Cities are somewhat similar to people: they are born, grow, experience ups and downs. A person who has reached the age of majority is given a passport, and a city that has overcome the status of a settlement is given its own “identity card”, a coat of arms. To the uninitiated in the mysteries of heraldry, it will seem like nothing more than an amusing picture, an arbitrary set of characters, but in fact, each such “picture”, like a barcode, carries a lot of information.
From emblem to coat of arms
The first city coats of arms that appeared in Europe became a symbol of the struggle of "free citizens" against the overlords-feudal lords. Medieval Russian cities, with the exception of Novgorod and Pskov, did not even dream of independence, remaining princely estates. The princes were at enmity, the cities passed from hand to hand - not up to coats of arms! By the end of the 15th century, a centralized state was established, but there was still no city symbolism. On the initiative "from below" it could not arise: any manifestation of "independence" was punished mercilessly. Therefore, we owe the formation and development of Russian heraldry to the “tops”. The "Tsar's Titular", created in 1672 under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, for the first time included all the territorial emblems (not yet emblems!) of the Russian lands. However, over time, some images of the "Titular" became city emblems. For example, the Novgorod emblem - two bears supporting a golden chair with a candlestick, a scepter and a cross - received the "title" of the coat of arms of Novgorod in 1781.
"Peacocks, you say?"
The victorious procession of city coats of arms in Russia begins under Peter I. Herbalism becomes a matter of national importance, one of the elements of administrative reform. The tsar by order ordered all cities to acquire their own symbols, and those who do not have them, “to draw decent ones again in the King of Arms Office”, established in 1722. The hard work of developing standards for domestic heraldry was entrusted to a foreign specialist - Italian Count Francis Santi. He sent out a questionnaire "to the localities", where he asked the city authorities to provide information about the history, economy and geography of cities. The responses were different. For example, Serpukhov reported that their city is famous for ... peacocks, which are bred by the monks of the local monastery. "Peacocks, you say"? And now a strange overseas bird proudly spreads its magnificent tail on the city coat of arms.
"By the Grace of Her Imperial Majesty"
After the death of Peter I, the process of herbal creation froze for decades and revived only under Catherine II. The enlightened empress grants the cities a "letter of commendation", in which, for the first time in Russia, the principles of urban self-government are declared, in particular, the right of the city to have a coat of arms. But things did not go further than declarations: the real powers of the city authorities were utterly limited, and coats of arms did not become an honorary right. They appeared, mainly, "by the grace of her imperial majesty." For example, during a trip to Russia, Catherine liked the reception in Kostroma so much that the city was thanked with a coat of arms - an imperial galley floating along the river. She floats on the Kostroma coat of arms to this day ...
Symbolism of the "power vertical"
Under Catherine II, heraldic "know-how" appeared on the coats of arms of county towns: the designation of their belonging to the province. For example, on the coat of arms of the city of Kirzhach, the city symbol itself (owl) is depicted in the lower half, and the coat of arms of the provincial city of Vladimir (lion) is depicted in the upper half. Therefore, Kirzhach is a city of the Vladimir province. A purely Russian invention: European heraldry did not know such a simple and understandable graphical representation of the “vertical of power” in the emblematic symbols of cities (such a function was, in principle, alien to the city emblems of Europe). However, it is convenient: I looked at the coat of arms of the city, and immediately understood where it was located.
"Gloomy German Genius"
In the second half of the 19th century, the work of herbalism was concentrated in the heraldic department of the heraldry department, which was headed by the German baron Bernhard Köhne. Once again, the development of Russian coat of arms was in the hands of a foreigner! It was Koehne who became the author of the Great Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire and the family coat of arms of the Romanov dynasty. The “ideological load” in urban heraldry increased: crowns appeared on the coats of arms, Alexander ribbons - “talking” symbols of the power of Alexander II. By the way, the emperor personally approved each coat of arms. The coats of arms of industrial cities were framed with two gold hammers, trade - ears of corn, port - anchors. The coat of arms of the city of Novocherkassk, approved in 1878, stands out. The Baron had clearly lost his sense of proportion.
