Serbian cross

The Serbian cross (Cрпски крст), also known as the Firesteels (Оцила), is one of national symbols of Serbia. It is present on the coat of arms and flag of Serbia. The cross is based on a tetragrammic cross emblem of the Palaiologos dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, with the difference in Serbian use being that the cross is usually white on a red background, rather than gold on a red background (though it can be depicted in gold as well). Serbian cross was adopted from Roman empire eagle and Byzantine cross which represents east Roman empire in middle-age before Ottoman occupation.

It is composed of a cross symbol with four "fire striker" shapes, originally four Greek letters beta (Β). Serbian tradition attributes the letters to Saint Sava, the 13th-century Archbishop of the Serbs, and interprets the four "fire striker" shapes as four Cyrillic letters "С", for the motto Only Unity Saves the Serbs (Cамо слога Србина спасава). The Serbian cross has been frequently used in Serbian heraldry, and along with Serbian eagle, is the main heraldic symbol which represent the national identity of the Serbian people.

History
Crosses with firesteels have been used since Roman times, as symbols, but not as coats of arms or emblems. Some historians connect it with the labarum, the Imperial flag of Constantine the Great (r. 306–337). In the 6th century the cross with four fields (with either letters or heraldry) appear on Byzantine coins. The symbol was adopted by the First Crusaders since the first event, People's Crusade (1096).

Michael VIII Palaiologos (1261–1282) adopted the symbol when he resurrected the Byzantine Empire, with the initials (letters β) of the imperial motto of the Palaiologos dynasty: "King of Kings, help the King" (Βασιλεύ Βασιλέων Βασιλεί Βοήθει; Basileu Basileōn, Basilei Boithi). It was used in flags and coins. The symbol appears on the Imperial flag divellion (διβελλιον) used in front of all other banners, recorded by Pseudo-Kodinos ( 1347–68) wrongly as "a cross with firesteels" (σταυρον μετα πυρεκβολων), and depicted in the Castilian Conosçimiento de todos los reynos atlas (c. 1350). As Alexander Soloviev writes, the use of letters in western heraldry is nonexistent. The oldest preserved historical source of the cross used in Serbia is from the Dečani oil-lamp (Dečanski polijelej), which was a gift to King Stefan Milutin (r. 1282–1321), the ktetor (founder) of Visoki Dečani, now preserved at the Monastery of Prohor Pčinjski. Stojan Novaković argued that the recorded use of the Serbian cross, as a national symbol, began in 1397, during the rule of Stefan Lazarević. Serbian historian Stanoje Stanojević argued that it entered its use in 1345, with Stefan Dušan's elevation to Emperor. In the Middle Ages, both the "Greek style", with closed fire-steels (β–B), and the "Serbian syle", with open fire-steels (C-S), were used in Serbia.

A 1439 map by Gabriel de Vallseca used both the Serbian cross and eagle when depicting Serbia.

In South Slavic heraldic sources (also known as Illyrian Armorials), the Serbian cross is found in the Korenić-Neorić Armorial (1595), which shows the coat of arms of Serbia (Svrbiae) as a white cross over a red background, with four firesteels, also depicting the Mrnjavčević noble house with the same design, with inverted colours and the Serbian eagle in the center of the cross. According to Mavro Orbini (1607), it was used by Vukašin Mrnjavčević (King, 1365–1371) and Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović (r. 1371–1389). Next, it is found in the Belgrade Armorial II (ca. 1600–1620), the Fojnica Armorial (between 1675 and 1688), the Armorial of Stanislaus Rubcich (c. 1700), and Stemmatographia (1741), while still continuing to be used in foreign heraldic sources.

The Metropolitanate of Karlovci, established in 1691, adopted it in its seal.

After the Serbian Revolution, the Serbian cross then appeared on all official Serbian coats of arms, except the Serbian coat of arms adopted in 1947, which had the cross removed, leaving four stylized S; this was done symbolically by the Yugoslav government to "socially curtail and politically marginalize religious communities and religion in general". Miloš Obrenović adopted the Serbian cross as the military flag when forming the first units of the regular army in 1825.