Kolomna is a city known in the Moscow Region since 1177, located one hundred kilometers southeast from Moscow along the road to Ryazan and located on the banks of the Oka River. What do we know about him? This city is not often heard, so we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the history, coat of arms and the origin of the name of this picturesque city.
origin of name
There are many versions of where the name Kolomna came from: from the Slavic word “coloma” - a wheel, to the Baltic word kalmyne, meaning “thickets of calamus”. Most suitable version of the emergence of Kolomna from the Ryazan concepts "Kolomen", "Kolomen", which mean the border, respectively, Kolomna is a border city.
History of the city
Kolomna in the early Middle Ages was owned by the Ryazan princes, and only in the XIV century the city became citizens of Moscow. Kolomna reached its heyday at the turn of the XIV and XV centuries and became the second most important and rich city in the Moscow Principality. The Stone Kremlin appeared in Kolomna in the first quarter of the 16th century. The city was also captured by the troops of False Dmitry during the Time of Troubles, and after some time the importance of Kolomna as a border fortress decreased - it turned into a province. In 1863, engineering and steam locomotive plants were built in Kolomna. A year later, a bridge was built across the Oka River, which made Kolomna a transit city along the road to Ryazan and further south.
Coat of arms of Kolomna. Heraldic description
As we see in the photo, the coat of arms of Kolomna is very concise: in the azure field on a green hill there is a silver column with a capital of gold. It is crowned with a golden royal ancient crown and is accompanied on the sides by two golden stars with six rays, two teeth of which are directed upwards.
Symbolism
The Kolomna coat of arms became known by the Znamenny coat of arms from 1730 and was first approved as the coat of arms of the city on December 20, 1781. The coat of arms of Kolomna, now in use, was based on the historical city coat of arms, which was approved on December 20, 1781.
There is a legend that the city was founded by a noble man from Italy - Karl Colonna, who gave the city a coat of arms and its name. But most likely, the coat of arms of Kolomna is half-vowel, that is, one in which the name of the emblem is consonant with the name of the city: Kolomna is a column.
In full accordance with the traditions of heraldry of Russia, the figures and colors of the flag and coat of arms have the following meanings: azure (bluish color) serves as a symbol of greatness, softness, beauty, is represented by a mixture of ultramarine and cobalt colors. Greenery in the coat of arms of the city of Kolomna (greenish color) is a symbol of abundance, joy, hope, is depicted by a mixture of colors of plant green and chrome. Gold is a symbol of generosity, justice, wealth. Silver is a symbol of innocence and purity. The column (or pillar) is an honorary heraldic figure, a symbol of reliable support, strength, greatness. The crown is a symbol of secular power. There are also stars in the coat of arms of Kolomna - a symbol of divine ideas, the struggle of light with darkness, guidance, eternity, infinity, light, deity.
Soviet coat of arms of the city in 1980
Of particular interest is the coat of arms of Kolomna in the Soviet period. It was a vertically located rectangle, in which the lower corners are slightly rounded and form a shield configuration with a small nose.
In the upper part of the shield there are seven teeth resembling the teeth of the walls of the Kolomna Kremlin. On the coat of arms of Kolomna there are two stripes that go from the upper corners to the center and divide in half the main field of the shield, as well as one vertical strip that goes down from the center down. An old Russian combat helmet, surrounded by a gear with twenty-four teeth, is located in the center.
In the upper right corner of the Kolomna coat of arms there is a pointed turret with a five-pointed star - a symbol of the Moscow Kremlin. The number 1177 is under the gear and indicates the date of the first mention of the city. The battlements of the Kremlin walls in Kolomna and a helmet with a barma symbolize the city as modern, rich in architectural and historical monuments, and as a fortress of the ancient Russian state. Gear characterizes an industrial city where the main industry is engineering. The Kremlin tower in Moscow, on the one hand, means the location of Kolomna to the south-east of the capital, on the other - the connection of Moscow with Kolomna for many years. In the color scheme, the coat of arms of Kolomna is red. The tower of the Moscow Kremlin, helmet, number, gear, the image of the teeth of the Kremlin walls and the frame of the coat of arms - golden yellow.