HOW NOVI SAD GOT ITS COAT OF ARMS

The royal charter did not give the city only a new name and legal status, but also a coat of arms. In this way, Novi Sad received its official heraldic symbol, which represented a visible sign of its newly acquired urban autonomy, privileges and identity.

The coat of arms of the new free royal city was described in the charter as follows: in a blue shield there are three round towers of silver colour. Each tower is encircled by a wreath in the middle and near the top. The towers stand separately from one another, built of cut stone; their upper parts are decorated with carved cornices, their gates are closed, and their windows are open and suitable for defence. They are arranged side by side along the wavy River Danube, which stretches across a green field. The middle tower is somewhat higher and wider, and above it flies Noah’s dove.

Around the edge of the shield stood the inscription: “Seal of the Free Royal City of Novi Sad.” The royal charter also permitted the municipality of the City of Novi Sad to use this coat of arms as its sign and seal, and to authenticate and issue its documents and letters with it.

Thus, in 1748, Petrovaradin Šanac and its inhabitants received a new legal status, a new name and a new symbol. From a former military and chamber-administered settlement arose the free royal city of Novi Sad — Neoplanta, Újvidék, Neusatz — with its own coat of arms, seal, rights and municipal self-government. This moment represents one of the most important turning points in the history of the city and the beginning of its stronger urban, economic and cultural development.