A leaf of a
Linden or Lime tree, an important part of Slovene national heritage. Village assemblies, councils and other gatherings were traditionally held around circular tables beneath such a tree.
The stylized graphical representation of the three peaks of Mount
Triglav, the central device of the current coat of arms, has functioned as a national symbol since World War II,[citation needed] having been the emblem of the Liberation Front and subsequent communist-era arms.
The coat of arms of
Carniola or just its eagle are still considered national symbols, being the signs of one of the two historical Slavic duchies,
Carniola and
Carantania, but are considered historic rather than current ones.
The principal symbols of Carantania, such as the
Prince's Stone and the
Duke's Chair, are considered Slovene national symbols by Slovenes,[citation needed] but this point of view has been opposed by Slovene scholars[which?] and many
Austrians, most notably
Jörg Haider.
In the late 1980s, several symbols from the
Middle Ages were revived as Slovene national symbols, though their use is largely restricted to nationalist circles. Among them, the most popular are the so-called
Slovene Hat, the crest of the coat of arms of the
Slovene March, and the
Black Panther, a reconstruction of the supposed coat of arms of the principality of
Carantania.
Cultural symbols
Another symbol connected to Triglav comes from the folktale of the
Goldenhorn, a mythical
chamois living in an enchanted garden near its summit.
The
carnation is widely cultivated in Slovenia; the red carnation in particular is considered the national flower.
Creatures endemic to Slovenia, including the
olm, the
Carniolan honey bee or the
Lipizzaner horse are sometimes also considered as representing the Slovene national identity.