Coat of arms of Dalmatia
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| Use | Regional coat of arms - Dalmatia |
The coat of arms of Dalmatia is the heraldic symbol used for the historical region of Dalmatia on the eastern coast of Adriatic Sea. It is also featured on the crest of the coat of arms of Croatia.
The arms first appeared in 14th century Gelre Armorial (pre-1396) representing Kingdom of Croatia (Regnum Croatiae et Dalmatiae) as part of the coat of arms of King Louis I (1342-1382). Until 1526 these arms were used to represent Croatia in general as can be seen from coat of arms of several kings: Louis I, Mary, Matthias Corvinus and Louis II. It is also found on the great seals of Sigismund of Luxembourg,Albert II,John Zápolya,Ferdinand I, and from then on, on various seals and arms of the Habsburgs.
Historically there are two main variants of these arms:
From a strictly heraldic point of view the charges on the arms are not lions but heraldic leopards. The heraldic leopard differs from the real-life leopard (Panthera pardus). It does not have any spots and often has a mane. Therefore, in heraldry, the leopard is generally similar, and is often referred to as a lion (Panthera leo). The reason for this lies in the fact that in the Middle Ages leopards were thought to be a crossbreed between a lion and a pard.
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