Opening: 24 December 2019, Gallery of the Historical Archives of Belgrade
Author of Exhibition and Catalogue: Marko Perić
Review by: Dragomir Acović
Editing and proof editing: Nataša Nikolić MA
Technical Support: Violeta Jovanović, Branislva Popović, Bojan Kocev
Design of exhibition panels: Zorica Netaj
Design of the catalogue: Vladimir Mijatović
Opening ceremony speech by: Zoran Radojičić, Mayor of the City of Belgrade
Exhibition Coats of Arms of the City of Belgrade and Belgrade Municipalities depicts development of territorial heraldry, heraldic and pseudo heraldic symbols (coat of arms, flags, and emblems) which throughout history have been used to symbolize the city of Belgrade and its municipalities. The most significant source for this exhibition was a legacy of Dragomir Acović, founder and a long time president of Serbian Heraldic Society „White Eagle“. His legacy is preserved in the Historical Archives of Belgrade and it includes abundant archival material on Acović’s role in setting heraldic standards, in creating new and reconstruction of old coats of arms of Belgrade and its municipalities. Besides original documents, sketches, drawings and projects preserved in the legacy of Dragomir Acović, the exhibition also presented older documentation, first of all documentation from archival fonds Municipality of the City of Belgrade relating to the competition for Belgrade’s new coat of arms held in 1931, when Đorđe Andrejević Kun’s proposal won.
The exhibition is divided in two parts.
Author of Exhibition and Catalogue: Marko Perić
Review by: Dragomir Acović
Editing and proof editing: Nataša Nikolić MA
Technical Support: Violeta Jovanović, Branislva Popović, Bojan Kocev
Design of exhibition panels: Zorica Netaj
Design of the catalogue: Vladimir Mijatović
Opening ceremony speech by: Zoran Radojičić, Mayor of the City of Belgrade
Exhibition Coats of Arms of the City of Belgrade and Belgrade Municipalities depicts development of territorial heraldry, heraldic and pseudo heraldic symbols (coat of arms, flags, and emblems) which throughout history have been used to symbolize the city of Belgrade and its municipalities. The most significant source for this exhibition was a legacy of Dragomir Acović, founder and a long time president of Serbian Heraldic Society „White Eagle“. His legacy is preserved in the Historical Archives of Belgrade and it includes abundant archival material on Acović’s role in setting heraldic standards, in creating new and reconstruction of old coats of arms of Belgrade and its municipalities. Besides original documents, sketches, drawings and projects preserved in the legacy of Dragomir Acović, the exhibition also presented older documentation, first of all documentation from archival fonds Municipality of the City of Belgrade relating to the competition for Belgrade’s new coat of arms held in 1931, when Đorđe Andrejević Kun’s proposal won.
The exhibition is divided in two parts.
First part of the exhibition is dedicated to the history of Belgrade’s coat of arms and its development from the epoch of despot Stefan Lazarević, Turkish and Austrian rule to the symbols Belgrade used in modern Serbian and Yugoslav states. The first part ends with a story how the heraldic standards and regulations were set in the end of last and beginning of this century, determining three versions of city’s coat of arms (basic, medium and big), city’s flag and their use.
Second part is dedicated to the development of modern Serbian territorial heraldry and development of symbols of Belgrade’s seventeen municipalities. It introduced to the public one of key heraldic rules – the coat of arms is determined by its formal description (blazon) which artists use to reconstruct the appropriate image (etalon). The exhibition represented etalons and blazons of the city’s coat of arms as they were described in the City’s Statute.
The exhibition can be seen in the Gallery of the Archives by the end of January 2020. Working hours of the Gallery is from Tuesday to Saturday, 10 AM – 5PM, the entrance is free.
| Video from opening |  |