white bars.
Rector's Palace - painting of
Dubrovnik from the 17th
century before the 1667 Dubrovnik earthquake showing the arms
in the upper left corner.
Pavao Ritter Vitezovi - Stematographia sive armorum Coat of arms in Rector's Palace in
illiricorum delineatio, descriptio et restitutio (published in Dubrovnik
Vienna, 1701). On the front page it shows the arms of the
Republic
Antonio Primi - La legga dell' honesta e del valore (published in Venice, 1703). On the front page there
are arms with white bars, although the book was printed in black and white it is commonly concluded
that the dark colored bars represent the red.
Matija Alberti - Oficij B. Marie D. (published in Venice, 1617). Shows the arms on the front page in
black and white.
Stjepan Gradi - Peripateticae philosophiae pronunciata shows the arms of the Republic on the front
page in black and white.
Sponza Palace (in Dubrovnik) - On the main doors from 18th century.[7]
Credentials of Bartolomeo Lodovico Ghiglione, consul of the Dubrovnik Republic in London from 1790.
The arms are identical in appearance to the official arms of city of Dubrovnik in use today.[8]

Today these arms are the official arms of the city of Dubrovnik.

Coat of arms with r ed and blue bars

Arms of other colors, mostly red and blue bars, also appear on several historical documents, however it is
generally accepted opinion that these arms mostly varied in color due to personal interpretation of the authors
who made them.[9]

Due to different interpretations of the arms, white (silver) bars started to be replaced by blue bars somewhere at
the end of the 18th century. Beginning with the 18th century some arms interpretations started to show white
bars being decorated with blue template lines within them until the end of the 18th century when arms with
fully blue bars started to appear.[10] In the State Archive of Dubrovnik there is a map of Dubrovnik Republic
(1747) made by Mihajlo Pei. On the lower end of the map the arms of the Republic are visible showing red
and white bars, with the white bars being richly decorated with blue template lines within them.

One of the most significant Armorials for Dubrovnik heraldic legacy is the one by Ivo Saraka. It can also be
seen in the transcription book of Dubrovnik law codes, most likely compiled around the year 1746. It contains
several pages of colored arms of Dubrovnik nobility with the arms of the Republic on top. It shows the arms
with red and blue lines, however blue lines are interlaced with decorative templates - wavy lines of different
shades of blue. According to Vito Galzinski (who wrote on the heraldry of the Republic of Dubrovnik) the
author's intention was to emphasize the silver coating of the bars.[11] That same manuscript was also used for
procedure for confirmation of nobility and it was also used as a base for restoration of the mentioned armorial.
During the restoration which was finished in Split in 1956 the darkened silver-coated lines were completely
colored blue. At that time, without any serious and systematic research of the history of the arms, it was widely
believed that the colors of the Republic were red and blue.[12] The restored armorial is today kept in Rector's
Palace.

Gallery

rpd dynasty arms Arms of the Dubrovnik Arms on the map by Arms of the Republic
used and granted by Republic - Pavao Ritter Matija Pei kept in and Dubrovnik Nobility
Louis I Vizezovi State Archive - Ivo Saraka

See also
Flag of Dubrovnik
Coat of arms of Dalmatia
Dubrovnik
Republic of Ragusa
Coat of Arms of Croatia

References

1. Milan Reetar, Dubrovaka numizmatika I, page 619

2. Vito Galzinski, Dravni grbovi, page 343
3. Vito Galzinski, Dravni grbovi, page 344
4. Zdenka Janekovi-Rmer, Okvir slobode, page 364 ISBN 953-154-369-0
5. Jakov Lukari - Copioso ristretto degli annali di Rausa, page 155 (https://books.google.com/books?id=Ie
s_AAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=ragusa&lr=&as_brr=1&cd=4#v=onepage&q=scudo&f=false)
Accessed 24 June 2013
6. Frane izmi, Dravni grb Dubrovake Republike, page 32
7. Dubrovaki List Zasjao avlima ocrtani grb Republike (http://www.dulist.hr/clanak.php?id=19891#pretty
Photo) (in Croatian), accessed 1 August 2013
8. Pomorski muzej (http://www.mdc.hr/dubrovnik/hr/pomorski/predmet-10.html) Archived (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20120717003403/http://www.mdc.hr/dubrovnik/hr/pomorski/predmet-10.html) 2012-07-17
at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 1 August 2013
9. Frane izmi, Dravni grb Dubrovake Republike, page 22
10. Frane izmi, Dravni grb Dubrovake Republike, page 32
11. Vito Galzinski, Dravni grbovi, page 347
12. Vito Galzinski, Dravni grbovi, pages 346-347

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