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{{Short description|National emblem of the Republic of North Macedonia}}
{{Infobox coat of arms
|name             = National emblem of North Macedonia
|image            = Coat of arms of North Macedonia.svg
|image_width      = 
|lesser           = 
|lesser_width     = 
|lesser_caption   = 
|armiger          = [[North Macedonia|Republic of North Macedonia]]
|year_adopted     = {{Start date and age|1946|07|27|df=yes}} (original version)<br>{{Start date and age|2009|11|16|df=yes}} (current version)
|crest            =
|torse            = 
|shield           = 
|supporters       = 
|compartment      = 
|motto            = 
|orders           = 
|other_elements   = 
|earlier_versions = 
|use              = 
|image2           = Emblem of North Macedonia (gold).svg
|image2_caption   = As used by the Macedonian government
}}

The '''national emblem of North Macedonia''' depicts two curved [[garland]]s of sheaves of [[wheat]], [[tobacco]] leaves and [[opium poppy]] fruits, tied by a [[ribbon]] decorated with [[Macedonian embroidery|embroidery of traditional Macedonian folk motifs]]. In the center of the ovoid frame are depicted a [[mountain]], a [[lake]] and a [[sunrise]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://flagspot.net/flags/mk).html#coa|title=Macedonia: Coat of arms|work=flagspot.net}}</ref>  The features of the national coat of arms contain a rising sun which symbolizes freedom, the [[Šar Mountains]]<ref name="ŠK"/> with its peak named [[Ljuboten]]<ref name="ŠK"/> or [[Mount Korab]]<ref name="Drzaven"/> and the river [[Vardar]],<ref name="ŠK">World Around Us — the Encyclopaedia for Children and Youth, XI edition, Školska knjiga, Zagreb, 1987, vol. II (A-M), page 242</ref><ref name="Drzaven">[http://www.heraldika.org.mk/Drzaven.htm Со замената на сликата се менува и објаснувањето, Пирин преоѓа во Кораб] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002192046/http://heraldika.org.mk/Drzaven.htm |date=2008-10-02 }}<!-- This section should be duly quoted by a reliable source. --></ref> with [[Lake Ohrid]]. The emblem also contains opium poppy fruits; this poppy was brought to the area during Ottoman times in the first half of the 19th century.<ref>Agricultural Encyclopaedia, Yugoslavian Lexicographical Institute, Zagreb, 1970, vol. II (Krm-Proi), page 131, Author of the article on Poppy is Jordan Đorđevski, dipl. ing. agr., professor of the Agricultural and Forestry Faculty of the University of Skopje, North Macedonia</ref> Until 16 November 2009, the emblem also depicted [[Red star|a socialistic five-pointed star]] in the top. The national parliament adopted the proposal to remove this element with 80 votes in favor and 18 against. This emblem (including the red star) had been in use since 1946, shortly after the republic became part of [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]].

The emblem is based upon the [[emblem of Yugoslavia]]. Until 2009, along with [[National emblem of Belarus|Belarus]] and the disputed territory of [[Coat of arms of Transnistria|Transnistria]], North Macedonia was one of the few remaining European jurisdictions that continued to employ [[socialist heraldry|socialist symbolism]] in its national emblem.

==History==
The current emblem is a revised version of the one adopted on July 27, 1946 by the Assembly of the [[People's Republic of Macedonia]]. The original version of 1946 represented the [[Pirin Mountains]], which are outside the country's territory, but part of the larger geographical [[Macedonia (region)|region of Macedonia]] in order to symbolize a future "[[United Macedonia]]" as part of a new Balkan federation. The Emblem was created by Vasilije Popovic-Cico.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jonovski|first= Jovan|title= Coats of arms of Macedonia (Macedonian Herald, Electronic Version @ heraldika.org.mk, No. 3, March 2009., p. 9)|url=http://heraldika.org.mk/MKHerald-3.pdf|work=heraldika.org.mk}}</ref> After Yugoslavia broke with the [[Soviet Union]] in 1948, the Soviet Union did not compel [[Bulgaria]] and [[Albania]] to form a Balkan Federation with Yugoslavia and the concept of a United Macedonia as part of such a federation was no longer realistic.<ref name="heraldika.org.mk">[http://www.heraldika.org.mk/xnews/news.php?xnewsaction=fullnews&newsarch=072008&newsid=2 62nd birthday of the national emblem of the Republic of Macedonia]</ref>

