Although several months have passed since its reappearance at the center of public attention, interpretations of the salute “For Home – Ready” are still present in public discourse and often call into question its historical meaning from the time of the Ustaša movement, i.e., the Independent State of Croatia. Recently, such a claim appeared in a text by Vlatka Vukelić, lecturer at the Department of History and unsuccessful candidate for the position of dean of the Croatian Studies at the University of Zagreb, originally posted on her Facebook profile (available here), and later republished in article form by several smaller media outlets (for example here and here). There, among other things, Vukelić states:

“The military context and For Home – Ready have a much longer tradition and are connected with a series of conflicts, especially throughout the 20th century. Of course, these are variations, modifications, etc., but always within the context of military defense of one’s home. Even during the First World War we find a version of the salute, then adapted to the political system – the Croatian historical lands as part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. At that time the salute went: ‘For the King and for the Home!’ (…) The military salute during the Second World War was modified, not ‘invented,’ and was used in new wars according to the new political circumstances.”

However, this claim does not correspond to available historical facts. First, the reference to an older salute from the time when most of present-day Croatia was under the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy most likely refers to the motto of the Royal Croatian Home Guard: “For the King and the Homeland.”[1] This, however, was never considered a salute, since it generally appeared only in written form, most often as an integral part of the Monarchy’s coat of arms, in the form of a wreath with inscribed text placed below the shield, used on Home Guard officers’ caps, unit flags, or, during the First World War, on extremely popular postcards depicting home guardsmen. Furthermore, it was never elevated to the level of a greeting, as was the case with “For Home – Ready” in the Independent State of Croatia, where it was used in numerous official documents, private correspondence of Ustaša officials as a closing phrase, upon entering state administration premises, at the beginnings and/or ends of public addresses, etc. [2]

It is also important to emphasize that the Home Guard motto was not an (exclusively) Croatian expression, since it was in fact borrowed, i.e. literally translated, from the original Austrian phrase “Für Kaiser und Vaterland“,[3] which, with unchanged meaning, was also present among Hungarians as “Királyért és a hazáért“[4] where it was used by the Honvéd (Hungarian Home Guard). In Czech units the phrase “Za krále a vlast“[5], appeared on cap insignia next to the monarchical coat of arms, in Polish units “Za Króla i Ojczyznę“,[6] and in Slovenian “Za kralja in domovino“,[7] all with identical meaning. This shows that it was not a unique phrase but rather part of a general monarchical outlook on the inseparability of ruler and state. A clear example is the motto “For the King and the Fatherland” used in the military units of the Kingdom of Serbia and the first Yugoslavia, later adopted by the Chetnik movement, which included it on their flag, which is why it remains tied primarily to sympathizers of their ideology [8] to this day. The German Empire, from the first half of the 19th century, used the motto “Mit Gott, für König und Vaterland“[9] (“With God, for the King and the Fatherland”). Similarly, British propaganda materials from the First World War connect the fight for King and homeland in nearly identical ways, such as “For the King / For the Flag / And the dear Homeland“,[10] “Come into the ranks and fight for your King and Country“[11] or “United we stand for Faith, King and Empire.“.[12]

It should be noted that, although in Slavic languages the words “dom” (home) and “domovina” (homeland) share the same root and sometimes serve as synonyms, they are not identical. The official Home Guard motto in Austria-Hungary always contained the phrase “for the homeland”, inseparably tied to the preceding “for the king.” By contrast, the Ustaša salute was always in the form “for the home”, usually followed by “ready” in official correspondence. A version in which “homeland” was replaced by “home” appeared only in less formal expressions or allusions to the phrase. The clearest examples are wartime postcards depicting Croatian soldiers in Austro-Hungarian ranks during the First World War, which featured various modifications derived from the original motto:[13] “For the King and the Home”, “For the Home and the King we must shed blood”, “Everything for the King and the Home”, “For the grey-haired King and our Home”, “For the Home and our King”, “For the salvation of the Homeland and the grey-haired King”, “For Freedom, Faith, the King and our Home.” The wartime addition of a tricolor ribbon to the official cap insignia carried the expanded motto “Into battle for King and Homeland“.[14] Shortening “homeland” to “home” also appeared earlier in artistic interpretations, as seen in the title of Eugen Kumičić’s work “For the King – for the Home”, written at the end of the 19th century, set in the late reign of Emperor Joseph II. [15]

Nevertheless, a form containing “for the home” during the Habsburg and Austro-Hungarian periods never represented an official version, nor was the word “ready” ever attached to “for the home(land)” in official mottos or their interpretations.

The Ustaša’s use of the salute “For Home – Ready” in official channels almost always appeared in this exact form, only very rarely shortened into the acronym ZDS.[16] Fragmented versions, where only “For Home” or only “Ready” appeared, also existed, but, as with Home Guard motto variations in Austria-Hungary, only in artistic or media depictions – on posters, in literature, in newspaper memoranda, etc. The circumstances of the origin of “For Home – Ready” were explained by Ante Pavelić himself during his years in exile, in the summer of 1957, later published eleven years afterwards by the journal Croatian Guard – the bulletin of the Croatian Liberation Movement in Europe, and in modern times discovered and republished by the portal Index.hr.[17] In that text, Pavelić unambiguously presents himself as the creator of the salute “For Home – Ready”, citing as inspiration various mythic-historical moments important to Croatia’s past, but without any mention of Austria-Hungary, its Home Guard, or their salute.

