National and historical symbols of Hungary

Click to zoom

Csém

(County Komárom-Esztergom)

The village of Csém, situated in the county of Komárom, is an ancient settlement.

Renaissance shield azure; a bend argent. Rompu en pointe, pierced flanche-wise, base curved to a point. In sinister chief a chalice or, on the cup a broad labium, on the node between two rubies a cross gules. In dexter base a triple-legged drinking bowl or (recalling the 9-10th centuries), the labium ornamented with a hound courant, tufted with a flowery pattern.

Across the top a tournament helmet proper, barred or, lined gules, round a gorget a medaillon or. Helmet is crested with a triple-verdured crown or, gorged with gems gules and azure.

Mantling: dexter gules and or, sinister azure and argent.

The coat-of-arms of Csém is a canting arm, as long as it recalls the settlement's thousand-year-long history. According to cautious philologists, the origins of its name cannot be traced down. However, it is possible that it derives from an Avar-Slavic or Pannon-Slavic word (ÖEI) from an age preceding the Magyar conquest of Hungary. The first letter was replaced by cs (the pronunciation of which is similar to that of the dipthong in the English word chair), and the meaning might have been 'obtaining the crop' - that is, threshing. (The Hungarian word csép, meaning thresh, can be derived from the same stem.) Consequently, the person who gave his name to the settlement might have been called Csén or Csém. People bearing such names are, as if proving their identity, normally referred to in the Latin documents as pulsatores (threshers, sextons). Thus it may be assumed that those living in the area were engaged in wine-growing, which is also verified by the royal charter of Pannonhalma issued by Stephen I in the autumn of 1001. (This age is represented by the golden drinking bowl.)

Later, around and after 1200, according to data found in documents, the area was inhabited by the cup-bearers of the archbishop of Esztergom. Also, the neighbouring settlement (not existing any more) was called Vatacsanak (csanak is an archaic word for drinking bowl). People coming from Csém are often mentioned in a number of historical sources dating from before the battle of Mohács, which put an end to the mediaeval Hungarian kingdom. This period is represented by the chalice adorned with the ruby cross.

During the Turkish rule the settlement seems to have been in decline, but the various place-names referring to it, such as Csémipuszta, Csémicsárda, Csémihegy, etc., indicate that it was never totally depopulated. Ever since its revival the ancient, 1,000-year-long viniculture has been flourishing until the present day. This unbroken continuity is symbolised by the bend.

The helmet crowning the coat-of-arms is a reminder of those locals who sacrificed their lives in the past thousand years. The crest represents the autonomy of the settlement.