The strangest coats of arms of Russian cities: from a Negroid tiger to opium and sacrifices. Animals in the coats of arms of Russian cities

Every city in Russia and even small towns and villages has its own distinctive sign - the coat of arms, which is a kind of painted "passport" of the territory. The word "row" itself has Polish roots, and in translation means "heritage". Indeed, coats of arms are passed down from generation to generation and do not change them unnecessarily.
The coat of arms eloquently tells the history of the city, reveals its past. However, some coats of arms cause bewilderment: why exactly THIS is depicted on it? We present to your attention the most unusual and interesting, in our opinion, the coats of arms of Russian cities.

Chelyabinsk

Chelyabinsk is the cast-iron capital of our country. It would seem, what does the camel have to do with it? But it is this two-humped handsome man that is depicted on the coat of arms of the city, and this has its own justification. Many centuries ago, the route of "ships of the desert" passed through Chelyabinsk, along which goods from Asia were delivered to the capital and cities of the European part of our country.

Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk region

Everyone is familiar with Malevich's Black Square. But not everyone saw the Black Triangle depicted on the coat of arms of Magnitogorsk. The description of the coat of arms is very laconic: "There is a black pyramid in a silver field." The image can be interpreted in different ways: this is the tent in which the first builders of the city lived, and Magnitnaya Mountain, and a reminder that Magnitogorsk is the center of ferrous metallurgy.

Serpukhov, Moscow region

But at Serpukhov, everything is much happier and more cheerful: on the coat of arms of the city's coat of arms, a handsome peacock has spread its tail. In the 18th century, Empress Catherine ordered “all cities to have a coat of arms”, and a small questionnaire was sent to each of them, where it was necessary to indicate the exclusive and unique feature of the settlement. The answer came from Serpukhov: "in the monastery alone, peacocks will be born ...". As it turned out later, a pair of these outlandish birds was presented to the Vysotsky Monastery as an offering, from which the entire Serpukhov peacock family descended. However, this insignificant note was the reason for the appearance of the tailed bird on the main symbol of the city.

Shuya, Ivanovo region

The first acquaintance with the coat of arms of Shuya can be confusing. What is it: a brick in honor of the builders or a parallelepiped with geometry and correct forms? Everything is much simpler - it is a bar of ordinary soap, "meaning the glorious soap factories of the city." But the current description of the coat of arms is much more prosaic: the piece of soap turned out to be just a “golden bar with three sides”.

Irkutsk

Many coats of arms have animals, and they are all easily recognizable. But what kind of animal on the coat of arms of Irkutsk is difficult to figure out: an African American tiger with membranes on its paws and a beaver tail, firmly holding a dead sable in its teeth? Initially, a tiger was indeed depicted on the coat of arms, but it was rarely found in those places, and the very name "tiger" did not take root among the Siberians, and the strong tabby cat was called "babr". Over time, officials, who did not shine with knowledge in the field of exoticism, confused a beaver with a beaver and painted on the Irkutsk tiger the hind legs and tail like a beaver, and repainted the striped skin black.

Snezhnogorsk, Murmansk region

Perhaps the most "cute" one is the coat of arms of Snezhnogorsk. It depicts a somewhat cartoonish seal as a symbol of the local shipyard of the same name. On the other hand, this coat of arms is a real classic in heraldry: snowflakes speak directly about the name of the city, thus making the coat of arms "half-vowel".

Epifan village, Tula region

Epifani's coat of arms by modern standards can be compared to prohibited propaganda: it depicts hemp. Based on the ancient description, on the coat of arms "you can see a field from which three hemp epics grow, like a shield." Naturally, our ancestors did not suspect about the intoxicating properties of these "epics", and hemp was cultivated exclusively for the manufacture of ropes and oil.

Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory

A bear tearing apart an atom ... Sounds strong and even threatening. However, such a bear is painted on the coat of arms of Zheleznogorsk. According to the description, it is a symbol of the unity of the forces of nature and human thought.

For the creators of coats of arms, the name of the city often serves as a "clue". It is not difficult to guess what the coats of arms of the two cities of the Penza region, Verkhniy Lomov and Nizhniy Lomov, look like.

