State symbol

A state symbol is a visible, aural, ritual or intellectual sign ( symbol ) that illustrates the values ​​of a state in public.

General

State symbols usually include in the context of political symbolism:

• National coat of arms
  • Imperial coat of arms, monarch coat of arms
  • Heraldic animals and heraldic plants
• Colors and national flags
  • National flag, state flag or official flag , standard of the head of state , flags or standards of government members
• State seal
• Hymns
  • National anthem , royal anthem
• Orders and decorations
  • Knight Order , Order of Merit
• Capitals, buildings and holidays
  • Offices, organs and institutions

The demarcation from the national symbols is sometimes difficult due to conceptual developments (e.g. that one speaks more of the national anthem , national holiday and national flag ), but it can be determined by whether a symbol represents the state or the people ( nation ). Only in nation states are state symbols and national symbols nearly identical.

Germany

The German state symbols are the federal coat of arms and the federal seal , the federal colors and the federal flag , the German national anthem and the Day of German Unity as well as the Federal Cross of Merit , in a certain sense also the offices, organs and institutions that represent the Federal Republic of Germany externally: e.g. . B. the German Bundestag and the Reichstag building , the Federal President and Bellevue Palace , the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Chancellery . The Brandenburg Gate is also counted among the buildings that symbolically represent Germany.

The federal flag was the only German state symbol to have constitutional status for over 50 years. When the federalism reform came into force , the federal capital Berlin was also standardized in Art. 22 I GG .

See also : National symbols for Germany

Italy

The state symbols of Italy are:

• the flag of Italy , called the Tricolore , as well as the coat of arms of Italy
• the national anthem Fratelli d'Italia
• the standard of the President
• the National Monument Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II in Rome
• the Stella d'Italia

Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein state symbols are the coat of arms of Liechtenstein (large and small national coat of arms) , the flag of Liechtenstein and the national anthem of Liechtenstein . State symbols are used in Art. 5 of the Constitution of the Principality of Liechtenstein , in the Act of June 30, 1982 on Coats of Arms, Colors, Seals and Emblems of the Principality of Liechtenstein (Coat of Arms Act) and in the Criminal Code (StGB) of June 24, 1987 (Section 248: degradation of State and its symbols ).

Austria

The Austrian state symbols are the federal coat of arms and the shield , the national colors and the federal flag as well as the Austrian national anthem .

Switzerland

• National flag and coat of arms
• Swiss francs , the country code CH for Confoederatio Helvetica ( lat.Swiss Confederation)
• Federal Assembly in its two chambers Council of States and National Council
• Federal President
• The state symbolism of the federal city of Bern is diminished by the fact that Switzerland as a confederation attaches importance to not having a capital in the true sense of the word, see the question of the capital of Switzerland .
• The Helvetia, on the other hand, is more a national symbol than a state symbol.

See also

• National emblem
• National symbol

Individual evidence

1. ↑ State symbols in the concise dictionary of the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany , Federal Agency for Civic Education, accessed on the bpb.de portal on January 2, 2017
2. ↑ State symbols , website in the portal castelligasse.at

Web links

Wiktionary: State symbol  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• Bundestag over state symbols
• “Constitutional law for you” about state symbols
• "State symbols" in the "Concise Dictionary of the Political System of the Federal Republic of Germany" , Federal Agency for Civic Education