Article 1b of the
Law on Municipal Arrangement says: The municipality has right to its own symbols. A municipality which has own symbols is obliged to use it in exercise of self-government. Municipalities' symbols are a municipal coat of arms, a municipal flag, a municipal seal, and in some cases a melody of the municipality. In practice every municipality has its own coat of arms, as it is needed for everyday conduct of administration.
Common themes Agricultural, viticultural and mining motifs are most common in Slovak municipal heraldry.
Viticultural In the 13th century,
German settlers commenced the cultivation of wine in the
Little Carpathians region of western Slovakia. When some of settlements gained city rights, their older charges were combined with royal/state charges. In that way, emperor
Ferdinand I granted a coat of arms to
Častá in 1560 and emperor
Rudolf II amended older viticultural charge of
Modra with royal stripes in 1607. As viticulture became widespread, new wine growing areas arose. Today there are six recognized wine growing regions. That is why viticultural symbols are quite common in modern Slovak municipal heraldry. Viticultural symbols used: a
bunch of grapes,
grapevine, even vinedresser. As of instruments depicted, a type of
billhook, so called viticultural knife is widely used.
Mining St. Katherine's cult became significant in several
German inhabited mining towns in the northern part of the ancient
Kingdom of Hungary, today's Slovakia, and her popularity there suggests that she was venerated as a miners' saint. As a consequence, her attribute - a
breaking wheel - is considered a mining symbol in modern Slovak municipal heraldry. It is common in those municipalities with history of
German settlement and mining, like
Handlová and
Kremnica. The notable mining town of
Banská Štiavnica preserved the oldest known town-seal from the ancient Kingdom of Hungary in a document issued in 1275., boasted to be oldest mining sign in Europe altogether. Despite existing
St. Katherine's cult in town, ==Ecclesiastic heraldry in Slovakia==