In the distant Krasnoyarsk Territory, rich in minerals and industrial enterprises, it is full for a universal visit to closed territories. You just won’t be there. One of these ZATOs (Closed Administrative Territorial Unit) is a city with a very unusual coat of arms.
Krasnoyarsk-26
Not so long ago, the village that arose on the site of uranium mines was just called that. The field is strategically important! Local plutonium is suitable not only for nuclear power station reactors, but also passes as a weapon. Officially, mines are not even called mines - this is the Mining and Chemical Combine , most of which is underground and is almost the largest in the world among similar industrial facilities.
Another reason to close the village was the plant for the production of space satellites. Up to two-thirds of Russia's civilian satellites are produced here.
In addition to them, a large chemical plant operates in the city, as well as the management of the Special Construction of Russia.
What is the name of this city
And although from the moment of its official foundation in 1954 the city (and it was built mainly by the forces of the Gulag prisoners) was called Zheleznogorsk, it returned to its uncoded name, coming out of the "shadow", only in 1994.
Despite its closed status, Zheleznogorsk is a rather large settlement (up to 100 thousand inhabitants) and therefore has always sought and strives to live a normal life. After all, this is not only a city. ZATO includes the villages of Dodonovo, Tarnat, Podgorny, Novy Put, as well as the village of Shivera. Finding a coat of arms for Zheleznogorsk is part of this process.
By the way, Zheleznogorsk has other official and not very names:
- Mailbox No. 9 (PO Box 9);
- Nine;
- Krasnoyarsk-26;
- Sotsgorod;
- Atomgrad.
"Limited landscape change"
In 2010, thanks to the team of authors from different places of Russia (Valery Grigoryev, Viktor Zhuravkov, Vladimir Dyukov, Konstantin Mochenov, Valery Grigoryev, Olga Salova, Kirill Pereytenko), the city finally found its modern coat of arms.
The idea of the coat of arms, which was born in 2002, belongs to the Zheleznogorsk mountaineer Valery Grigoryev. But the image of the central figure was then more schematic and did not really meet the rules of heraldry.
Today, the coat of arms of Zheleznogorsk is a red French shield with the figure of a golden bear tearing apart an atomic nucleus. The bear itself is located in the nuclear grid (the contour of the orbits of electrons rotating around the nucleus).
The coat of arms of Zheleznogorsk symbolizes not only the industrial specifics of the city, but also the external one. After all, the city was built on the principle of "limited landscape changes." From the side, it seems to be separate islands in the taiga. And hardly architects thought when designing about environmental friendliness. This was done, rather, for reasons of camouflage from space and air reconnaissance of a potential enemy.
Therefore, the coat of arms of Zheleznogorsk combines atomic force and natural force, which is represented on the coat of arms by a bear. In addition, the bear represents Siberia.
The color basis for the coat of arms is as follows:
- red - courage, strength, courage, suffering of the Gulag prisoners;
- white - confidence, the search for truth, science and modern technology;
- golden - success, prosperity, wealth.
Zheleznogorsk flag
The modern flag of the city is already created on the basis of the coat of arms. The coat of arms of Zheleznogorsk is placed on a completely red cloth.
Previously, it was on a red flag with a wide blue stripe at the pole, symbolizing the Yenisei River, on the right bank of which Zheleznogorsk stands.
The new flag and coat of arms were approved on November 30, 2012 at a session of the Council of Deputies of the city. And from now on, they are used by the Zheleznogorsk administration as an official sign of the city. And on December 26, 2012, these heraldic symbols were entered in the heraldic register of the Russian Federation.