In conclusion, the motto “For the King and the Homeland” and the salute “For Home – Ready” cannot, according to available sources, be directly correlated. What connects them is only the fact that both begin with the preposition “for”, and the coincidence that they contain the words “homeland” and “home” derived from the same root, which, due to the symbolic weight associated with both, could be used as near-synonyms in artistic or propaganda formats. The scope of use of “For Home – Ready” as a salute and greeting within the Ustaša movement and the Independent State of Croatia far exceeded the use of the motto “For the King and the Homeland” in Austria-Hungary, as has already been detailed on this portal in previous months.[18] Nevertheless, given the authoritative position from which Vlatka Vukelić speaks, an additional clarification and precisely grounded response was necessary to provide readers and the public with a clear and verified historical picture.

[1] Stublić, Zlatko. The Croatian Home Guard 1868–1993 (Zagreb: Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Croatia, 1994), 29.

[2] Compare: Krizman, Bogdan. Pavelić and the Ustaše (Zagreb: Globus, 1978), 198–200; https://www.telegram.hr/politika-kriminal/ovih-13-slika-trebale-bi-biti-dovoljan-dokaz-svim-idiotima-koji-zagovaraju-rehabilitaciju-za-dom-spremni/ (accessed September 24, 2025) and https://web.archive.org/web/20131203004838/http://www.tjedno.hr/index.php/categoryblog/4042/ (accessed September 24, 2025).

[3] According to: Stauf, Christian. For Emperor and Fatherland – My Experiences During the First World War Until the End of My Captivity in 1921 (Berlin: Buchschmiede, 2021).

[4] According to: Barcy, Zoltán, and Győző Somogyi. For King and Homeland – The Organization, Uniforms, and Armament of the Royal Hungarian Honvéd Army, 1868–1918 (Budapest: Corvina, 1990).

[5] Sládek, Josef Václav. “For King and Country” in Peasant Songs and Czech Sonnets (Prague: J. Otto Printing House, 1890), 70. (available at: https://kramerius5.nkp.cz/view/uuid:364c12b0-baaa-11e5-b5dc-005056827e51?page=uuid:27f3c650-c175-11e5-af02-001018b5eb5c)

[6] According to: https://muzeum.gliwice.pl/images/upload/ksiazki/fragmenty_publikacji/z_bogiem_za_krola/1-12.pdf (accessed 24.9.2025)

[7] According to: Člekovič, Jozko. Rostás Pál – obnova spomenika. Ljudska univerza Ajdovščina, 2013 (Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20150619175403/http://www.lu-ajdovscina.si/mma/rostas/2013111307440301/, accessed 24.9.2025)

[8] For a more detailed discussion, see: Tomasevich, Jozo. The Chetniks in the Second World War 1941–1945 (Zagreb: Globus, 1979).

[9] According to: Ortenburg, Georg. With God for King and Fatherland (Munich: Bertelsmann, 1979).

[10] According to: British sailor and British soldier shaking hands (colour litho), Look and Learn History Picture Library, accessed September 24, 2025.

[11] https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30494 (accessed 24.9.2025)

[12] https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/1722035 (accessed 24.9.2025)

[13] https://hismus.hr/hr/zbirke/online-zbirke-pretrazivanje/?zbirka_id=31 (accessed 24.9.2025)

[14] According to: https://www.hismus.hr/hr/izlozbe/virtualne-izlozbe/uzajamnost-i-vjera-u-buducnost-za-kralja-i-domovinu/ (accessed 24.9.2025)

[15] According to: https://katalog.kgz.hr/pagesresults/bibliografskiZapis.aspx?selectedId=11000334¤tPage=3&searchById=10&sort=0&age=0&spid0=10&spv0=Tomi%C4%87%2C+Josip+Eugen&mdid0=0&vzid0=0&xm0=1 (pristup 24.9.2025)

[16] Compare: Krizman, Bogdan. Pavelić and the Ustaše (Zagreb: Globus, 1978), 198–200; https://www.telegram.hr/politika-kriminal/ovih-13-slika-trebale-bi-biti-dovoljan-dokaz-svim-idiotima-koji-zagovaraju-rehabilitaciju-za-dom-spremni/ (accessed September 24, 2025) and https://web.archive.org/web/20131203004838/http://www.tjedno.hr/index.php/categoryblog/4042/ (accessed September 24, 2025).

[17] Vojković, Goran. “Ante Pavelić Is the Author of the Greeting ‘Za dom spremni’.” https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/foto-ante-pavelic-je-autor-pozdrava-za-dom-spremni-sam-je-to-rekao-u-jednom-razgovoru/990422.aspx (accessed 24.9.2025)

[18] According to: https://p-portal.net/sto-govore-cinjenice-o-porijeklu-pozdrava-za-dom-spremni (accessed 24.9.2025)

Funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission, nor the positions of the Agency for Electronic Media. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission, nor the Agency for Electronic Media can be held responsible for them.

This post is also available in: Hrvatski