Coat of arms of Vojvodina

The coat of arms of Vojvodina represents Vojvodina, autonomous province of Serbia. It is used in two forms: official and traditional. Both coat of arms are in official use and are of the equal status. The official coat of arms was adopted in 2004 while the traditional coat of arms was adopted in 2016.

Description

The Official coat of arms consists of the historical coats of arms of three regions of Vojvodina:

The historical coat of arms of Bačka consists of blue field on a green grass stands Paul the Apostle wearing blue shirt and brown toga with golden nimbus holding in dexter a downward-pointed silver sword with golden hilt and Bible. It was granted by Emperor Leopold I in 1699.
The historical coat of arms of Banat consisted of the golden lion rampant on red holding a sabre. It denotes the land as the Habsburg Emperor's personal possession, which is situated at the border with the Ottoman Empire.
The historical coat of arms of Syrmia consists of three white stripes on blue, representing the three rivers of Syrmia: Bosut, Sava, and Danube. A deer with a golden collar around his neck rests close to a green poplar tree. Originally, the tree was a cypress tree but the modern design preferred to make it an oak tree, which is abundant in Syrmia and has connection to the Serbian royal house of Karađorđević as well. It was granted by Empress Maria Theresa in 1747. The modern Croatian county of Vukovar-Syrmia uses the same coat of arms.

The Traditional coat of arms is red shield with the Serbian cross crowned with a crown and surmounted by porphyry. It was used by the short-lived Serbian Vojvodina in 1848-1849. It bears resemblance to the coat of arms of the Principality of Serbia.

History

The coat of arms of Serbian Vojvodina was originally adopted in 1848. In its central part was a Serbian cross while on the left and right side were a small coats of arms of the four regions of Serbian Vojvodina: Syrmia, Banat, Bačka, and Baranya. On the top was a Crown of Saint Stephen. The crown was placed on the coat of arms because the first intention of Serbs was to create Serbian Vojvodina, which would be autonomous region within the Kingdom of Hungary, but since the war between Serbs and Hungarians soon started, the intention was changed into one that Serbian Vojvodina should be completely separated from the Kingdom of Hungary and directly subordinated to Vienna.
The Assembly of Vojvodina adopted the Official coat of arms of Vojvodina on 28 June 2002. The assembly adopted the Traditional coat of arms on 15 September 2016.