Two days after its adoption, the symbolism of that device was described in the ''[[Nova Makedonija]]'' newspaper, as follows:

{{quote|The [coat of arms] of the People's Republic of Macedonia is a symbol of the freedom and the brotherhood of the Macedonian people and the richness of the Macedonian land. The five-pointed star symbolizes the National Liberation War through which the Macedonian people gained freedom. In the center, there is the Pirin mountain, the highest Macedonian mountain that has been the center of the National Liberation Wars in the past. The river displayed in the emblem is the river Vardar, the most famous Macedonian river in the republic. Pirin and Vardar at the same time symbolize the unity of all parts of Macedonia and the ideal of our people for national unity.<ref name="heraldika.org.mk"/>}}

The supervised version was constitutionally approved by the [[Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia|Constitution of the People's Republic of Macedonia]] from December 31, 1946.<ref name="Ustav46">Ustav na Narodna Republika Makedonija ("Služben vesnik", No. 1/47, 1947-01-01)</ref>

<gallery>
File:Coat of arms of Macedonia (1944–1946).svg|Emblem of the People's Republic of Macedonia, 1944 to 1946
File:State Coat of arms of Macedonia.svg|Emblem of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, 1946 to 1991
File:Coat_of_arms_of_Macedonia_(1946-2009).svg|Emblem of the Republic of Macedonia, 1991 to 2009
</gallery>

==Proposed heraldic replacement==
{{main|Proposed coat of arms of North Macedonia}}
{{Unbalanced|date=January 2019}}
Between the 16th and the 19th centuries foreign [[roll of arms|armorials]] commonly represented [[Macedonia (region)|the region of Macedonia]] by means of a golden [[Macedonian lion|lion]] on red field, or of a red lion on a golden field.<ref>Matkovski, Aleksandar, ''Grbovite na Makedonija'', Skopje, 1970</ref><ref>Александар Матковски (1990) Грбовите на Македонија, Мисла, Skopje, Macedonia - {{ISBN|86-15-00160-X}}<br></ref> The earliest{{cn|date=October 2017}} known example is the [[Fojnica Armorial]] from 16th-17th century,<ref name="auto2">[http://www.samostan.ba/photos/displayimage.php?album=11&pos=10 Fojnica Armory] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706131500/http://www.samostan.ba/photos/displayimage.php?album=11&pos=10 |date=2011-07-06 }}, online images</ref><ref>Ivan Supercic, Croatia in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance: A Cultural Survey, Philip Wilson Publishers, 2009, {{ISBN|0856676241}}, p. 30.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fotw.info/flags/ba-06-fo.html#coa|title=Fojnica (Municipality, Central Bosnian Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina)|website=fotw.info|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref> and later examples include the [[Korenić-Neorić Armorial]] of 1595,<ref>Zrinka Blazevic, 'Indetermi-nation: Narrative identity and symbolic politics in early modern Illyrism', chapter 6 of: ''Whose Love of Which Country?: Composite States, National Histories and Patriotic Discourses in Early Modern East Central Europe'', Balázs Trencsényi and  Márton Zászkaliczky (eds.),  BRILL, 2010, {{ISBN|978-90-04-18262-2}}</ref><ref>Milic Milicevic, „Грб Србије, развој кроз историју“, Belgrade 1995,  {{ISBN|86-7549-047-X}}</ref> a 1630 armorial on display in the Belgrade Museum of Contemporary Art,{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} and a 17th-century armorial in Berlin Library.<ref>[http://heraldika.org.mk/zemski.htm Macedonian heraldry] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090917040843/http://www.heraldika.org.mk/zemski.htm |date=2009-09-17 }}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=January 2019}}