Now try to imagine what you would paint on the coat of arms of the city of Dukhovshchina, which is located in the Smolensk region? Naturally, “there is a rose bush with a pleasant spirit in an open field”!

The coat of arms is business card any city, its face and, to put it modern language, barcode. Some of them are real works of art, while others sometimes look funny and unusual, but this in no way diminishes their importance for residents.

He walked here, walked, and found it.

After some of the old people who died, this set of badges was thrown away. Entirely, in the cover. The cardboard cover, of course, was somewhat damaged, even the trace of someone's boot is visible.
But the badges themselves are intact, even the hairpins are not bent.

If someone does not know (or have forgotten), the "Golden Ring" is a tourist route developed in Soviet times through cities with traditional Russian architecture, mainly of the 15-18 centuries (although in some places there are more ancient buildings and younger - if they are architecturally interesting). The architecture is represented by churches, monasteries, less often - boyar or merchant chambers, ancient fortifications (kremlins) in varying degrees of preservation. This route was called "the ring" because the cities proposed for visiting were located approximately in a ring-like manner around Moscow, in the modern Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Tver, Kostroma and Yaroslavl regions. Classically, eight cities are referred to the "Golden Ring": Sergiev Posad (from 1930 to 991 - Zagorsk), Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov the Great, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Suzdal, Vladimir. Moscow was usually not included in the list of cities of the "Golden Ring", being, as it were, the center of this ring.

The term itself appeared thanks to art critic and literary critic Yuri Alexandrovich Bychkov, who in 1967 published in the newspaper " Soviet culture"a series of articles under the general heading" The Golden Ring of Russia ".

However, it quickly became clear that it was difficult to be limited only to the named eight cities, since the ancient cities with interesting story and much more architecture. This is how the "expanded" list of cities of the "Golden Ring" appeared, which is often discussed. The expanded list includes the following cities and towns in Central Russia: Abramtsevo, Aleksandrov, Bogolyubovo, Gorokhovets, Gus-Khrustalny, Dmitrov, Kalyazin, Kashin, Kideksha, Kineshma, Krasnoe-on-Volga, Murom, Myshkin, Nerekhta, Palekh, Ples, Pokrov , Rybinsk, Tutaev, Uglich, Shuya, Yuryev-Polsky, Yuryevets. This list varies in different sources, it includes now more, now a smaller number of cities, and sometimes they are arranged according to the degree of significance or interest from the point of view of history and tourism.

Even later, the concept of the "Big Golden Ring" appeared, which included more than a hundred different cities and towns in Central Russia. Of course, it was impossible to fit all the cities of the "Big Golden Ring" into one route; accordingly, a whole network of routes was developed, differing in terms of travel time and its saturation. The trips were usually by bus, of varying duration - from three to four to ten days.

With the collapse of the USSR, active tourist activity on the routes of the "Golden Ring" almost ended, architectural monuments somewhere fell into decay and even destroyed without maintenance, and somewhere they were "restored" quickly and at a lower cost. However, travel agencies now offer tours to the cities of the "Golden Ring" - both according to the classic list of eight main cities, and in individual regions.

And now it's time to go directly to the found set of icons.

This is how the full icon cover looks like:

1. Moscow. The image of the coat of arms of Moscow is curious. This is not a depiction of the Moscow coat of arms of the Soviet era, but also not a depiction of pre-revolutionary versions of the coat of arms. Rather, it is a kind of free fantasy on the theme of the "penny" of ancient Russian coins or seals. Let me remind you that the city of Moscow was usually not included in the classic list of cities of the "Golden Ring", being the "center" of this ring and the beginning of tourist routes:

2. Zagorsk (before 1930 and after 1991 - Sergiev Posad). City from the main list of the "Golden Ring". The coat of arms is depicted quite accurately, with a red field in the corner of the shield; the coat of arms of Moscow should have been located in it, as a sign of belonging to the Moscow province. However, on a small badge it is indistinguishable from the coat of arms of Moscow:

3. Kineshma. A city usually included only in the "Big Golden Ring" list. Nowadays it belongs to the Ivanovo region, but before the revolution it belonged to the Kostroma province, which was reflected in the coat of arms granted to the city in 1779: in the upper part of the shield there is a golden ship in a blue field (the coat of arms of Kostroma), and in the lower part there are two bundles canvases, as a symbol of the linen manufactory that existed in the city:

