Slovak Republic’s state symbols from the roots to the present: exhibition at UL Library

State symbols are, together with the constitution, one of the fundamental pillars of statehood. They are a symbolic expression of a sovereign nation, i.e., its most essential identifying feature. Like the name of the state, its symbols survive in periods when their use is prohibited and persecuted by a political power. 

The state emblem, state flag, state seal and state anthem embody the very idea of the state, therefore they are subject to special respect and legal protection. State symbols are also codified directly by the Constitution of the Slovak Republic, due to their fundamental importance for the nation.

The State Archives in Bratislava have prepared a scholarly exhibition based on historical sources documenting the complex, 1,100-year journey from a Byzantine church and Hungarian royal symbol to the symbol of today’s Slovakia. Since 1918, this internationally respected emblem of Slovakia had become part of the coat of arms of Czechoslovakia, but since 1993 it is the national emblem of the independent Slovak Republic and the central symbol in the country’s flag. 

Alongside the exhibition, the archive has also prepared a bilingual Slovak-English publication dedicated to the national symbology of the Slovak Republic.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition took place on September 24, 2024 at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic to the Holy See and was opened by the Minister of the Interior of the Slovak Republic Matúš Šutaj Eštók, the Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to the Holy See Juraj Priputen, and the Director of the State Archives in Bratislava Lenka Bartalosová. It was attended by representatives of the State Secretariat and Dicasteries of the Holy See, ambassadors of countries accredited to the Holy See, the Ordinary of the Armed Forces and Armed Corps of the Slovak Republic František Rábek, and compatriots. 

The exhibition is presented in English and historical imagery in colour. It was created by the renowned heraldist and archivist Ladislav Vrtel, the author of the state symbols of the Slovak Republic. He is also the holder of the state decoration Pribina Cross 1^st Class.

The exhibition runs at Rūpniecības iela 10, Riga (the building of the University of Latvia Library), from the 28^th of March till 30^th of April 2025; open on weekdays 11:00 AM — 7:00 PM.