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o SYMBOLY ČESKÉ REPUBLIKY
o ZÁKON 3/1993 Sb.
o ZÁKON 154/1998 Sb.

o VELKÝ A MALÝ STÁTNÍ ZNAK
o STÁTNÍ BARVY
o STÁTNÍ VLAJKA
o VLAJKA PREZIDENTA     REPUBLIKY
o STÁTNÍ PEČEŤ
o STÁTNÍ HYMNA

o SVATOVÁCLAVSKÁ KORUNA
o LÍPA - LIPOVÁ RATOLEST


LIME - LINDEN BRANCH

lipová ratolest

Golden linden branches appear on the flag of the President of the Republic where they complement the Greater State coat of arms and the ribbon with inscription as well as on the State seal.

Lime (-tree) is considered for our national tree and a symbolic tree of the Slavs. It had been the first tree planted near the human dwellings, it protected and healed, it was beautiful and universally beneficial. There are about 1850 memorable lime-trees mentioned in the Czech Republic, i.e. almost one half of all protected trees of historical importance. The poets were the ones who presented a lime as a symbol of the Slavic patriotism for the first time. We are grateful to Jan Kollár and his work “The Slavs´ daughter” for reference to a lime as the Slavic symbol or to the Polish poet Krasicki. However, the lime became the official national symbol since 1848 only when declared the national tree of all subjugated Slavic nations participated at the Pan-Slavic congress held in Prague between June 2 and 12, 1848 – the Czechs from Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, the Slovaks, the Poles, the Ruthenians, the Croats, the Serbs, the Slovenes and the Dalmatians. In that way, the lime opposed the Germans´ efforts to subordinate the Slavic peoples. Actually, it was a reaction to the Congress of Frankfurt that chose an oak as a symbol of Pan-Germanism. The Czech patriotic poet František Ladislav Čelakovský had to propose a lime-tree for the national tree.

Tilia cordata (Small-leaved Lime, occasionally Small-leaved Linden or Little-leaf Linden) is a species of Tilia native to much of Europe and western Asia, north to southern Great Britain, central Scandinavia, all over Romania, east to central Russia, and south to central Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, and the Caucasus; in the south of its range it is restricted to high altitudes. Tilia cordata is popular as both a shade tree with its dense canopy, an ornamental tree with its architectural shape and a street tree. In Europe, there are espaliered trees due to the ability to survive heavy pruning. It is a deciduous tree growing to 20–40 m (60-80') tall, diameter 1/3 to 1/2 the height, with a trunk up to 1 m diameter. The crown is rounded in a formal ovel shape to pyramidal. Branching is upright and increases in density with age. Tilia cordata makes for a great ornamental shade tree of an open lawn. Also makes a good screen or backdrop. It is very architectural.


SYMBOLS
OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Greater State coat of arms
Lesser State coat of arms

State Colours

State Flag
Flag of the President of the Republic

State Seal
National anthem


o The Saint Wenceslaus’s Crown
o Lime - Linden Branch