4. Vyazniki. He was also usually included in the "Big Golden Ring". Now part of Vladimir region, before the revolution - a part of the Vladimir province. In the upper part of the coat of arms there is a golden lion in a red field, in the lower part there is a tree (elm) on a yellow field:

5. Moore. Was included in the "extended" list of the "Golden Ring". The city of the Vladimir region (province). In the coat of arms in the upper part there is again the Vladimir lion in a red field, in the lower part of the shield there are three rolls in the azure field, "for which this city is excellently famous":

6. Plyos. Was included in the "extended" list of the "Golden Ring". Nowadays the city of Ivanovo region, before the revolution - Kostroma province. In the upper part of the shield there is a Kostroma gold ship in a blue field, in the lower part, in a silver (light gray) field, a river with a stretch that gave the name to the city:

7. Rybinsk. Was included in the "extended" list of the "Golden Ring". Town Yaroslavl region(province). In the upper part of the shield there is a golden bear with an ax in a red field (the coat of arms of Yaroslavl), in the lower part - on a red field, a river with a pier and two sterlets in the river. Something is poorly guessed on the dock icon:

8. Kostroma. City from the main list of the "Golden Ring". The city is the center of the Kostroma region, before the revolution - the Kostroma province. The coat of arms of Kostroma was granted by Catherine II in 1767. On the coat of arms in an azure field, a golden galley floating on blue waves with silver crests - for the empress arrived in Kostroma on the Tver gallery:

9. Shuya. The city now belongs to the Ivanovo region, previously belonged to the Vladimir province. Included in the "extended" list of cities in the "Golden Ring". The coat of arms is a shield divided in two, in the upper part on a red field there is a golden lion with a crown holding a cross in its paws (Vladimir's coat of arms), in the lower part there is a bar of soap in a red field, in memory of the fact that soap making was the most ancient craft of the city:

10. Yaroslavl. City from the main list of the "Golden Ring". The coat of arms of the city is depicted not entirely correctly. There should be a black bear on a silver (gray) field, holding a golden ax (or partisan) in its left paw. However, the bear is also depicted in gold:

11. Gorokhovets. The city of the Vladimir region (province). Included in the "extended" list of the "Golden Ring". The coat of arms is a shield divided in two, in the upper part on a red field there is a golden lion with a crown holding a cross in its paws (Vladimir's coat of arms), in the lower part there are pea sprouts on poles in a golden field:

12. Carpets. The city was usually included in the "Big Golden Ring", the Vladimir region (and the province). The coat of arms in the upper part contains the coat of arms of Vladimir, in the lower part there are two silver hares with red eyes and tongues in a green field. It is believed that the governor of Catherine II, Count Vorontsov, highly appreciated the hare hunting in those parts:

13. Pereslavl-Zalessky. Included in the main list of the "Golden Ring". The city of the Yaroslavl region, previously - the Vladimir province. The coat of arms in the upper part of the shield contains the coat of arms of the provincial city of Vladimir, in the lower - two golden herring in a black field, as a sign that smoking herring was one of the notable urban trades:

14. Vladimir. The city is included in the main list of the "Golden Ring". One of the most interesting and rich in monuments cities of the Ring. On the coat of arms of Vladimir there is a golden lion in a red field, in a crown and with a cross in its paws. The lion was the patrimonial sign of the Vladimir-Suzdal princes:

15. Alexandrov. The city of the Vladimir region, previously a province. Included in the "extended" list of the "Golden Ring". The coat of arms consists of the coat of arms of the city of Vladimir in the upper part of the shield, and in the lower part, in a red field, a locksmith's vice and two anvils, "as a sign that very fair locksmith work is being carried out in this city":

16. Uglich. The city of the Yaroslavl Region (formerly a province) is included in the "extended" list of the "Golden Ring". The emblem of the city of Uglich reflects the tragedy played out here: under unclear circumstances, the young Tsarevich Dmitry, the son of Ivan the Terrible, died (was stabbed to death). In the murder of the prince, the Uglichs found two clerks guilty, and killed them. The coat of arms contains in a red field the image of the faithful Tsarevich Dmitry with a knife (murder weapon) in his right hand:

17. Tutaev. Was included in the "extended" list of the "Golden Ring". Until 1918, it was called Romanov-Borisoglebsk and was formed by the merger in 1822 of two independent cities - Romanov and Borisoglebsk, located on both banks of the Volga. The coat of arms of the united city was also obtained by combining their original coats of arms: "In a golden shield, beveled on the right, at the top, there is an azure wavy band, accompanied by narrow black bands on the sides; below, a wreath of thirteen red roses with green stems and leaves, tied with an azure ribbon and having inside a silver field of a black bear holding a golden ax on its shoulder with its left paw. " But the badge shows the coat of arms of only one city of Romanov:

18. Yuryev-Polsky. The city of the Vladimir region and the province. Was included in the "extended" list of the "Golden Ring". Its modern name is somewhat disorienting, since the city has nothing to do with Poland, but it has to do with the "field" - the second part of the name was added in order to distinguish it from other cities with the name Yuryev. Its coat of arms in the upper part contains the coat of arms of Vladimir, in the lower part there are two boxes filled with cherries "with which this city abounds." However, the boxes on the badge are empty:

19. Galich. The city of the Kostroma region and the province is included in the list of the "Big Golden Ring". The coat of arms of Galich consists of unequal parts of the shield. In the upper, most part, on a red field, there are trophies of war - armor, ten banners, an ax and the Cross of John the Baptist crowning them. In the lower, smaller part, on a silver field, there are two drums tilted apart, two timpani and a pair of drumsticks:

20. Suzdal. The city of the Vladimir region and the province is included in the main list of the "Golden Ring". Along with Vladimir, one of the most interesting cities in the Ring. The coat of arms of Suzdal is a shield, divided into two fields, above it is azure, below it is red, against their background a falcon in a prince's crown:

21. Rostov the Great. The city of the Yaroslavl region and the province is included in the main list of the "Golden Ring". The third of the most interesting cities in the Ring. On the coat of arms of Rostov there is a silver deer in a red field, horns, mane and hooves are golden:

And in the end - the general impression of the set.

The idea seems to be not bad, but the execution of it ...
The cover is made of low-quality cardboard, like the one from which shoe boxes were made; printing can only be called such a stretch.
The composition of the emblem icons in the set also causes some bewilderment. The coat of arms of the city of Ivanovo, the eighth city from the main list of the "Golden Ring", is absent, the coats of arms of the cities of the "extended" list and the list of the "Big Golden Ring" are included haphazardly.
The badges themselves are small, about 2 cm in diameter, because of this, the images of the coats of arms are very conventional and simplified, some coats of arms are shown with errors.
The very execution of the badges is rather crude, which is partly due to the material - aluminum, but often simplifications cannot be explained only by this. The enamels and varnish covering the badges have different shades, which makes it difficult to perceive the set as a whole.
Mostly used are images of coats of arms adopted at the end of the 18th century, during the reign of Catherine II, since in Soviet times urban heraldry how the system was absent.

I will make the assumption that the kits were generally completed according to the principle "what is available - we collect from that". Perhaps, in different sets, the specific composition of the icons was also slightly different. They were apparently sold at the points of the Golden Ring tourist route as souvenirs.

Which of our settlements was "sent to the soap", and which "got a pumpkin"?

With the approval of the leadership of the Chelyabinsk region, a competition was organized there for best idea to commemorate the day a meteorite exploded over the region. Among the most "creative" proposals of citizens is a change in the coat of arms of the region, on which a meteorite is proposed to be placed next to the camel.

Coat of arms of Chelyabinsk.

"MK" studied the strangest coats of arms of Russian regions and cities. What we just did not find there: from a Negroid tiger to a sacrifice, opium poppy and cellulose fragments.