Between the hammer and the anvil
In the post-Soviet era, dozens of old emblems were restored, granted to the cities by the “most merciful” royal decrees. It is paradoxical, but true: a sign of royal goodwill towards loyal citizens suddenly turned into a symbol of sovereignty and self-government. “From Moscow to the very outskirts”, many large and small cities have acquired both the lost symbolism and its new meaning. There were also many modern coats of arms. Their dignity lies in the simplicity of perception, laconic display of the distinctive features inherent in this particular city. Here, for example, Reutov near Moscow - a silver dove sits on a golden bell. Once there was a small fortress and a watchtower with a bell - "reut". If the enemies were approaching the fortress, the guards beat the bell, raising the garrison on alarm, and sent a carrier pigeon to Moscow with news of the attack. Today, coats of arms can be seen at the entrance to any city, on official papers, badges, stamps, labels, none of the city holidays can do without them. Figuratively speaking, the Russian city emblem remains both “with a shield” and “on a shield”.
Dmitry Kazyonnov
9.4. City and regional emblems
The appearance of the emblems of some Russian city emblems is associated with the development of territorial emblems, the roots of which date back to ancient times - to totemic cults, signs of ownership of individual clans.
For example, on the coat of arms of Yaroslavl, a bear with a protazan was depicted. 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. It is possible that the well-known legend about the founding of Yaroslavl at the place where Yaroslav the Wise killed a bear with an ax was reflected here.
The coat of arms of Smolensk depicts a cannon with a bird of paradise sitting on it. On the coat of arms of Vladimir there is an image of a lion standing on its hind legs, with a long 4-pointed cross in its front legs. The Kyiv emblem depicting Archangel Michael with a raised sword and shield is interesting. It became the official city coat of arms, approved in 1782.
In the Big State Book of 1672 (“Titulary”) Alexei Mikhailovich already contains images of 33 emblems of cities, lands and principalities, the names of which were included in the full royal title. These emblems were depicted in the form of beautiful miniatures, without taking into account the armorial stylization, the orientation of the figures and the colors of the emblem. Each of the emblems fit into an oval decorated with vignettes in the Moscow baroque style X V 2nd century It should be emphasized that in Russia in the 70s. X V 2nd century there were already about 250 cities and fortresses, and only the emblems of 33 of them were reflected in the Titularnik.
The impetus for compiling city coats of arms according to the rules of theoretical heraldry was Peter's city and military reforms, the practice of deploying regular army regiments in cities and provinces of Russia, and the need to put the city coat of arms on the banner of the regiment. Since this was not always possible due to the lack of emblems of most cities, the King of Arms and personally F. Santi had to come to grips with urban heraldry.
First of all, Santi used 33 territorial emblems of the "Titulary", giving them a strict heraldic form, colors and metals, stabilizing the position of the figures and placing them on a French-shaped shield.
The next step in the work of the Geraldmaster's Office was the compilation of coats of arms for those cities that did not have their own emblems. For the coats of arms of these cities, it was necessary to collect new material. To facilitate the task, F. Santi compiled a questionnaire that included questions about the history of the city, about the features of its geographical location, the main occupations of the inhabitants, the main buildings and attractions. Questionnaires were sent to the cities in 1724. However, the answers received did not always provide the necessary material. The information sent to the King of Arms office was sometimes extremely brief and of little interest. For example, among the features of Volokolamsk, the authors pointed to the abundance of wormwood in the city and in the county. F. Santi and artists I.V. Chernavsky and P.A. Gusyatnikov made drawings of 137 city coats of arms.
Unfortunately, F. Santi's herbal work ceased in 1727 as a result of his arrest and exile to Siberia on suspicion of preparing a palace coup. Subsequently, the leadership for the preparation of city emblems was transferred to the chief director of the Military Collegium Minich. Under his supervision, the painter Baranov made 88 coats of arms. These were actually copies of the coats of arms, compiled by F. Santi.
