TThe Coat of Arms of the Republic of Macedonia represents the sun of freedom rising above Macedonia, just as mentioned in the national anthem. In forefront of the coat of arms is the Shar mountain, and the waters of Ohrid lake. The Coat is bounded with wheat and poppy plant laterally, and on the basis with a traditional Macedonian folk motif. These devices represent the richness of our country, our struggle and our freedom.

The current coat of arms is a revised version of the one adopted on July 27, 1946 by the Assembly of the People’s Republic of Macedonia. The original version of 1946 represented the Pirin Mountains.

The newspaper Nova Makedonija describes the coat of arms in 1946 as follows:

The [coat of arms] of the People’s Republic of Macedonia is a symbol of the freedom and the brotherhood of the Macedonian people and the richness of the Macedonian land. The five-pointed star symbolizes the National Liberation War through which the Macedonian people gained freedom. In the center, there is the Pirin mountain, the highest Macedonian mountain that has been the center of the National Liberation Wars in the past. The river displayed in the emblem is the river Vardar, the most famous Macedonian river in the republic. Pirin and Vardar at the same time symbolize the unity of all parts of Macedonia and the ideal of our people for national unity.

Previous Versions

2014 Proposed Changes to the Coat of Arms

On the 5 December 2014, the Macedonian government proposed a new heraldic design for the coat of arms. The new coat of arms is based on an illustration from Jerome de Bara (1581). The illustration from de Bara’s book “Le blason des armoiries” depicts a coat of arms attributed to Alexander the Great.