Let's start with the residents of Chelyabinsk. Now the main element of the coat of arms of this region and its capital is the camel. The image of the "ship of the desert" fell on the heraldic shield during the time of Empress Catherine the Great. In the description of the coat of arms of Chelyabinsk, approved on July 6, 1782, it says: "In ... the lower part of the shield - a loaded camel, as a sign that this city has enough of these brought with goods." The authors had in mind that from olden times a caravan route passed through this Ural city along which goods from Mongolia and China were delivered to the European part of the country. So with historical point From the point of view, the existence of the Chelyabinsk "coat of arms" camel is quite logical and justified.

What can not be said about the "hero of animal origin", who settled on the coat of arms of the city of Serpukhov. The peacock has been the heraldic symbol of this regional center near Moscow for over 200 years! (I just want to push the slogan to the people: "Moscow region is the homeland of peacocks!")

Coat of arms of Serpukhov

But how did the exotic bird of paradise "build a nest" in our northern regions, on the banks of the Oka? It turns out that when, at the end of the 18th century, by order of the already mentioned Empress Catherine, a campaign began in the country for the mass appropriation of coats of arms to cities, the then chief herald of the empire, Count Francisco Santi sent out questionnaires to all corners of the country, wanting to find out what kind of "exclusive ", - in order to display it on the coat of arms. In the reply received from Serpukhov, Santi's attention was attracted by the phrase: "in the monastery alone, peacocks will be born ..." began the Serpukhov peacock family.) Such an insignificant remark in the questionnaire became the reason for the "accession" of the peacock on the coat of arms of Serpukhov.

However, the peacock is at least “sounds proudly”. Some other settlements got birds much less "top". For example, the city of Elabuga in Tatarstan, now famous for its automobile production, was awarded the coat of arms 232 years ago, on which "... in the lower part of the shield in a silver field, a woodpecker sitting on a tree stump, gouging it, for there are many of this kind of birds."

But Irkutsk got an animal on its coat of arms, which in reality does not exist at all. This unique specimen is a "Negroid" tiger, equipped with webbed feet and a flat "fleshy" tail, like a beaver.

Coat of arms of Irkutsk

Where did such a mutant come from? - We read the description of the coat of arms, approved in the fall of 1790: "In the silver field of the shield is a running tiger, and in his mouth is a sable." Well, there is nothing supernatural here, because in those ancient times in the east of the huge Siberian province, tigers were not rare. However, the very name of the animal did not take root among the Siberians, and instead of it the local residents called the mighty tabby cat babr. Further development It is easy to imagine events: officials, far from Siberian exoticism, easily confused the local babr with the widespread "water beast" - the beaver. So it turned out later, according to official documents, that the inhabitants of Irkutsk have a running beaver (!) On their coat of arms, holding a sable in their mouths. To somehow fit this absurd description of the "picture", the tiger from the Irkutsk coat of arms and painted on "beaver" hind legs and tail, removed the striped color of the skin, replacing it with a solid black.

I found among other Russian coats of arms, equipped with images of animals, one very "sadistic". On the coat of arms of the Kargopol District of the Arkhangelsk Region, according to the description approved in June 2004, “in an azure field, a silver ram with golden horns lying on golden smut; everything is engulfed in a scarlet (red) flame. " That is, in fact, the process of roasting a ram is depicted - uncut, right in all its naturalness. The explanation for the appearance of such a "horror" on the coat of arms is that in the Russian North the ritual of sacrificing a ram was widespread since pagan times. In some villages of the Kargopol district, there even existed before the revolution "Sheep Sunday", during which the peasants slaughtered the ram and sacrificed it to the Prophet Elijah.

Among the hundreds of Russian city coats of arms, there are some, the image on which, to this day, can be interpreted as prohibited propaganda.

On the coat of arms of the village (formerly a city) Epifan in the Tula region, you can see the drug - hemp.

Coat of arms of the village of Epifan

According to the ancient description of the coat of arms, it is "a shield, a field of silver with black ground below, from which three hemp epics grow, showing that the surroundings of this city, among other works, abound in hemp." It is clear that our great-grandfathers, drawing hemp on Epifani's coat of arms, oh narcotic properties this "weed" was not even thought of. In those days, this plant was actively cultivated for the sake of obtaining hemp from it for weaving strong ropes and useful hemp oil.