On several occasions the reintroduction of the historical coat of arms has been proposed. A proposal by architect and graphic designer [[Miroslav Grčev]] was put forward in 1992 to replace it with a revised version of the historical gold lion on a red shield. The Macedonian Heraldry Society considers that coat of arms to have been the best solution for a new state emblem.<ref>[http://www.heraldika.org.mk/eng/State.htm "The most acceptable design was of Miroslav Grcev, professor of architecture"]</ref> However, this was rejected on three main grounds:
* several political parties, notably [[VMRO-DPMNE]], already use that emblem as their party symbols
* the Albanian political parties of Macedonia considered the proposal to be only representative for the ethnic Macedonians, but not also for ethnic Albanians
* the state [[coat of arms of Bulgaria]] is identical to the Macedonian proposal save for the design of the crown.

As a result, the political parties have agreed to continue to use the current device until a replacement is found. The emblem did not appear on the country's first [[North Macedonian passport|passport]]s. In 2007, however, the national emblem was put on the front and the inside of the new biometric Macedonian passports, while the parliamentary debate about acceptance of a new national emblem still continues.

According to the provisions of the Article 5, Section 2 of North Macedonia's constitution, the [[two-thirds majority]] is required to pass a law on the new symbols of the Republic. The usage of the Coat of arms has been defined by a law.<ref>Zakon za upotreba na grbot, znameto i himnata na Republika Makedonija ("Služben vesnik na Republika Makedonija", No. [http://www.mlrc.org.mk/zakoni/Z1997030.htm 32/97] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420224418/http://www.mlrc.org.mk/zakoni/Z1997030.htm |date=2008-04-20 }}, 1997-07-09)</ref>

=== 2014 proposal ===
On 5 December 2014, the Macedonian government proposed a heraldic design which would replace the old national emblem. According to the [[Macedonian Heraldry Society]], the new coat of arms is based on an illustration from Jerome de Bara book "Coat of Arms" (1581).<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The illustration from de Bara's book "Le blason des armoiries" depicts a coat of arms [[attributed arms|attributed]] to [[Alexander the Great]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4AhJAAAAcAAJ&pg=131|title=Le blason des armoiries|work=google.com|last1=Bara|first1=Jérôme de|year=1628}}</ref> It is blazoned as "Or, a lion gules" (on a golden background, a red lion) and topped with a golden [[mural crown]] to represent the republican form of government. Parliament still needs to vote on this design.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.gazetaexpress.com/lajme/maqedonia-me-steme-te-re-shteterore-64709/ |title=Macedonia with new state emblem |newspaper=[[Gazeta Express]] |language=Albanian}}</ref>
<gallery>
File:First unofficial proposal of the Macedonian coat of arms.svg|First unofficial proposal for a new coat of arms
File:Second_unofficial_proposal_of_the_Macedonian_coat_of_arms.svg|Second unofficial proposal for a new coat of arms
File:Предлог-грб_на_Република_Македонија_2014.svg|Coat of arms proposed in 2014 by the Macedonian government<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=http://vlada.mk/node/9813?language=en-gb/|title=Government adopts draft-law on new Macedonia's coat of arms|date=5 December 2014}}</ref>
File:Macedonian lion.svg|Coat of arms proposed in 1992, by [[Miroslav Grčev]]. This was the most popular proposed arms before the government's 2014 proposal.
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Heraldry|North Macedonia}}
* [[Flag of North Macedonia]]
* [[Emblem of Yugoslavia#Republic emblems|Emblems of the Yugoslav Socialist Republics]]

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|National emblem of North Macedonia}}
{{Symbols of Macedonia}}
{{North Macedonia topics}}
{{Coats of arms of Europe}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coat Of Arms Of The Republic Of Macedonia}}
[[Category:National coats of arms|North Macedonia]]
[[Category:National symbols of North Macedonia]]
[[Category:National emblems|Macedonia]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with mountains|North Macedonia]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with suns|North Macedonia]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with sunrays|North Macedonia]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with wheat|North Macedonia]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with tobacco|North Macedonia]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with fruit|North Macedonia]]