A coat of arms is a distinctive sign that depicts various objects and symbols that carry a certain meaning and characterize who this emblem belongs to (it can be a person, city, country, society or organization).
In the article we consider the coat of arms of Astrakhan: a photo and description, its history, which has more than five centuries.
Modern look
Currently, the coat of arms of Astrakhan looks like this:
- basis - heraldic French shield. It is a rectangle with rounded lower corners and a slight point in the middle of the lower part. The upper and lower fields are vertically correlated as 1: 1, and the width and height are correlated as 8: 9. Field shield blue (sometimes azure) color;
- symbolism - in the upper half of the shield in the center is a golden crown of a special kind, similar to the imperial one. On the circumference it is decorated with five leaf-shaped teeth lined with pearls and gems, crowned with a golden power. Under it, in the second half of the shield, also in the center, with a sharp edge to the left, is a silver sword with a golden hilt like a scimitar.
In this form, the coat of arms of Astrakhan was approved on June 24, 1993 at the 15th session of the Astrakhan City Council.
Symbolism
The crown depicted on the coat of arms means the annexation in 1556 of the Astrakhan Khanate to the Russian Empire.
The drawn sword is a symbol of the fact that Russian governors are strenuously guarding their native land and will not allow the enemy into the possession of the empire. The direction of the sword indicates which side the conquerors may come from.
The blue color of the shield field indicates the location of the Astrakhan region in the lower reaches of the Volga Mother.
History
The coat of arms of Astrakhan arose in the 16th century. Then he had two options:
- on a large imperial seal the image of a wolf in a crown, surrounded by the inscription "seal of the kingdom of Astrakhan" (does not appear anywhere else);
- on the city press the image of a saber under the crown. The saber tip is turned to the left.
In 1556, the saber was replaced by a sword.
In the 17th century, a saber again appears on the shield, but is already oriented to the right. This option was officially approved and entered into the state book "Titular" in 1672.
In 1717, the new coat of arms of Astrakhan was approved: the sword appeared again on the shield instead of a saber, the coat of arms itself was now edged around the perimeter by a lush vine intertwined with an award ribbon, and the top of the shield was crowned with the imperial crown.
The modern coat of arms retained the image of the 18th century as the basis, but it was laconic: they removed the lush vine and the imperial crown from above.