All the same "criminal" hemp is depicted on the emblem of some other territories where in the past the cultivation of hemp for household needs flourished - the Kimovsky district of the Tula region and the city of Novozybkov in the Bryansk region (in this latter case, the hemp stalks are depicted rolled into a green sheaf, 1980s, when hemp was already included in the "black lists", instead of a sheaf they began to draw a more "harmless" heraldic element - a cannon).

Another narcotic "object" has also crept into heraldry. Here is the description of the coat of arms of the city of Derbent in the territory of present-day Dagestan, approved in March 1843: “... In the lower half of the shield, divided into two parts and having a silver field, on the right side is an old fortress wall with a gate ...; on the left side there are intertwined roots of the madder plant and several poppy stalks tied with a golden rope, as a sign that the inhabitants are very successful in cultivating madder and plant poppy seeds to make opium (shiryak) from it. "

Coat of arms of Derbent

Poppy-opiate is also depicted on the coat of arms of the city of Karachev (present-day Bryansk region), which was approved in 1781. “... In the lower part of the shield of the coat of arms - in a silver field, a bunch of blossoming poppy seeds tied with a golden rope, which in the vicinity of this city in the fields is quite they sow and trade in it. "

Some coats of arms are "equipped" with unexpected elements. For example, in the old (1781) description of the coat of arms of the city of Shuya ( Ivanovo region) it is written: "... In the lower part of the shield there is a bar of soap in a red field, meaning the glorious soap factories located in the city." True, in the modern version of the coat of arms, approved in 2004, this bar of soap has turned into a kind of abstract "golden bar with three visible edges - front, facing straight, top and left."

Shuya city coat of arms

By the will of the capital's herald masters, the city of Sengiley (present-day Ulyanovsk region) received a pumpkin each. In the literal sense of the word: "... In the lower part of the shield there are two large pumpkins with branches in a silver field, meaning the abundance of this kind of fruits."

The names of the old Russian settlements themselves sometimes became a "tip" to the creators of the coats of arms. For example, two cities in the current Penza region - Verkhniy and Nizhniy Lomov. There is no need to strain your imagination especially, - in both cases, in the city's coats of arms, in their lower part, "five iron crowbars, put by a star, with sharp ends up, signifying the name of this city" appear.

Well, the smartest readers, guess how to illustrate the name Dukhovshchina on the coat of arms? For those who did not cope with such a task, we quote a fragment from the description of the coat of arms approved in 1780 for this city on the territory of the present Smolensk region: "... In the lower part of the shield in a white field there is a rose bush that produces a pleasant spirit."

Of course, the creativity of the inventors of the coats of arms "during the construction of developed socialism in the country" has gone away from all this archaism. In the USSR, cities and towns received propaganda coats of arms - in the spirit of propaganda posters. They depicted power plants, factories, turbines, icebreakers, steel buckets, gears (well, a very popular heraldic element!), Pipes, ears, hammers ... paper mill, among other things, even “stylized fragments chemical formula cellulose ".

The culmination of city coats of arms in the Western European tradition dates back to the 15th century. In Russia, one can speak of city coats of arms as symbols of self-government only since the 18th century. According to well-known experts in the field of heraldry, in Russia in the pre-Mongol period there were emblems - the "progenitors" of city emblems.

The very term "city coat of arms" first appeared in the tsar's decree of 1692 in connection with the coat of arms of the city of Yaroslavl.

coat of arms of the city of Yaroslavl from the Great State Book - "Titular" of 1672:

The coat of arms depicted a bear with a protazan. It is believed that this image is associated with the ancient cult of the bear, characteristic of the Upper Volga region as early as the 9th-10th centuries. Perhaps the image corresponds to the legend of the founding of Yaroslavl at the place where Yaroslav the Wise killed a bear with an ax.

It has already been mentioned that the appearance of Russian city coats of arms refers to the specific period and their origin is associated with the marks of ownership and princely dignity of the owners of the lands. Illustrating this position typical scheme is this:

Sign of the prince's property ---- Sign of the land ---- Sign of the main city of this land ---- Signs of princely families from this land.

Coat of arms of the city of Vladimir.

This most ancient city coat of arms not only of Russia, but also of Europe arose in the XII century.