A new impetus to accelerate the creation of city coats of arms was the regional reform of 1775, carried out by Catherine II. The country was divided into 50 provinces, which, in turn, were divided into counties. Provincial and district cities were to have their own coats of arms. The well-known historian X V 3rd century Prince M.M. Sherbatov, who in 1771 headed the King of Arms office. Until the end X V 3rd century more than 500 city coats of arms were developed and approved.
A strict system of images on coats of arms was established. The county coat of arms contained the emblem of the provincial city, which was placed in the upper (more honorable) part of the coat of arms.
King of Arms Office worked until the end of X V 3rd century and in 1800 it was transformed into Heraldry. In 1857, a special Stamp Department of the Department of Heraldry for the manufacture of coats of arms was established, which was abolished in 1917. The Stamp Department was headed by Baron Bernhard (Boris Vasilyevich) Köhne. Köhne developed decorations for all city coats of arms - crowns, ribbons, wreaths, showing the political and economic situation of the city. The coats of arms of provinces and capitals were crowned with the imperial crown: the coats of arms of ancient Russian cities, the capitals of the Grand Dukes were decorated with the Monomakh's cap; the coats of arms of cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants (Odessa, Riga, Saratov, etc.) were decorated with a gold tower crown with five teeth; a silver tower crown adorned the coats of arms of county towns, etc.
The decorations around the coat of arms, invented by Koene, were abolished in 1889 at the initiative of the new manager of the Heraldry Department - A.P. Barsukov.
For the first time, the complex of pre-revolutionary city coats of arms was published in the form of black and white line drawings in 1843 as an appendix to the first edition of the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. In 1880, the collection "Coat of arms of the provinces and regions of the Russian Empire" was published.
Interest in urban heraldry in the post-revolutionary period returned only in the 1960s. Gradually, the revival of urban heraldry began, the drawing up of coats of arms for new cities and the introduction of changes in the emblems of old coats of arms. In 1987, the Coordinating Commission for the creation and promotion of city coats of arms (later the Heraldic Commission) was organized under the Department of History of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The result of the activities of the Heraldic Commission was the publication in 1998 of the album of the reference book "Coats of arms of Russian cities" edited by N.A. Soboleva.
In the Russian Empire, all provincial cities and most districts had their own coats of arms. There were also coats of arms of provinces and regions. The coat of arms of a city or a separate region (province) received the right to exist if it was approved by the king. The drawing of the coat of arms was created by experienced draftsmen in the Heraldmaster's Office (Heroldy). It was founded by Peter I in 1722. From the middle of the XIX century. in the Department of Heraldry of the Senate, coats of arms were in charge of a special Stamp Department, which existed until 1917.
The term "city coat of arms" officially appeared in the royal decree of 1692. Peter I ordered the local administrative body (Prikaznaya hut) of the city of Yaroslavl to have a seal with the image of the Yaroslavl coat of arms and the inscription "Seal of the city of Yaroslavl." The tsar's decree was executed by depicting the emblem of the Yaroslavl principality on the seal: a bear standing on its hind legs holds a halberd placed on its shoulder with its right paw. The Yaroslavl emblem was "copied" from the "Titular" of 1672 - the first domestic armorial. The coat of arms also corresponded to the legend about the founding of Yaroslavl, on the site of which Prince Yaroslav the Wise once allegedly killed a bear with an axe.
"Titularnik" of 1672 contained drawings of the emblems of the lands, kingdoms and principalities that were part of the royal title (hence its name). Many of them gradually turned into city emblems, becoming the main figure of the coat of arms. From the “Titularnik” of 1672, images were borrowed for the coats of arms of Rostov the Great (deer), Ryazan (a standing man in a archer’s hat, then in a prince’s hat, with a saber or sword in one hand and a scabbard in the other), Vyatka (a hand emerging from a cloud with a bow loaded with an arrow), Perm (a walking bear carries the Gospel on its back), etc.
