Tekelija
Noble family of Popović Tekelija
- Bearer
- Popović Tekelija family
- Notable members
- Sava Tekelija (1761–1842)
- Insignia
- Carved and painted coat of arms in wood
The arms of the Hungarian noble family Popović Tekelija, from which came Sava Tekelija (1761–1842), the first Serb doctor of law, president of Matica srpska and founder of the Tekelijanum, an endowment for the education of Serbian youth in Pest. A surviving carved and painted coat of arms in wood is shown. A horseman with a severed Turkish head is a common scene in arms granted by the Hungarian court for military merit in the wars against the Ottomans.
Blazon
On a blue-green field a hussar in red dress, with a red cap and feather, on a white horse leaping; in his right hand he holds a raised sabre on which a severed Turkish head is impaled, and behind him is a lance with a red swallow-tailed pennon. Beneath the horse a gold lion passant.
A barred helm, beneath a golden crown.
Three ostrich feathers.
Acanthus mantling, dexter black and gold, sinister red and gold.
Symbolism and meaning
The hussar with the Turkish head and standard bears witness to the family's military merits in the wars against the Ottomans, on the basis of which its nobility was acquired, and the lion beneath the horse to courage and strength. The three ostrich feathers and the crown above the helm are common marks of Hungarian nobility.
