A History of Central Eastern Europe

COAT-OF-ARMS OF THE PREŠOVSKÝ KRAJ
SAROS
SPIŠ
SAROS
ZEMPLÉN
Today SPIŠSKA STARÁ VES is in the PREŠOVSKÝ KRAJ which is made up from territory formerly
found in 3 Hungarian MEGYE: SAROS, SZEPES & ZEMPLÉN. The Coat-of-Arms for the KRAJ
incorporates elements from each territories historic Coat-of-Arms.
UPPER SZEPES is now SPIŠ and it is represented by the gold lion on a red
field in the upper left quadrant. Located in the upper right quadrant of the
SZEPES Coat-of-Arms, it was taken from the THURZÓ family Coat-of-Arms
when those Arms were designed; the lion now appears as the symbol of
valor and strength.
Fish have long been considered a symbol of happiness in heraldry and the
3 in the lower left quadrant come from the same position in the Arms of
ZEMPLÉN MEGYE. UPPER ZEMPLÉN has historically been represented by 3 fish
and now ZEMPLIN continues that tradition.
The right half represents SAROS MEGYE whose historical Coat-of-Arms show
a female bearing a crown above a red field with 3 white/silver, wavy stripes.
The crown was kept as a symbol of power and importance.
The white/silver stripes on a red field symbolize that region’s 3 major rivers:
the Šarišské Torysa, the Topľa and the Ondava, which they continue to do.
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