Some old Russian cities - Novgorod, Pskov, Nizhny Novgorod - were provided with emblems for coats of arms by an even earlier monument - the Great State Seal of Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible (XVI century). From the XVI-XVII centuries. the seals of the tsar's governors and the governor with the emblems of Astrakhan are known - a crown, under it a saber, Kazan - a dragon in a crown, Smolensk - a cannon, on the trunk of which the fantastic bird Gamayun sits.
The book "Symbols and emblems", containing several hundred emblem drawings, as well as their interpretation in several languages, including Russian, served as a source for the coats of arms of Simbirsk (column under the crown), Tambov (bee hive), Sevsk (rye sheaf ) and others. Banners with city symbols were sent to the regiments, and their drawings were collected in special collections - “banner armorials”. Two such armorials are known: one was made in 1712, the other - in 1729–1730. Many Russian cities borrowed their coats of arms from these military armorials: Kolomna (white column, crown at the top, stars on the sides of the column), Penza (three sheaves: wheat, barley, millet), Samara (wild white goat on green grass). For the first time, the King of Arms office was professionally engaged in drawing up the coats of arms of cities, where Count Francis Santi served as a comrade (assistant) of the King of Arms for drawing up coats of arms. He decided to draw up coats of arms for Russian cities based on their characteristics. To do this, a questionnaire was sent to many cities with questions about the city: its history, economy, fortifications, flora and fauna around the city. Based on the information received, Santi compiled a city emblem. For example, in a description sent from Tula, it was reported that a factory was built on the banks of the Upa River, where “fuzee and pistol barrels and bayonet tubes” are made. This information is reflected in the figure of the Tula coat of arms, which is a gun barrel, two sword blades are superimposed on it in the form of an St. Andrew's cross, two hammers below and above.
Under Catherine II, the government begins to grant coats of arms to cities. This is due to the major administrative reforms that began in 1775. As a result of these reforms, a new administrative division of Russia was created (several provinces were united into governorships), along with provincial governments, city governments also arose. Following the decree on the formation of the governorship, a decree appeared on the coats of arms, which were assigned to each city of the governorship. All the rights of the city to the coat of arms were secured by the “Charter for Rights and Benefits to the Cities of the Russian Empire” - Letter of Complaint, published on April 21, 1785. Among the city privileges granted to the Russian city by Catherine II was the right to have a coat of arms. During the years of reform, from 1775 to 1785, several hundred city coats of arms were drawn up and approved. This process continued until 1917.
The form of the city coat of arms has changed in comparison with the pre-reform one. The governor's coat of arms was now located in the upper part of the coat of arms, and the city - in the lower (previously, the coat of arms occupied the entire field of the shield). Headed the Stamp Department in the middle of the 19th century. Baron B.V. Köhne suggested placing the coat of arms of the province, according to the rules of heraldry, in the “free” part of the shield (empty, not bearing any figure) of the city coat of arms. Köhne introduced new attributes and decorations for city coats of arms: crowns crowning the coat of arms, frames made of oak leaves and sashes, corresponding to the status of the city.
The first Soviet city coat of arms was the coat of arms of Moscow (and the Moscow province). The Presidium of the Moscow Soviet approved it on September 22, 1924. The composition of the coat of arms is very complex, unmemorable, it included many emblems. Maybe that's why his life span was short. Currently, this coat of arms can be seen in the lattice framing the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge across the Moscow River.
Since the 60s. a new stage in the development of urban heraldry began. Emblems of new cities that appeared on the map of our country in Soviet times began to be created. City emblem-making continues even now. Many old Russian cities are reviving the old coats of arms.
For the first time provinces appeared in Russia at the beginning of the 18th century. December 18, 1708 Peter I signed a Decree on the division of the country into provinces: "The Great Sovereign indicated ... for the benefit of the whole people, create provinces and paint cities for them." Since that time, these higher units of administrative division and local government in Russia began to exist.
The immediate cause of the reform of 1708 was the need to change the system of financing and food and material support for the army (land regiments, garrisons of fortresses, artillery and fleet were "painted" by provinces and received money and provisions through special commissars). Initially, there were 8 provinces, then their number increased to 23.
