Oath text for members of the Croatian National Guard, 1991 Croatia document: Typewritten sheet on pale paper, mounted

Oath text for members of the Croatian National Guard (Hrvatska narodna garda), Croatia, 1991

Typewritten sheet on pale paper, mounted and framed, headed 'ZAKLETVA PRIPADNIKA HRVATSKE NARODNE GARDE' (Oath of a member of the Croatian National Guard). The oath binds the speaker to obey orders and to defend 'my homeland Croatia', its sovereignty, territorial integrity and all its citizens, even at the cost of his life. The tell is the way the one-sentence oath ties the person's own life to the state's sovereignty and territory.

Propaganda techniques used in this document

Identity fusion

Date: 1991
Period: Cold War
Made by: Croatian National Guard (Hrvatska narodna garda), Republic of Croatia

Full record

Region, Country, Medium, Issuer type, Regime, Leader, Audience, Purpose, Theme, Event, Source, Rights

Region: Eastern Europe and Eurasia
Country: Croatia
Medium: Document
Issuer type: State
Regime: Tudjman Government
Leader: Franjo Tudjman
Audience: Own forces
Purpose: Mobilize or secure compliance
Theme: War and the military
Event: Croatian War of Independence
Source: Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source: Wikimedia Commons (photograph by Roberta F., Croatian History Museum exhibition), retrieved October 12, 2026
Rights: CC BY-SA 3.0 (photograph, Roberta F., via Commons); the oath is an official Croatian government text
Photograph: Roberta F., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (File:Hrvatski povijesni muzej 27012012 Domovinski rat 24 Zakletva pripadnika Hrvatske narodne garde.jpg). Text: Croatian National Guard, 1991.

Text on the object

Original (Croatian) · read from the image, not independently checked

ZAKLETVA PRIPADNIKA HRVATSKE NARODNE GARDE

SVEČANO PRISEŽEM,
DA ĆU VJERNO I ČASNO IZVRŠAVATI DUŽNOSTI
KOJE SE OD MENE,
PRIPADNIKA HRVATSKE NARODNE GARDE ZAHTJEVAJU
I DA ĆU SE SAVJESNO I ODGOVORNO
POKORAVATI SVIM SLUŽBENIM NAREDBAMA I ZAPOVJEDIMA.
PRISEŽEM
DA ĆU, I UZ ŽRTVU VLASTITOG ŽIVOTA
ŠTITITI I BRANITI SVOJU DOMOVINU HRVATSKU
NJEN SUVERENITET
TERITORIJALNU CJELOVITOST
I SVE NJENE DRŽAVLJANE

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

OATH OF A MEMBER OF THE CROATIAN NATIONAL GUARD

I SOLEMNLY SWEAR
THAT I WILL FAITHFULLY AND HONOURABLY CARRY OUT THE DUTIES
REQUIRED OF ME,
AS A MEMBER OF THE CROATIAN NATIONAL GUARD,
AND THAT I WILL CONSCIENTIOUSLY AND RESPONSIBLY
OBEY ALL OFFICIAL ORDERS AND COMMANDS.
I SWEAR
THAT, EVEN AT THE SACRIFICE OF MY OWN LIFE,
I WILL PROTECT AND DEFEND MY HOMELAND CROATIA,
ITS SOVEREIGNTY,
TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
AND ALL ITS CITIZENS

(Literal translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader.)

Read from a 500 px photograph; typewritten capitals, line breaks kept.