25 April 2022 – Online conversation
The first dissemination event took place on April 25, 2022, it was a webinar for PhD students on the topic “National symbols of the Czech Republic, their use and protection.” The webinar was held online, via Zoom.
Initially, the webinar participants were welcomed. It was stated that the workshop is a part of the Central European Professors’ Network project, which is guaranteed by the Central European Academy, an institution established by the University of Miscolci in Hungary.
After that, the main paper of this webinar with the topic “National symbols of the Czech Republic – their legal regulation, use and protection in the changes of time” was presented. The paper was prepared and presented by associate professor Kateřina Frumarová from the Faculty of Law of Palacky University in Olomouc (Czech Republic), who is a member of one of the research teams within the above-mentioned project. The length of the presentation was about 70 minutes.
The main presentation on the topic “National symbols of the Czech Republic – their legal regulation, use, protection and changes over time” was divided into several basic parts. The first part was a general introduction to the issue of national symbols in the Czech Republic. The issue of the national symbols, their legal regulation and protection is very important for every state. This follows from the fact that it is through the national symbols that the existence of the state and belonging to this state are embodied and externally symbolized. The national symbols of the Czech Republic serve for the external representation of the Czech state, they are an expression of its existence and sovereignty. They symbolize the history and tradition of the Czech statehood; they are an abstract symbol of the values of the Czech state. The national idea is also expressed in national symbols as one of the state-creating elements of the state.
National symbols perform several functions. In addition to the representative function they have in the Czech Republic’s negotiations within the international community, they also have an identification function. They serve to be used by the entities acting on behalf of the state, both internally and externally. They also fulfill the function of integration, when on various occasions they express the kinship of the citizens of the Czech Republic to their own state.
In the second part, the paper focused on the history of national symbols of the Czech Republic. The current official state symbolism of the Czech Republic is very closely connected with the historical development of the Czech state. The national symbols reflect the historical and political events of the state, the development of society and its traditions. Until the beginning of the 20th century and the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic, it was mainly the symbolism of the reigning monarch (the king). The oldest known (Přemyslid) emblem was a black, „flaming” eagle on a silver field. The accession of King Přemysl Otakar II to the Czech throne in 1253 was a significant moment. The silver crowned two-tailed lion, which is the basis of Czech national symbolism to this day, has become the national symbol (the symbol of the Czech king).
The new era of national symbolism begins with the establishment of an independent Czechoslovak state in 1918. State symbols have always been enshrined in the constitutions since that year. These were mainly the constitutions of 1920, 1948 and 1960. However, the constitutional regulation was always very brief. As a rule, it was only a list of the national symbols, exceptionally, there was also their description. The more detailed legal regulation has always been provided by laws, which regulated, in particular, the appearance (form) of the national symbols and also the rules for their use. This situation persisted even after the division of the Czechoslovak Republic and the establishment of the independent Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic (on January 1, 1993).
The third part of the presentation was devoted to the current legislation of Czech national symbols. At present, the Constitution of the Czech Republic is the basis of the legal regulation of national symbols. Article 14 of the Constitution of the Czech Republic stipulates that large and small state coats of arms, state colours, the state flag, the flag of the President of the Republic, the state seal and the state anthem are national symbols. The order of national symbols reflects their meaning. Furthermore, the Constitution merely states that national symbols and their use are regulated by law. It can therefore be summarized that the Czech constitutional regulation of national symbols is very brief – it is limited to stating the existence of national symbols in the form of their exhaustive list. The constitutional regulation of national symbols is thus logically followed by statutory legislation. These are Act No. 3/1993 Sb. Regulating the national symbols of the Czech Republic and Act No. 352/2001 Sb. regulating the use of national symbols of the Czech Republic. Within this part of the presentation, all the national symbols of the Czech Republic were gradually introduced. Attention was paid to their historical development, significance, but also appearance, including the presentation of images that brought these symbols closer to the webinar participants in terms of graphics.
The last part of the presentation, in which attention was paid to various forms of legal protection of the national symbols of the Czech Republic, was equally important and interesting. National symbols represent one of the symbols of the existence of every sovereign state. They reflect the values and traditions of the state, its history and its present condition. By having national symbols, the state presents itself externally, to the international environment. However, national symbols have an equally significant effect inside the state. They unite the citizens of the state, support their belonging and ties to the state, and recall the basic ideas and values on which the state is built. The meaning and uniqueness of national symbols is also reflected in the need to protect national symbols. Therefore, the legal order of the Czech Republic not only explicitly enshrines national symbols, but also lays down rules for their use, as well as the adverse consequences in the event that the statutory rules concerning national symbols and their use are violated. In principle, we can distinguish four levels of legal protection of national symbols, namely constitutional protection, administrative protection, criminal protection and protection under private law.
