Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia: the three lands on the Czech coat of arms

The Czech coat of arms is a quarter-by-quarter map of the country's history. A silver lion with a double tail stands for Bohemia, and it appears twice, in the first and fourth quarters. A chequered red-and-silver eagle stands for Moravia. A black eagle on gold stands for Silesia. The Constitution's preamble speaks of "the citizens of the Czech Republic in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia", so the three names still carry legal weight.

Bohemia

Bohemia (Čechy) is the western part of the country and the oldest, centred on the basin of the Vltava and the Elbe and ringed by low mountains. It was a duchy, then a kingdom, and from the fourteenth century the core of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown. Prague is its capital and the capital of the whole country.

In Czech, Čechy means Bohemia and the people are Češi, so the name of the part and the name of the whole have always sat awkwardly together. That tension is one reason Česko and the English Czechia came into use as short names for the entire state, as Czech Republic or Czechia: the name explained describes.

Moravia

Moravia (Morava) lies to the east and takes its name from the Morava river. It was the centre of Great Moravia in the ninth century and later a margraviate under the Bohemian Crown, with its own provincial assembly and capital, first Olomouc and then Brno. It is known for wine, folk traditions, a strong regional identity and distinctive dialects.

The boundary with Bohemia runs along the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands and is very old. Jihlava lies close to it.

Czech Silesia

Silesia was once a large region reaching far into what is now Poland. After the War of the Austrian Succession, Prussia took most of it in 1742, leaving the Habsburgs a small southern strip, Austrian Silesia. That strip is today's Czech Silesia (České Slezsko), around Opava and the Ostrava area.

The Těšín (Cieszyn) area was divided in 1920 between Czechoslovakia and Poland along the Olza river. That is why Český Těšín in Czechia and Cieszyn in Poland face each other across the water. Ostrava itself lies near the old border between Moravia and Silesia, on the Ostravice.

From lands to regions

Interwar Czechoslovakia was organised into lands (země): Bohemia, Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia. In 1949 the communist state abolished them and replaced them with regions, which were redrawn several times. From 1990 until 2000 the country had districts (okresy) and no regions at all. Regional self-government returned in 2000, with 13 regions and Prague.

The new regions were drawn for practical reasons and cut across the old borders. Vysočina includes land from both Bohemia and Moravia. The Moravian-Silesian Region joins most of Czech Silesia to the northern part of Moravia. Other regions follow the historic lines more closely, but none matches them exactly. All fourteen are listed in Czech regions: the fourteen at a glance.

Where Moravia and Silesia sat in the interwar republic

For a short period the modern state had an official place for the old lands. Between the wars Moravia and Czech Silesia were joined into a single land, Moravia-Silesia, with Brno as its capital, alongside the land of Bohemia. That arrangement is the source of the Moravian-Silesian name that survives in the present-day region, even though the modern region covers a smaller territory than the old land did. When the communist state abolished the lands in 1949, regional identity had to find new ways to express itself, in dialect, in food and in festivals, because the map no longer helped.

Why the names still matter

People use the old names to mean something. A Prague resident heading "to Moravia" is probably after wine or a folk festival, and people in Brno happily call themselves Moravians. Regional pride has even reached the census: in 2021 respondents could give Moravian or Silesian nationality, and some did.

Weather forecasts, railway timetables and tourist maps all use the old names. Just keep the modern region and the historic land apart, because the Moravian-Silesian Region and Moravia are not the same thing.

Identity in the census

The census shows how living these names are. In 2021 people could answer the question on nationality with Moravian or Silesian as well as Czech, and some did, using the option to say that they feel part of a regional community. The Czech Statistical Office publishes the results, and the tables are worth reading for the care they take in separating nationality, language and place of residence. The Czech Statistical Office's methodology explains how combined answers were counted, which matters because regional identity is usually a layer on top of a Czech one, not a rival to it. The pattern is common elsewhere in Europe, but in a country of Czechia's size it is easy to miss until you meet it in conversation.

Language and dialects

Standard Czech is understood everywhere, but dialects diverge as you travel east. Moravian dialects keep features that are rare in Bohemian speech, and those near the Polish border show Polish influence. If your Czech teacher in Prague pronounces a word one way, do not be surprised when a taxi driver in Ostrava says it another.

What to look for as a visitor

The differences are easier to taste than to define. The great majority of Czech vineyards lie in Moravia, which is why the cellars and wine festivals of the south-east are a regular day out for people in Brno. Folk traditions, from costumes to music, are often associated with Moravia, and in the cities of Moravia and Silesia you will notice speech that does not sound like the Prague radio announcer. Silesia, a smaller piece of the picture, is the land of industrial history: coal, steel and the cultural reuse of old works, which suits a visit to Ostrava.

None of this is a stereotype to be tested on your neighbours. A Moravian in Prague may well tell you they are from Moravia first and the Czech Republic second, and a Silesian may say the same about Silesia. The more useful habit is to use the land names the way locals do, as a reference to a place and a past, not as an address.

Seeing the lands on a map

Find a map that overlays the historic borders on the modern regions, and mark the places you plan to visit. The Czech Statistical Office publishes regional maps and data, which makes the mismatch between historic and administrative boundaries easy to see.

Frequently asked questions

Is Moravia part of Bohemia?

No. They are separate historic lands. Both are in Czechia, and Bohemia lies to the west, Moravia to the east.

What is on the Czech coat of arms?

A silver double-tailed lion for Bohemia, in the first and fourth quarters, a chequered eagle for Moravia and a black eagle on gold for Silesia.

Where is Czech Silesia?

In the north-east, around Opava and Ostrava, a small remnant of the large historic region most of which lies in Poland.