The coat of arms is a distinctive sign that depicts various objects and symbols that carry a certain meaning and characterize the person to whom this emblem belongs (it can be a person, city, country, society or organization).
In the article, consider the coat of arms of Astrakhan: photo and description, its history, which has more than five centuries.
Modern look
Currently, Astrakhan's coat of arms looks like this:
- base - French heraldic shield. It is a rectangle with rounded bottom corners and a slight point in the middle of the bottom. The vertical top and bottom margins are in a 1:1 ratio, and the width and height are in an 8:9 ratio. Blue (sometimes azure) shield field;
- symbols - in the upper half of the shield in the center there is a golden crown of a special kind, similar to the imperial one. The circumference is decorated with five leaf-shaped teeth, lined with pearls and gems, crowned with a golden orb. Under it, in the second half of the shield, also in the center with a tipto 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 1993-24-06 at the 15th session of the Astrakhan City Council.
Symbolism
The crown depicted on the coat of arms means the accession of the Astrakhan Khanate to the Russian Empire in 1556.
The naked sword is a symbol of the fact that Russian voivodes are strenuously guarding their native land and will not allow the enemy to enter the empire's possessions. 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 Mother Volga.
History
The coat of arms of Astrakhan originated in the 16th century. Then he had two versions:
- on the large royal 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 seal is an image of a saber under a crown. The point of the saber is turned to the left.
In 1556, the saber was replaced by a sword.
In the 17th century, a saber appears on the shield again, but already oriented to the right. This option was officially approved and included in the state book "Titular" in 1672.
In 1717, a new coat of arms of Astrakhan was approved: a sword appeared on the shield again instead of a saber, the coat of arms itself was now bordered around the perimeter by a lush vine interlaced with an award ribbon, and the top of the shield was topped with an imperial crown.
The modern coat of arms retained the image of the 18th century, but it was givenconciseness: removed the lush vine and the imperial crown on top.
