Russian Interest In Heraldry

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32114, 9 October 1969, Page 9

Russian Interest In Heraldry

nf.Z.PJL.-Reuter—Copuriaht) , MOSCOW. ’ Russia—today busily rediscovering many! colourful elements of its ; historic past—is reviving the coats of arms of ' hundreds of old Russian towns. i In many cases, heraldic; arms were used right up to : the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, but were then cast aside as mere trappings of the Tsarist regime and forgot-: ten until very recently. , Now many towns and cities are resurrecting the old, emblems, and wall plaques of the more famous coats of arms are being manufactured and sold in State shops by the official art fund of the Russian Federation. Most of the emblems provide a fascinating reflection of the history of a locale, or the chief occupation of its inhabitants. In Tsarist times the country had a college of heralds which regulated the design of coats of arms, and would register, only emblems that genuinely represented the history, geography or economy of a region. The city of Smolensk, in Western Russia, has on its arms a cannon belching fire. This was adopted after the Smolensk garrison offered fierce resistance to the advance of Napoleonic troops during the 1812 march on Moscow. A particularly intriguing emblem is that of Perm, an ancient city north-east of Moscow, which shows a bear carrying a gospel on its back. In ancient times there was a flourishing bear cult in the area, and the bear appeared on seals used by officials and local princes even after the coming of Christianity. When a Church commission began to register Russian coats of arms in 1672, the clergy added a gospel to the bear to symbolise the victory of Christianity over paganism. The coat of arms of Tambov, to the south-east of Moscow, shows a beehive and three bees, the area having, long been famed for its honey.' In the far east, the arms of' the city of Blagoveshchensk'

iepict a blue river flowing through green meadows. The river is the Amur, which forms the border between Russia . and China, and the meadows symbolise the irea’s fertility. Although coats of arms ippeared in Western Europe luring the age of chivalry, when knights designed their >wn emblems to be worn dur-j ng jousting, they did not; ippear in Russia until the! L7th century. ; But they were presaged by | the seals used by the rulers if old Muscovy and other! Eastern Slav lands, the Mos-1 row coat of arms itself dating sack to a seal of the late 12th lentury. The Moscow emblem depicts a horseman slaying a! serpent, and since the 18th j century it had been assumed! that the design represented! St George slaying the dragon.! But research has shown that, it was copied from the personal seal of Prince Basil of Moscow, designed to symbolise his father. Prince Dmitry Donskoy, crushing the Mongols at the battle of Kulikovo in 1380 and thus ending their 300-year domination over what is now Russia.