The coat of arms is the face of any city. It is compiled with deep intent, should reflect not only the history, but also the purpose of the village, its features. Therefore, many people would be interested to learn more about the coat of arms of Yelets: what it looks like, what it symbolizes.
What is depicted on the coat of arms?
Its shape is characteristic of many emblems of Russian cities - a five-pointed French shield. On a silver background is a plot of green land on which grows the same green spruce. A deer with red wool, golden hooves and horns grazes near it.
That's all. The coat of arms of Yelets may seem very ordinary to an uninitiated person, without small details and beautiful monograms. But actually it is not so at all. We will deal with the question in more detail.
Parsing Heraldry
To understand what the coat of arms of Yelets means, a description of it alone is not enough - in heraldry every color and symbol is of great importance. We will describe them in more detail.
Let's start with the silver background. It symbolizes peace, purity, mutual cooperation. The latter value is especially important. During the construction of the city (back in 1146) people came here from different Russian cities who spoke different dialects. But they all worked together to build a reliable fortress out of the blue, which would protect the borders of Russian land. They coped with this task perfectly.
Green is considered to be a symbol of spring and nature. Indeed, Yelets was built from scratch - in a beautiful natural corner. Therefore, the presence of green is quite justified.
Finally, the red color is courage, strength, the desire for life. At one time, Yelets was on the very border of Russia with the lands where dangerous and treacherous neighbors lived - the Polovtsy and other steppes. The former often raided defenseless villages and captured slaves. More than once the army from Yelets had to pursue the enemy, to beat off captured women and children from him.
The deer also hit the coat of arms for a reason. According to Byzantine heraldry, it symbolizes the victory of Christianity over paganism. The city, built in 1146, for a long time remained a stronghold of Orthodoxy among the many small villages surrounding it, whose inhabitants preferred the faith of their ancestors, an obscure religion about a savior from Israel.
Spruce is an evergreen tree. Therefore, it symbolizes rebirth, a special craving for life.
How did the coat of arms change over time?
Most of the large and old cities in Russia experienced a lot of renaming. Flags and coats of arms, street names and much more changed. However, Yelets has passed such a fate. Since it was founded, its name has never changed.
The coat of arms is also affected, although not to the full extent. Therefore, it will be useful to learn more about this.
The coat of arms of Yelets was first developed in 1781, during the reign of Catherine the Great. It was then that he acquired the familiar form, color scheme and symbolism.
It was changed only after almost two centuries - in 1967. But all the changes turned out to be exclusively cosmetic - the image was only a little stylized. The deer became larger, and its color also changed - from red to orange. The horns grew a little, became more branched, and the spruce was not so carefully worked out. All other elements and colors have not been changed or deleted. No new characters appeared.
The current coat of arms of Yelets was adopted on September 28, 2004. He also did not change the appearance of his predecessor too much. But the spruce has become more carefully drawn - each branch is highlighted separately from the others. The deer turned red again and acquired the golden horns and hooves already familiar to the reader.
Conclusion
This can end the article. Now you know what the coat of arms of Yelets looks like. Description and meaning give quite comprehensive information about him. You also learned a little history of both the symbol and the city to which it belongs.