Coat of arms of Kislovodsk

The heraldic description of the coat of arms of the resort town of Kislovodsk reads:

In the azure field above is a golden sun (without a face image), below is a silver bowl from which a silver source beats about three streams. The shield is crowned with a crown of the established pattern and is surrounded by a ribbon of the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.

- Decision of the Duma of the resort city of Kislovodsk dated January 25, 2013 No. 17-413 ^[3]

Reproduction of the coat of arms, regardless of purpose and use case, is allowed with a frame - in the form of a shield crowned with a crown and surrounded by an order ribbon, or without a frame - in the form of one shield. The image of the coat of arms both in the form of one shield, and in the form of a shield with a crown, and in the form of a shield with a crown and an order ribbon (both in color and in one-color version), are equivalent, equivalent and equally acceptable in all cases of official use ^{[ 3]} .

Kislovodsk, which is one of the resort towns of the Caucasian Mineral Waters , is often called the "city of the Sun and Narzan" due to its unique climate and sources of mineral water . Therefore, images of the golden sun and the silver bowl from which the jets of narzan are beaten are placed in the shield field ^[3] .

The tincture of the field and figures also reflect the substantial idea of ​​the coat of arms. Gold (metal) symbolizes justice, mercy, strength and wealth; silver (metal) - nobility, innocence, purity; azure (enamel) - magnanimity, fidelity, impeccability, greatness, beauty, clarity ^[3] .

A five-pronged gold tower crown crowning the shield indicates the status of the urban district of the resort city. The ribbon framing the coat of arms of the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree reminds us that Kislovodsk is the only resort city of Kavminvod that was awarded this award for the merits of the Kislovodsk residents in treating and restoring the health of the Soviet Army during the Great Patriotic War ^[3] .

Symbols of the Soviet era

In July 1965, the Caucasian Health Resort newspaper published a collective letter signed by employees of the Pyatigorsk Museum at the Kavminvody , as well as the chairman of the Kavminvodsk branch of the Union of Architects of the USSR V. Fukyev and the chief architect of Pyatigorsk B. Abidov, who asked readers to express their opinion on the need development of emblems of Kislovodsk, Essentuki , Zheleznovodsk and other cities of Kavminvod ^[5] . The authors of the letter stated their vision of this issue as follows:

The 50th anniversary of Soviet power is drawing near. Resort towns have transformed, become prettier, enriched with glorious traditions. And it was not bad that the most characteristic features of the Cavminvod would form the basis of the arms of our cities. The symbolism of these emblems should remind local residents and tell vacationers about the rich historical past, beautiful today and wonderful tomorrow in resort towns.

- The coat of arms of your city // Caucasian Health Resort. - 1965. - July 11. - C.2

Readers were also invited to send sketches, graphic drawings and outline emblems to the editorial office or museum of local lore. To participate were invited not only professional artists, but also everyone ^[5] . Soon in the "Caucasian health resort" appeared the first responses of the residents of Kavminvod, who supported the idea put forward by the public of Pyatigorsk to create emblems and emblems of the cities of the resort region ^[6] .

In January 1967, the Caucasian Health Resort newspaper again returned to the topic of developing the symbolism of resort cities, placing on the front page an article by the chief architect of Kislovodsk, Yu. Khomenko, written after the opening of an exhibition of sketches of the coat of arms of Kislovodsk in the Narzan Gallery , made by a group of architects of the Kislovodsk expedition of the institute " Stavropolgrazhdanproekt ". According to the author of the publication, his colleagues were not able to reflect in the projects the most characteristic features of the city and get away from the influence of “another artistic and graphic“ fashion “”. Khomenko also emphasized that the creation of the coat of arms must be built on compliance with the rules of heraldry. Speaking about historical, ethnographic, cultural and other traditions common to the cities of the Caucasian Mineral Waters, Khomenko suggested reflecting them in their arms, which, according to him, “should not be completely different in design, they should be united either by the essence of the silhouette or by the combination of colors or the repeatability of certain symbolic elements ” ^[7] .

July 22, 1969, the Executive Committee of the Council of Deputies of Kislovodsk announced an open tender for the development of the best coat of arms of the city ^[8] . The competition was attended by 26 authors (mainly local artists and architects), who submitted about 50 works. Sketches of participants were exhibited in the Narzan Gallery for all to see. A common feature of these projects was the use of symbols traditional for the Caucasian Mineral Waters - the figures of an eagle with spread wings tearing a snake, images of mineral springs, as well as the silhouette of Elbrus ^[9] . Despite the interest shown in the projects by the residents of the resort city and vacationers, none of them became the basis for the coat of arms of Kislovodsk. The competition of the coat of arms, entry sign and commemorative medal of the city of Kislovodsk, organized in 1977, also did not bring significant results ^[10] .

