35 years ago, the Slovak National Council adopted the law on state symbols and the change of the state's name

The events of November 1989 and the related changes in the former Czechoslovakia also led to changes in the legal system. Saturday, March 1, marks 35 years since the memorable session of the Slovak National Council (SNC), at which deputies adopted the constitutional law on the name, state emblem, state flag, state seal and state anthem of the Slovak Republic.

The historic decision of the legislators was made on March 1, 1990, during the 22nd session of the SNC. The approval of the law was directly related to the political situation that arose in Czechoslovakia after the Velvet Revolution.

At the federal level, 15 constitutional laws were adopted by 1990’s parliamentary elections (elections to the Federal Assembly, as well as to the Slovak National Council and the Czech National Council were held on 8-9 June 1990), which fixed the most significant social changes.

The deputies of the SNR approved three constitutional laws before the June elections in 1990. One of them was Constitutional Act No. 50/1990 Coll. on the name, state emblem, state flag, state seal and state anthem of the Slovak Republic. The Czech National Council approved a similar legal regulation five days later, on 6 March.

Based on the first article of the constitutional law, the deputies decided on 1 March 1990 that the name of the Slovak Socialist Republic would be changed to the Slovak Republic. The form of the state symbols was based on historical sources. The national emblem was based on the historical coat of arms of Slovakia, its historically and heraldically correct original from the 14th century. The state seal consisted of the national emblem of the Slovak Republic, around which the inscription Slovak Republic was placed.

The national flag was created by the “Štúrovci” in 1848, and the anthem Nad Tatrou sa blýska, by Janko Matúšek, composed in 1844, also dates from this period. Matúšek wrote the text in connection with the departure of Slovak students from the Bratislava Lyceum to Levoča in protest against the dismissal of Ľudovít Štúr from his professorship. The first verse of this song became part of the Czechoslovak anthem in 1918, after the establishment of the common state of Czechs and Slovaks. It was part of it, with the exception of the six years of the wartime Slovak Republic (1939 - 1945), until December 31, 1992, i.e. until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.

After a short debate, the deputies unanimously approved the draft constitutional law, and it entered into force on the same day. "Today can rightly be considered one of the most important days in the life of the Slovak nation, because by adopting the Constitutional Law of the Slovak National Council on the Name, National Emblem, National Flag, National Seal and National Anthem of the Slovak Republic, we have returned to Slovakia and Slovaks the historical symbols that were long and unjustly denied to them, with which the fate of the nation was intertwined, and which from now on represent a symbolic expression of Slovak statehood," said Rudolf Schuster, the chairman of the SNR, after the approval of the constitutional law in the plenary session. After the discussion, the national anthem of the Slovak Republic was played for the first time in the parliament building.

The provisions of this law were in force for more than two years. However, its content was subsequently reflected in the Constitution of the Slovak Republic, which the deputies of the SNR adopted on September 1, 1992.

Source: TASR