Academia Cravatica was founded in 1997 with the mission of promoting the tie or cravat as part of the Croatian, European, and world cultural heritage, and as a special medium of communication. The cravat is the only Croatian symbol which is universally known and appreciated, and at the same time is recognized and acknowledged as a Croatian symbol. The Croatian origins of the tie or cravat, founded on historic, ethnological and linguistic facts, are confirmed by world encyclopedias and other scientific sources. In addition, the many projects run by Academia Cravatica over the past ten years, have promoted Croatia – the homeland of the cravat, on a world scale. For example, the installation “The Cravat around the Arena” in Pula on 18th October 2003 was staged as a major world performance, which was seen on television throughout the world by more than a billion people. It is considered that this was the most ambitious promotion of the Croatian identity in the world to date. This installation, with the largest cravat in the world, symbolically brought together the ancient and modern ages, and the red color of the cravat sent a message to the world of love and life together of peoples and nations.
Croats gave the world the cravat, but it was nurtured, developed and perfected by other nations. For example, the Americans conceived a cravat in three parts and thereby perfected it technically. But the most important contribution to the development of the cravat came from the French, the English and other European nations. Therefore the cravat is a symbol of Europe. This is seen in the now common custom of the European Union that each country presiding over Union presents its own specific cravat at the beginning of its term.
The cravat is a universal symbol of elegance and the culture of dressing, but its powerful symbolic potential contains many other values. The vertical cravat symbolizes the human vertic
al – human dignity and self-awareness, moments of solemnity and ceremony, success and a business spirit… With its lightness on the one hand and the knot on the other, the cravat “binds” together freedom and responsibility. It encourages us to be more aware in our communication of our dignity and the dignity of others – our freedom, but also our responsibility. Due to its enormous symbolic power, the cravat is of great significance for Croatia and the world.
Marking Cravat Day, will contribute to the establishment and illumination of all the positive values of identity in Croatian society, and a recognizable and positive image of Croatia in the world. The initiative for marking Cravat Day has been supported by the Prime Minister dr. Ivo Sanader, and the program to mark the day will take place under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Stjepan Mesić. The proposal to mark the national Cravat Day has also been supported by the Committee for Education, Science and Culture of the Croatian Parliament. Cravat Day will be marked by social and cultural events in several towns in Croatia, and, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the RoC, in some other cities around the world.
We invite social and cultural institutions and Croatian citizens, in this country and abroad, to mark Cravat Day in their own communities in a worthy manner, as a day of celebration and community.
Marijan Bušić, prof.