Turk head (heraldry)

In European heraldry, the severed Turk head (Hungarian: Törökfej, Polish: Turecka głowa, Czech and Slovak: Turecká hlava, Serbo-Croatian: Turska glava, Турска глава, Ukrainian: Турецька голова, romanized: Turetska holova), most often as pierced by a sword, signifies the many wars fought by European Christian states against the invading Muslim, Turkish-led Ottoman Empire. Other depictions include the head held up by a victor or picked by a raven. It is used in modern town, municipality and village coat of arms in Hungary, Serbia and Croatia.

Coat of arms of the Hungarian town Komádi.

List

Cities and towns

• Hungary: Bezeréd, Derecske, Komádi, Gáborján, Hajdúdorog, Hajdúnánás, Szécsény, Tépe
• Serbia: Kikinda, Vršac
• Croatia: Đelekovec

Families

It was adopted by some Austro-Hungarian nobility, such as:

• The Balogh of Nemčice (in Slovakia), Mezőcsávás (in Romania), Csegö (?), Szász-Czegö (?)
• The Schwarzenberg of Český Krumlov (in Bohemia)^[1]
• The Baky
• The Benkeö of Kezdi-Sarfalva
• The Branovacki
• The Csernovics
• The Csernoevicz
• The Csokits
• The Dunca of Sajo
• The Eperjessy of Gyulafehérvár (in Romania)
• The Gaines
• The Kajdachy
• The Karácson
• The Kovács
• The Kruchió
• The Latinovics
• The Nagy
• The Okolicsányi
• The Pótsa

Gallery

• 
  Schwarzenberg family arms, with a crow pecking at a Turk's head
• 
  Arms of the town of Orlík nad Vltavou, Czech Republic
• 
  Arms of the town of Derecske, Hungary
• 
  Arms of the town of Hajdúdorog, Hungary
• 
  Arms of the Balogh family from Mezőcsávás, Hungary
• 
  Arms of the town of Tépe, Hungary
• 
  Arms of the city of Kikinda, Serbia

See also

• Heads in heraldry
• Moor's head (heraldry)
• Ottoman wars in Europe

References

1. Charles Stickney (May 2001). World Enough: Travel Memoirs. iUniverse. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-595-18474-3.

Further reading

• Palmira Brummett (19 May 2015). Mapping the Ottomans. Cambridge University Press. pp. 209–. ISBN 978-1-107-09077-4.