In 1775 Catherine II government reform was carried out. In the preface" Institutions for the administration of the provinces of the All-Russian Empire"The following was noted:"... due to the great vastness of some provinces, they are insufficiently equipped, both with governments and with the people necessary to manage ...". The new division into provinces was based on a statistical principle - the population of the province was limited to 300 - 400 thousand revision souls (20 - 30 thousand per county). As a result, instead of 23 provinces, 50 were created. " institution"provided for the sectoral construction of local authorities, the creation on the ground of an extensive network of administrative-police, judicial and financial-economic institutions, which were subject to general supervision and management by the heads of local administrations. Almost all local institutions had a "general presence" - a collegiate body in which several officials (advisers and assessors) met.Among these institutions were: the provincial government, in which the governor-general (or "viceroy"), the governor (this position was retained, but sometimes he was called the "ruler of the viceroy") and two advisers; chamber (the main financial and economic body, headed by the vice-governor or, as he was sometimes called, "ruler's lieutenant"); criminal chamber; civil chamber; order of public charity (issues of education, health protection, etc. were resolved here), and some others.The provinces with the new administrative apparatus were called governorships, although along with the term "governorship" in the legislation and office work of that time, the term "province" was preserved.
Viceroys, in contrast to the former governors, had even broader powers and greater independence. They could be present in the Senate with the right to vote on a par with senators. Their rights were limited only by the empress and the Council at the imperial court. The governors and their apparatus were not at all subordinate to the collegiums. The dismissal and appointment of local officials depended on their will (except for the ranks of the vicegerent government and prosecutorial ranks). " institution"provided the governor-general not only with great power, but also with honor: he had an escort, adjutants and, in addition, a personal retinue consisting of young noblemen of the province (one from each county). Often the power of the governor-general extended to several governorships At the end of the 18th century, the positions of governors (governors-general) and the governorships themselves were abolished, and the leadership of the provinces was again concentrated in the hands of the governors.
The provisional government, which came to power in early March 1917, retained the entire system of provincial institutions, only the governors were replaced by provincial commissars. But in parallel, the system of Soviets had already arisen and existed. The October Revolution preserved the division into provinces, but liquidated the entire old provincial apparatus. Finally, the division into provinces disappeared in the 30s of the XX century.
We continue the story about the ancient emblems of Russian cities. In our next publication - the coats of arms of the cities of the Kaluga province.
An explanation of the symbolism of the coats of arms is given according to the book "The Complete Collection of the Laws of the Russian Empire". SPb. 1830
After the name of the city in brackets are the time of its foundation or the first mention in the annals and all the names of the city. The spelling is given according to the original source.
Coat of arms of the city of Borovsk. 13th century
During the time of the second impostor Demetrius, the city of Borovsk and the monastery found in this city were ... besieged; the defenders of onago were: governors prince Mikhailo Volkonsky, Yakov Zmiev and Afanasy Chelishchev with many others, and the last two, betraying the fatherland and the sovereign, surrendered the city and the monastery to this villain. Prince Volkonsky did not stop defending himself, even as he was pierced by many blows, in the very church of the Pafnuty monastery, near the left kliros, his stomach died. Recalling this, the coat of arms of this city consists: in a silver field, depicting innocence and sincerity, a scarlet heart, showing fidelity, in the middle of which is a cross ... and this heart is surrounded by a green laurel crown, showing the inviolability and firm stay worthy of glory to this leader and others who died for fair cause with him.
Coat of arms of the city of Kaluga. 1371
On a blue field there is a horizontally twisted silver translation, meaning the Oka River, which flows near this city, and in the upper part of the shield there is an imperial golden crown ...
Coat of arms of the city of Kozelsk. 1146
While Batu was in Russia, this city, being the lot of the juvenile prince Vasily Titych, was besieged by the Tatar troops, and although the prince's infancy should have weakened its inhabitants ... they decided to make a sortie and, together with their juvenile prince, die or be saved. This was done by them, but from the overwhelming number of Tatars they were all beaten, and with their prince, to whom they testified their loyalty by their very death. As a reminder of this adventure, they are entrusted with their coat of arms in a scarlet field, signifying bloodshed, five silver shields with black crosses placed on the cross, expressing the courage of their defenders and unfortunate fate, and four golden crosses showing their loyalty.
