Symbols of Bratislava

Coat of Arms

The coat of arms of Bratislava features a silver three-towered fortification with a gate. Against a red late-Gothic background, two spiked golden spheres are placed on the red roof of each tower with golden bars forming a half-raised portcullis. The fortification featured on the coat of arms of Bratislava is usually misinterpreted as a representation of Bratislava Castle or of the city's three gates: Michael's Gate, Vydra Gate and Laurinská Gate. In reality, it is a general symbol for a medieval city. The coat of arms of Bratislava is one of the most heraldically pure coats of arms for a city depicting fortifications.

The coat of arms is used in a coloured and simple monochrome imitation on the seal of the city, the insignia of the mayor of Bratislava, the plaques of the Capital City Awards, and in the meeting rooms of the local authorities and the city boroughs as well as on the buildings where the mayor of Bratislava, City Hall, the city borough mayors, municipal authorities, and municipal police are located.

The coat of arms is also used to designate the territory of the capital city. It serves to identify the vehicles of the municipal police and of public transport, and it can be found on documents and official stamps used by the mayor of Bratislava, city borough mayors, and bodies of the city council and the local councils, but only when the document is an ordinance, resolution or decision of the city's authorities, a city borough or bodies of the city council and local councils.

Flag

The flag of Bratislava comprises two horizontal stripes – an upper white stripe and a lower red stripe of the same width – capped with a swallowtail. The flag of the city is used by the mayor of Bratislava, the city borough mayors, and city council and local council bodies on ceremonial and official occasions by being flown on the buildings where these bodies are located as well as in the interiors of buildings during ceremonial assemblies.

The flag is flown at all times on the New City Hall building and on the Primate's Palace during meetings of the city council, and on other ceremonial and official occasions, along with the national flag.

Seal of Bratislava

The seal of Bratislava features the coat of arms of Bratislava with the inscription "PEČAŤ MESTA BRATISLAVY" (“the seal of the city of Bratislava”) written in Slovak and in Latin. In the past, the seal of Bratislava was used for sealing important documents and certificates of honorary citizenship and awards of Bratislava, and on other specific occasions.