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Slovak Civic Heraldry Slovenská Heraldika Miest a Obcí (Heraldický Register SR)

DUNAJSKÁ STREDA

Origin/meaning:
The old coat of arms of Dunajská Streda/Dunaszerdahely (then named Szerdahely) showed only St. Peter, in blue on a silver field and standing on a green base (see image below). Other colours were also used during the 19^th century. The saint was also used on several seals, but not shown in a shield. St. Peter is the patron saint of the town.

In 1899 the new town of Dunaszerdahely was created from Nemesszeg, Ujfalu, Elottejed and Szerdahely. At the same time the new city adopted a seal with just an inscription, not with any arms or other images.

The present arms show in the right half 6 stripes, which symbolise the six villages in the municipality (besides the three mentioned above, two more were incorporated in the town in 1960), as well as the Danube river flowing through rich agricultural fields.
The left half shows the symbol of the Roman God Mercurius, god of trading. The Romans named the days of the week after their gods. Mercury, the patron of trade and marketers became the god of Wednesday. Szerdahely's first privilege was the right to hold markets on Wednesdays. The sign of Wednesday developed right from the sign of the mythological patron of marketers and traders who was the God of Wednesday at the same time. This way the symbol also expresses the fact from which the name of the town originates: the Wednesday market. Dunaszerdahely has always been a well-known marketplace.

Literature : Kartous et al, 1991; background obtained from http://www.dunajinfo.sk/dunajskastreda/en/heraldika_en.htm; Kartous and Vrteľ , 2000

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