In Soviet times, the coat of arms (emblem) of Kislovodsk, developed in the 1980s, gained a certain distribution. It was a shield cut by azure and scarlet . In the center of the shield was an image of a golden bowl, from which two golden stylized springs (fountains) of mineral water beat. On the bowl in black numbers was written the date - 1803. At the top of the shield - the name of the city in gold. A bowl with jets reminded that the name of the resort city was given by sources of “acidic water” - narzan. The numbers on the bowl indicate the year of foundation of the Kislovodsk fortification. Azure and the scarlet symbolized colors of the State flag of the RSFSR ^{[4] [11]} . This emblem was known, for example, by the collection badges of the so-called "Pyatigorsk series", produced by several souvenir factories in the city of Pyatigorsk ^[12] .

1996 Coat of Arms

In 1995, on the eve of the official approval of the coat of arms of the Caucasian Mineral Waters , the leadership of the resort region recommended the cities and districts of the Cavminvod group to begin developing their own symbols. Following Zheleznovodsk and Lermontov , Kislovodsk also embarked on the preparation work ^[13] .

March 22, 1996 the city Council announced a competition for the best project of the coat of arms of Kislovodsk. Its participants were tasked with reflecting in their works the specifics of the resort city, its history and culture. The organizers also recommended the use of such symbols typical for Kislovodsk in projects as, for example, “ fortress ”, “sun”, “bowl with jets of narzan,” “key” or “ Ring-Mountain ” ^[14] .

The competition commission received 13 sketches developed by 8 authors and teams of authors ^[15] . According to the results of the jury's work, the victory in the competition was awarded to a member of the Union of Artists of Russia Yu. A. Baghdasarov , who performed three versions of the coat of arms of the city of Kislovodsk, united by the motto "Blossom, my native land." In the course of creating the sketches, Baghdasarov, in his own words, studied “many coats of arms of Russian cities dating back to the 17th century” and, continuing to follow the traditions of Russian heraldry, “tried to get away from the ancient pomp to modern lightness, stylization and laconicism” ^[16] .

In accordance with the proposals received from the members of the tender commission, as well as representatives of the administration and the City Council, Yu. A. Baghdasarov finalized his initial draft, and on July 17, 1996, the emblem executed by him was approved by the deputies of the City Council as an official symbol of Kislovodsk ^[17] . In the book of the Secretary of the Heraldic Commission under the Governor of the Stavropol Territory N. A. Okhonko “Symbols of a Small Homeland” (2007), the following description of this coat of arms is given:

The shield is divided into two parts horizontally. In the upper azure field is an image of a two-headed mountain crowned with a golden sun with cross-shaped rays. The sun is burdened with a bowl with a snake - a symbol of medicine. In the lower green field is a golden fortress with a bowl from which a fountain beats.

- N. A. Okhonko “Symbols of a small homeland” ^[18]

The image of the two-headed mountain (symbol of Elbrus) reminded of the closest proximity of Kislovodsk to this mountain peak in comparison with other resort cities. The image of the sun with four rays forming a cross indicated the administrative-territorial affiliation of Kislovodsk to the Stavropol Territory, “the main city of which Stavropol is the city of the Holy Cross”. This image was also interpreted as a wind rose , personifying "the openness of the city for guests from all over the world." Images of the fortress and the bowl with narzan were considered as symbols of the “Kislovodsk fortress, founded in 1803 at the source of“ acidic water “”. The azure color symbolized the clear sky and transparent air of the resort town. Green color meant that Kislovodsk is a "city buried in verdure." The branch with oak leaves , framing the coat of arms on the left, symbolized strength, courage and health, and the laurel branch , framing the shield on the right, peace and harmony, which "are always necessary for the multinational Kislovodsk." The overall composition was completed by the images of the main figure of the Coat of Arms of Russia - a two-headed eagle crowning a shield and ribbons in the colors of the Flag of Russia woven into an oak-laurel wreath ^[16] .

Coat of Arms of 2012

On October 12, 2010 in Kislovodsk, a meeting of the Standing Committee of the City Duma on local self-government and the rule of law was held, at which the proposal for the preparation of a municipal legal act on the approval and procedure for using the official symbols of the city district of the resort city of Kislovodsk was considered and approved. The need to resolve this issue was due to the fact that, firstly, the coat of arms approved on July 17, 1996 remained at that time the only used symbol of the city district; secondly, the procedure for its use was not established and, thirdly, it did not meet the requirements imposed by the Heraldic Council under the President of the Russian Federation ^[19] , which studied this coat of arms and recommended bringing it into line with the rules of heraldry, as well as compiling it on its basis flag of a resort town ^[20] .

On April 12, 2011, members of the Standing Committee of the Duma of the Kislovodsk resort city on urban economy, construction and architecture decided to work on the preparation of the descriptive part of the official symbols of the Kislovodsk resort town - the coat of arms and flag, in accordance with the requirements of the state Heroldia ^[21] .

