The coat of arms of Moravia has been used for centuries to represent Moravia, a traditional province in the present-day Czech Republic. The coat of arms is also present in a field of the coat of arms of the Czech Republic.
The coat of arms of Moravia is charged with a gold-crowned, white-red-checkered eagle with golden claws, beak, and tongue. The first coat, the seal of the Margraviate of Moravia, is documented only by one worn copy. The gable seal had a design of a lion. The Přemyslid margrave used a seal with a lion in 1239 (as Margrave Vladislav Jindřich had), but the number of tails is unclear; only two are visible on the seal of the margrave (and later king) Ottokar I of Bohemia. The second coat of arms, used from 1233 to 1239, was a typical equestrian one-sided design with the rider bearing an eagle (rather than a lion) on the shield. It is not a Moravian eagle, but a symbol of independence from the Bohemian king in Prague. The seal's equestrian image with an eagle instead of the traditional lion signified the Přemyslid margrave's resistance against Wenceslas I his older brother and king of Bohemia.
In 1758, the citizens of Olomouc were granted the Moravian coat of arms by Maria Theresa in gratitude for their defense against Prussian troops under King Frederick the Great during the Seven Years' War, then with the initials 'F' (for Emperor Francis I), 'M' and 'T' (for Maria Theresa). The coat of arms also appeared on the town seal of Znojmo in 1272, with a 'Z' as its escutcheon. From 1915 to 1918, the Moravian eagle was checkered in red and gold instead of the traditional red and silver.
Moravian eagle
In its current form, the Moravian eagle was created by Ottokar II of Bohemia in the mid-13th century after he became the King of Bohemia. The Moravian margrave began to use the silver-red-checkered Moravian Eagle on a blue field in addition to the Bohemian silver lion on a red field. Since then, the silver-red-checkered eagle with a gold crown and gold beak, tongue and claws on a blue shield has been used on works of art and official documents.
Oldest color representation
The oldest color representation of the Moravian eagle is in the hall of the town castle (or palace) of Gozzoburg in Krems, Austria; Ottokar II of Bohemia ruled present-day Austria. Since no later than the Luxembourg era, the silver-red checkered eagle was considered the coat of arms of the Moravian region. According to some researchers, these colors derived from the colors of the Bohemian lion (a silver lion on a red shield) and linked Moravia to the king of Bohemia and the Czech monarchy.
Other old color representations
Another version of the Moravian coat of arms dates to 1361 in the coats-of-arms gallery of Charles IV at the castle of Lauf, built in 1356 by Emperor Charles IV. near Nuremberg on the Reich Road between Prague and Nuremberg on the ruins of the old Stauf castle. The coats-of-arms hall contains the arms of Moravia and Bohemia, other countries, clergy, nobility, and cities.
Origin of the chessboard
The Moravian eagle differs from other heraldic eagles in its distinctive chessboard design (aquila scacata). The eagle's chessboard is documented on the oldest known seal of Znojmo, from September 1, 1272, the coat of arms of King Ottokar II of Bohemia (who had been the Moravian margrave since 1247). In accordance with convention, the chessboard is formed with lozenges.
Gelnhausen Codex
The Gelnhausen Codex, written by Jihlava city scribe Jan de Gelnhausen in the early 15th century, contains many illuminated representations of the Moravian eagle and the Bohemian lion.
Oldest written mention
The oldest written mention of the Moravian eagle is in the versed chronicle of Ottokar Styria, which describes events in Central Europe from the mid-13th century to the end of the first decade of the 14th century. In the description of the battle of Kressenbrunn on July 12, 1260, in which troops of Ottokar II of Bohemia defeated those of the Hungarian King Bela IV, the ekphrasis of the Bohemian banner ("in einem rȏten samît ... ein lewe wîz"; a white lion on a red field) is followed by that of the Moravian banner ("ein geschâchzabelten arn von rȏter und von wîzer varbe"; a white-and-red chequered eagle).