Coat of arms of the city of Likhvin. The year of foundation is unknown, since 1944 - Chekalin.
It was a Tatar custom to give evil names to those cities that strongly defended themselves against them and caused them great harm, from which the name of this city came from; and so in the scarlet field, which marks the bloodshed, his coat of arms is signified: a standing ermine lion with a golden tongue and claws, turned to the right; in his right paw he holds a swung golden sword, and in his left a silver shield with a black cross, showing the nobility and courage of its then inhabitants ...
Coat of arms of the city of Maloyaroslavets (XIV c.
The ancient city of Yaroslavl, which has a bear in its coat of arms, gives a reason to prescribe the same coat of arms, with the difference, however, that in this place there is a bear on a silver field, and the shield is surrounded by a crimson jagged edge.
Coat of arms of the city of Medyn. 14th century
A blue shield, populated with golden bees, expressing both the abundance of them in the circumference of this city, and the very name of onago.
Coat of arms of the city of Meshchovsk. End of the 13th century
In a green field, there are three golden ears, set with a rafter with their ends up, showing the fruitfulness of the district fields.
Coat of arms of the city of Mosalsk. 1231
In a silver field, a black eagle crowned with a princely crown, with a golden cross placed diagonally, which he holds in his left claws, and in his right claws a scarlet shield with a princely crown crowned with the golden letter M., expressing that this city was part of the Chernigov Possessions, and belonged to one of the princes of Chernigov, who had their own coat of arms, and for the sake of distinguishing it from the coat of arms of that kind of princes, the silver field of this eagle has a jagged edge of azure color.
Coat of arms of the city of Odoev. Second half of the 14th century Now it is an urban-type settlement.
Since this city belonged to the regions of Chernigov, then the coat of arms of Chernigov itself belongs to it, as the lot of the then senior tribe of these princes, that is, in a scarlet field, a black single-headed eagle holding a golden cross in its right claws, diagonally placed, with a difference from the Chernigov coat of arms, position at the top golden title.
Coat of arms of the city of Przemysl. First half of the 14th century Now it is a village.
In a blue field, a silver cross placed from top to bottom, showing the Oka River flowing near this city, and on both sides two golden sheaves explaining the rich
Pages of the history of harvesting the fields around this city.
Coat of arms of the city of Serpeysk. 1406 Now - a village.
In a green field are two silver sickles, folded together, with golden handles, expressing the very name of this city.
Coat of arms of the city of Sukhinichi. First half of the 18th century
The shield is divided into two parts: at the top - the coat of arms of Kaluga, and at the bottom, in a blue field, trading scales and two barrels below them.
Coat of arms of the city of Tarusa. 1246
A silver shield with a blue stripe from top to bottom, showing the course of the Taruz River, after which this city is named.
The coats of arms of the cities of the Kaluga province were "composed" by the herald master Prince Shcherbatov in 1777.
The rule to place part or all of the coat of arms of a provincial town in the coats of arms of county towns was established in 1778. The description of the city emblems of Kozelsk and Likhvin reflects the heroic struggle of the Russian people against foreign invaders.
Especially famous for its courageous defense in the spring of 1238, Kozelsk, which Batu Khan called "an evil city." For seven weeks, the inhabitants defended their city, destroyed four thousand invaders, but in an unequal battle, they all died.
The coat of arms of Maloyaroslavets uses the ancient emblem of Yaroslavl - a bear with an axe.
The King of Arms borrowed the Yaroslavl emblem only because of the similarity of the names of these cities.
Two city coats of arms - Mosalsk and Odoev - use the ancient emblem of Chernigov - a single-headed black eagle with a cross in its claws. This was done because in ancient times Mosalsk belonged to the Chernigov principality, and Odoev belonged to the descendants of the Chernigov princes, the Odoevsky princes.
