The CzechTourism has rebranded from Visit Czech Republic to Visit Czechia, part of the country’s move to only keep the longer name in official documents and the Czechia, less formal, name for all other communication purposes.
The tourism board explained that the name of the country has been addressed for many years by the state, language experts, international organisations, associations and the public, reaching the conclusion that Czechia and the Czech Republic are synonymous and both official names.
Simply put, Czechia is used to represent our domestic achievements, history or personalities.
CzechTourism Board
Whether to use the short or long name depends on the area and whether there is an obligation attached to the state designation, the tourism board clarified. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the longer name of Czech Republic must be used only in official government documents, in the names of embassies, official correspondence, powers of attorney or in contractual practice, including declarations, instruments of ratification, memoranda, etc, while the Czechia (Česko) brand should be used in all other cases.
Among other things, it is more practical for production and less formal, the Tourism Authority explained. As a shorter version of the country’s marking, it fits better, for example, on signs accompanying official meetings at the highest political level or meetings of international organizations, as well as on presentation or promotional materials such as large advertising signs with the country’s marking at trade fairs. Czechia (Česko) also works better in informal communication and correspondence as well as in literary works, newspaper articles, etc.
“Non-ceremonial political speeches are more acceptable to the general public with Czechia, partly because they tend to be simply shorter and less distant”, the organisation emphasised. The jerseys and other clothing of people representing the state in culture, science, sports and other spheres will also be rebranded, the Czech Olympic Committee having already switched to the short version Česko/Czechia.
The MFA is convening a Commission for a unified presentation of the Czech Republic abroad to establish a consensus on the country’s designations beyond tourism purposes. Relevant ministries, Czech Centres, the House of Foreign Cooperation, the Czech Olympic Committee, CzechInvest, CzechTrade and CzechTourism agencies, among others, will discuss the ambiguities, where they exist, and ensure a harmonized and unified presentation of the Czech Republic.