In 2011, member of the Union of Russian Journalists Yu. P. Samoilov in his articles “The City Needs a New Emblem!” And “Need a New Emblem!”, Published in the April and July issues of the independent regional newspaper “On the Waters”, sharply criticized city symbols . In particular, the author of the publication claimed that the emblem developed by Yu. A. Baghdasarov violates the rules of heraldry and is overloaded with images that have nothing to do with Kislovodsk: Elbrus cannot be a symbol of the city, since it is located outside the Stavropol Territory - on the territory of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia ; the laurel , whose branch frames the coat of arms, does not grow in Kislovodsk, etc. But the main and most serious violation that Yu.P. Samoilov drew attention to was the presence of unacceptable elements in the coat of arms of Kislovodsk - images of state symbols of the Russian Federation. From the pages of the newspaper, the journalist turned to the city administration and the leadership of the City Duma with a proposal to consider holding an open competition to create a new coat of arms of Kislovodsk, which “should be carried out with the mandatory observance of federal laws and heraldic canons” ^{[22] [23]} .

July 16, 2011 in the Kislovodsk Museum of History and Local Lore “Fortress” a meeting was organized with the participation of historians, local historians and representatives of public organizations to discuss the topic of making changes to the coat of arms of the resort city, raised by local media. The discussion that unfolded during this event showed that the audience did not have a single opinion on this issue ^{[20] [23] [24]} .

After the issue of the illegitimacy of the symbol of Kislovodsk was raised in the newspaper “On the Waters”, the city prosecutor’s office checked this information and found that “the coat of arms project used by the local authorities of the resort town of Kislovodsk is the main means of visual identification of the municipality: its name, administrative status, is not an official symbol of the municipality, "because" it was not provided to the Heraldic Council for heraldic examination and did not go through the state registration procedure in the manner prescribed by federal law. ” In addition, the prosecutor’s office of the city of Kislovodsk identified violations of the Federal Constitutional Law of the Russian Federation “On the State Emblem of the Russian Federation” ^[25] and introduced ideas on their elimination to the City Duma and the mayor of the city of Kislovodsk ^{[20] [26] [27] [28]} .

In October 2011, at the official meeting of the Kislovodsk Duma with the participation of the head of the city N. B. Lutsenko , the first deputy chairman of the city Duma L. P. Kreschenovich, representatives of the prosecutor's office, the media and the public, the composition of the interim commission for the development of official symbols - the coat of arms and flag of the city district of the resort town of Kislovodsk ^[29] . Work on their creation was completed in 2012. Новый герб Кисловодска исполнил член Союза художников России А. И. Плужников , ранее разработавший гербы Кавказских Минеральных Вод и двух других городов-курортов — Железноводска и Ессентуков ^{[4] [30] [31]} .

27 июля 2012 года Дума Кисловодска признала утратившим силу решение городского Совета от 17 июля 1996 года № 23-1 «О гербе города Кисловодска» и утвердила Положение об официальных символах городского округа города-курорта Кисловодска, в соответствии с которым описание герба гласило:

Герб города-курорта Кисловодска представляет собой геральдический щит, в лазоревом поле которого, в почётной точке расположен символ кисловодского курорта — золотое солнце. Кисловодск является одним из городов-курортов Кавказских Минеральных Вод и за уникальный климат был именован «городом Солнца». Ниже в фокусе щита помещён символический рисунок знаменитого кисловодского нарзана — серебряная чаша с бьющими вверх струями.

— Решение Думы города-курорта Кисловодска от 27 июля 2012 года № 121-412 ^[32]

Полный герб Кисловодска имел обрамление в виде золотого венка из дубовых листьев, обвитых орденской лентой ордена Отечественной войны I степени, и золотой башенной короны с пятью зубцами ^[32] . Герб 2012 года и составленный на его основе флаг не прошли государственную регистрацию, так как не были одобрены Геральдическим советом при Президенте Российской Федерации ^{[4] [33]} .

С учётом рекомендаций Геральдического совета А. И. Плужников разработал новые варианты официальных символов города-курорта. Художник убрал венок из дубовых листьев и изменил изображение орденской ленты вокруг герба Кисловодска, а флаг города дополнил изображением источника. Данная символика была принята 25 января 2013 года депутатами городской Думы ^[3] и затем направлена на государственную экспертизу ^[34] .

16 апреля 2013 года по решению Геральдического совета при Президенте Российской Федерации герб и флаг городского округа города-курорта Кисловодска были внесены в Государственный геральдический регистр Российской Федерации под номерами 8277 и 8278 ^{[35] [36]} .

• Флаг Кисловодска

• Heraldry of Russia / author-comp. A. G. Mernikov . - Moscow: World of Encyclopedias Avanta + , 2008 .-- 512 p. - ISBN 978-5-98986-210-8 .
• Ohonko N.A. Symbols of a small homeland / N. A. Okhonko. - Pyatigorsk: Bulletin of the Caucasus, 2007 .-- 96 p. - ISBN 5-85714-049-8 .

• Official symbols of Kislovodsk // Official site of the Duma of the resort city of Kislovodsk.
• Kislovodsk (Stavropol Territory) // Heraldicum.ru: official site of the Russian Center for Flag Studies and Heraldry.
• Coat of arms of the city of Kislovodsk // Heraldika.ru: non-profit Internet project on heraldry and vexillology.
•   Coat of arms of Kislovodsk
•   Coat of arms of Kislovodsk may appear on a postage stamp