In the XII century, in the pre-Mongol period, the city of Vladimir became the first unifying center of appanage Russia - the capital of the Vladimir-Suzdal princes. The inevitability of the appearance of the capital's coat of arms is due to the rise of this city. Grand Dukes of Vladimir Andrei Bogolyubsky and Vsevolod Yurievich Big Nest needed a symbol more ambitious than the personal heraldic sign of the Rurikovichs of the previous (Kiev) period - a trident and a bident. The lion became the new symbol. According to a number of researchers, the lion was the emblem of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky.

A lion - personified power, courage, strength, mercy, generosity.

In Christian symbolism, the lion is the symbol of the Evangelist Luke and according to the biblical tradition - the tribe of Judah; a symbol of the royal power of the great princes given by God; a symbol of defeated evil; a symbol of claims to royal power and a symbol of evidence of royal power.

This symbolism coincided both with the policy pursued by the grand dukes of Vladimir, which had a clear ideological design, and with their self-esteem.

The ancient coat of arms of the city of Vladimir, a description of which is given in the "Titular" in 1672, represented a lion walking on its hind legs in profile, on its head - an ancient crown, in its front legs - a long 4-pointed cross. From the point of view of the rules of heraldry, the ancient Vladimir lion had an incorrect heraldic posture, since it did not “attack” the enemy, but “ran away” from him. This heraldic inaccuracy was eliminated in the 18th century.

The lion on the coat of arms of the city of Vladimir was not an isolated symbol. The cultural environment for him was the white-stone carving of the cathedrals of the 12th-13th centuries of Vladimir, Suzdal, Yuriev Polsky.

Currently, some of the specialists in the field of heraldry give the Vladimir coat of arms the status of the first state emblem in the history of the fatherland.

The coat of arms of the city of Vladimir from the Great State Book - "Titular" of 1672:

Coat of arms of the city of Moscow.

All versions of the history of the coat of arms of the city of Moscow testify to a long period of its formation.

Originally it was a picture of a white horse on a scarlet field. The horse will remain a permanent figure in the Moscow coat of arms.

Horse- a cult creature with many sacred functions, including: the courage of a lion, the vigilance of an eagle, the quickness of a deer, the agility of a fox. The horse is sensitive, devoted, noble.

It is known that the Moscow ideological tradition made this city the successor of Kiev through Vladimir. Then the lion of Vladimir would be logical as the emblem of Moscow. He could be the main figure or be present on the coat of arms in some way. Heraldry experts explain the absence of a lion for two reasons. Firstly, the Moscow princes under the conditions of the Mongol-Tatar yoke were more modest than the pre-Mongol ones Andrei Bogolyubsky and Vsevolod Yuryevich the Big Nest. Secondly, Vladimir, with the symbol of a lion, nevertheless ended up under the Tatars, with whom Moscow learned to wage a successful struggle from the end of the XIV century.

Then in the coat of arms of the city of Moscow appeared rider on horseback. The rider saddled, subjugated to his will not just an animal, but a cult creature - a horse. Hence the status of the rider is very high. After the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, the rider was personified with St. George on a horse, slaying a snake. Later - with a mounted warrior with a sword, then with a horseman with a spear (rider), then with a mounted warrior striking a winged serpent or dragon with a spear, as a symbol of independence from the Tatars. At the same time, "portrait" princely features began to appear gradually in the silhouette of the equestrian warrior. During the reign of Prince Vasily II the Dark (1425-1462), who had the title "Sovereign of All Russia", the rider turns into a prince. Under Ivan III (1462-1505), a rider in armor, in a developing cloak, pricks a serpent with a spear under the hooves of his horse. This is already the coat of arms of the sovereigns of Moscow, the sovereigns of all Russia. It is very close to the state one. Heraldry experts believe that the Moscow princes were looking for a symbol more state than dynastic. During the reign of Ivan III, after his marriage to Sophia Palaeologus in 1472, a second, in addition to the horseman, image of a crowned two-headed eagle appeared on the state bilateral seal in 1497. At the same time, Ivan III already had the title “By the grace of God, the sovereign of All Russia, Grand Duke... And the Grand Duke Vladimir, Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov, Tver, Ugorsky, Vyatsky, Perm, Bulgarian. " So the Moscow coat of arms came even closer to the state one. In the XVI-XVII centuries, there was a clear interpretation of the horseman as a grand duke, king or heir.

