The Grand Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir 1st Class with Swords is a decoration of the Independent State of Croatia established on May 17, 1941, by the Legal Decree on the Establishment of the Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir, and it occupied the 17th place in the order of precedence of decorations of the Independent State of Croatia.
It was awarded to domestic and foreign military personnel for merits in peace or war, gained for the Croatian people and the Independent State of Croatia, and it was awarded 533 times.
The author of the conceptual design for the decoration is Jakov pl. Machiedo, and it was produced in the „Brothers Knaus“ workshop in Zagreb.
In the literature, this decoration is recorded under catalog number 29 in Borna Barac's catalog of world decorations (Reference Catalogue: Orders, Medals and Decorations of the World instituted until 1945).
The insignia consists of a Croatian trefoil cross and a ribbon worn around the neck.
The Croatian Cross (trefoil) is made of an unknown gilded metal, and the largest part of the decoration's surface is enameled in white. The dimensions of the trefoil are: 51 mm in width x 52 mm in height. The mass of the specific specimen shown here is 34.50 g.
On the front, in the central part, there is a white enameled medallion with a diameter of 13 mm. In the center of the medallion is a gilded relief representation of King Zvonimir's crown. Two gilded swords pass through the central medallion, each at a 45-degree angle. The length of the swords is 37 mm. Three gilded Croatian interlaces extend from the medallion: to the left, to the right, and upwards. In the lower part of the cross, there is also a gilded interlace that emerges from the base and reaches almost to the central medallion.
In the cleft of the upper arm of the cross, i.e., the trefoil, there is a horizontal crossbar that functions as a loop. Connected to this crossbar is an oblong, gilded ribbon link decorated with a interlace.
The decoration hangs on a 40 mm wide ribbon. The ribbon is red with a white border on each side. The width of the white border is 6 mm. Incidentally, in the specimen shown here, the ribbon is a replacement, meaning it is not from the time the decoration was awarded.
The reverse of the decoration is plain. White enamel covers the entire surface of the cross, and gilded lines outline the contour of the trefoil. The reverse features gilded text: „1076 / BOG I HRVATI / 1941“.
This year: 1076 marks the year of the coronation of King Zvonimir as the King of Croatia, and 1941 is the year in which the Independent State of Croatia was established.
The central motif of this decoration, as well as its name, is the crown of King Zvonimir, which is also called the Old Croatian crown or Tomislav's crown. It is a concept that denotes both the physical and symbolic crown of the medieval Croatian kingdom. This crown is characterized by three prominent crosses, thus resembling Frankish crowns from the Carolingian period. The physical crown has not been preserved, so we have no direct evidence that it actually looked like that.
As a symbol, this crown was often used as a connection to Croatian statehood, which dates back to the Middle Ages. The Old Croatian crown became particularly popular in the 19th century when the Croatian national revival began. Today, the Old Croatian crown is a motif that appears on the coats of arms of certain Croatian cities and counties.
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Author: Zlatko Viščević