The constitutional regulation of Czech national symbols is very brief and does not say much about the state symbols. Criticism can be made especially of the fact that the Constitution does not define the specific form (description) of these symbols. The Constitution does not even provide a closer look at the meaning of national symbolism. On the other hand, the very fact that the existence of national symbols is enshrined directly into the Constitution of the Czech Republic, which takes the form of a constitutional law, is very important. This fact increases the strength of the anchoring of national symbols in the Czech legal system, as any change in the constitutional regulation is a difficult procedure. National symbols of the Czech Republic are defined in the Constitution in the form of an exhaustive list. This means that it is a final and a closed list, which cannot be further expanded (either by statutory regulation or by another legal act). It is thus clearly stated which symbols have the status of a national symbol with all the legal consequences and which do not. The legal rules governing their use, as well as the norms punishing their misuse or unauthorized use, apply only to such formally defined national symbols.
The constitutional regulation of national symbols is followed by statutory legislation. Specifically, these are the Act regulating National Symbols of the Czech Republic and the Act regulating the Use of State Symbols of the Czech Republic. These laws are very closely connected with the Constitution of the Czech Republic and develops the constitutional regulation of national symbols and regulates their use in practice.
The fact that the legislator precisely and clearly defines who can use national symbols and in what way, is one of the most important ways of protecting the national symbols of the Czech Republic. This regulation is a key element in the protection of national symbols and prevents their misuse or inappropriate use. Article 14 of the Constitution of the Czech Republic directly provides for the statutory regulation on the use of national symbols. Its fulfilment is ensured by the Act regulating the Use of National Symbols of the Czech Republic, both by setting the rules for their use and by regulating the administrative liability for offenses in the event of their violation. In this respect, we consider it an administrative regulation. In the Czech Republic, therefore, there is a very close and logical connection between the constitutional and administrative levels of protection of the Czech national symbolism. The statutory rules for the use of national symbols and the related administrative liability for offenses are the essence of the administrative level of protection if these statutory rules are violated. The requirement of suitability and a dignified way of using the national symbol are the basic and general requirements that apply to the use of all Czech national symbols. The law further defines the category of so-called entitled persons. These are institutions, authorities or other entities and persons who may use the national symbols in accordance with law. This is a relatively extensive list, which is also exhaustive. If the legal rules governing national symbols and their use are violated, the person’s administrative liability for the offense arises. Administrative authorities decide on guilt and punishment for these administrative offenses. A fine is a typical administrative penalty that can be imposed for these offenses.
The protection of national symbols under criminal law is rather complementary and not very extensive. The protection under the Criminal Code is only provided to certain state symbols. It is necessary to mention, in particular, the criminal offense of the Illegal Fabrication nd Possession of the State Seal and Official Stamp. Legal and natural persons can commit this crime. It is an intentional crime, which can be punishable by up to 1 year’s imprisonment or a ban on the activity. It is also possible to draw attention to the criminal offenses of Abuse of Internationally Recognized National Symbols and Abuse of Flags and Armistice. In both cases, these are war crimes that protect against the misuse of national symbols during a war. In practice, there do not occur too many offenses or crimes associated with state symbols.
Within the framework of private law protection, it is possible to consider the protection of the state symbols from the point of view of copyright. This is regulated in the Czech Republic mainly by the Copyright Act. If we look at the state symbols, it is clear that they could potentially fulfil the characteristics of a “copyright work” in the sense of the Copyright Act with all the resulting legal consequences. In this respect, however, Section 3 of the Copyright Act, which regulates exceptions to the protection under copyright, is essential. The provisions of Section 3 of the Copyright Act specifically stipulate that protection under copyright does not apply to the so-called “official works”. The legislator demonstratively calculates what these official works belong to and the list also includes national symbols. This means that all national symbols of the Czech Republic are subject to this exclusion. The consequence of this exclusion is the fact that the use of these works (including national symbols) does not require the permission of the author, nor is it necessary to provide a compensation for it.
The presentation of this main paper was followed by a discussion. Two colleagues who did not have questions, only stated some interesting facts about some national symbols. It was pointed out that it is interesting that the Czech Republic has a lion in its state coat of arms, even though this animal has no geographical connection with Europe. It was also said that the eagle was the ancestor of the two-tailed lion in the Czech lands.
This was followed by three brief co-papers prepared by doctoral students. The first paper focused on the use of the official stamp in the practice of public authorities in the Czech Republic. The official stamp includes a small state coat of arms, i.e., one of the national symbols of the Czech Republic. The official stamp is used on a number of documents issued by various state authorities (e.g., judgments or administrative decisions). The colleagues also drew attention to some problematic aspects in practice and mentioned relevant case law on this issue.
The second co-paper focused on the use of Czech national symbols. The colleagues explained what principles and rules apply to the use of national symbols. They also analysed in detail which subjects are entitled to use the state symbols and on what occasions. Attention was also paid to the use of national symbols on commercial objects. The last paper focused on the so-called unofficial symbols of the Czech Republic. These are symbols that are understood in the Czech Republic as national symbols, but do not have the status of a national symbol. In other words, they are important for the Czech state and the population, but they are not part of the list of national symbols in the Constitution of the Czech Republic. There are more of these symbols, but the colleagues focused on two key symbols. First, they paid attention to the national tree of the Czech Republic, which is the linden. Then they dealt with the Czech coronation jewels.
At the end of the workshop, a discussion took place again. No questions were asked. But three colleagues spoke, adding some interesting information, especially on the national tree and the coronation jewels. Then everyone was thanked for attending the workshop and the workshop was ended.