The city coat of arms is the same symbolic image, an identification and legal sign, drawn up according to certain rules and fixed by the supreme power, like the state coat of arms. But if the state coat of arms reflected the power of the state, its international image, then the city coat of arms pursued tasks much more modest. The city coat of arms most often reflected the peculiarity of the region, the concerns that the population lives with.

The coat of arms was used, primarily in seals and documents. Colored according to the rules of heraldry, it decorated the certificate of honor. If the city minted its own coin, it was depicted on the coin. The coat of arms was hung on the walls of the town hall, on city buildings.

The symbolic image is compiled on the basis of certain rules of heraldry. The coat of arms usually consists of the following elements: shield, helmet, basting, crown, crest, shield holders. Shield - home component coat of arms. They differ in shape into the following types: German (with a notch on the side), English, Spanish, Italian, Polish, oblique, Byzantine (round) and square. The images on the shield are made using heraldic enamels (flowers), metals and furs. Helmet - heraldic sign, placed above the shield. Basting - ornaments coming out of the helmet, crest - the upper part of the helmet, on which the figures were installed. Shield holders are figures of people, animals or fantastic animals.

The appearance of the coat of arms is very indicative for the city. Receiving the coat of arms, the city became an independent, self-governing administrative unit, began to enjoy the privileges presented by the supreme power. So, he was gaining strength. Its representatives enjoyed special respect.

History of the city coat of arms

Scientists have repeatedly tried to answer the question: when did the city coats of arms first appear in Russia. The above-mentioned A.B. Lakier looked for them in “ancient Russian life”. Not everyone agreed with him. For example, the famous heraldist V.K. Lukomsky at the beginning of our century, without a shadow of a doubt, declared that it was possible to speak of coats of arms, including city ones, in the Russian state no earlier than the 17th century.

The evolution of urban heraldry is primarily due to the patterns of development of a particular country. If we talk about Russia, the origins of urban symbolism here date back to the pre-Mongol period. So, the image of a lion is known as a personal sign of the Vladimir-Suzdal and Galician princes, which later becomes the main figure in the arms of Vladimir and Lvov. The Mongol-Tatar invasion slowed down the development of emblems and symbols in Russia, but did not destroy them at all. This is evidenced by the numerous emblems on Russian coins of the XIV-XV centuries, still poorly studied, the emblems of the princely seals, as well as images on the surviving city seals. The Mongol-Tatar yoke also affected the evolution of Russian cities of the XIV-XV centuries, the political system of which did not reach such maturity and completeness as in some countries Western Europe... Under these conditions, city coats of arms as symbols of city self-government and evidence of any special privileges could not get widespread. It should also be borne in mind that the need to get rid of the Golden Horde yoke led to the strengthening of the grand ducal power. Russian urban population in the XIV - XV centuries. not only did not receive a privileged legal position, as was the case in the countries of Western Europe, but even the rudiments of self-government of cities were eliminated. Consequently, the absence of city coats of arms in Russia at a time when this phenomenon begins to flourish in many Western countries is due to the peculiarities of its historical development.

Well, and officially for the first time the term "city coat of arms" appeared in the tsar's decree of 1692 regarding the seal of Yaroslavl, on which, in addition to the royal title, was depicted the inscription: "The seal of the city of Yaroslavl." In the center of this seal was a drawing of the city's coat of arms - a bear with a protazan on its shoulder. This bear became the basis of the coat of arms of Yaroslavl. And in the same year Yaroslavl felt the care of the tsar. It was transferred from the Kostroma quarter to the department of the Discharge Order - one of the largest central government institutions. Rostov and Pereslavl-Zalessky entered the department of the Yaroslavl governor. The order hut of Yaroslavl was renamed the Chamber. And all this led to the expansion of trade and production. In a word, to strengthen the city and improve the life of the population. And if we talk about the time of the appearance of the first city coat of arms, then it must be borne in mind that it could not arise with a wave of the wand or the hand of the emperor or empress. The coat of arms was born for a long time.