Coat of arms of Vladimir

“In a red field, a lion standing on its hind legs, with an iron crown on its head, holds a long silver cross in its front right paw.”

- From the Decision of the Small Council of the Vladimir City Council No. 50/7 of March 17, 1992 ^[1] .

“The coat of arms of Vladimir is a monument of history and culture, which has ancient historical roots. As early as the 12th century, the image of the leopard beast was a patrimonial sign of the princes of Vladimir , an attribute of strong power capable of overcoming the feudal fragmentation of Russia.

Since the 17th century, the coat of arms of Vladimir has been a symbol of urban sovereignty, an indicator of the development of a city organization. The Great State Book of 1672, Titular , contains the first description of the coat of arms of the city of Vladimir. In 1730, 1781, the coat of arms of Vladimir was approved by the Supreme authority, and in the XIX century it was included in the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. ”

- From the Decision of the Small Council of the Vladimir City Council No. 50/7 of March 17, 1992 ^[1] .

Symbols of the Vladimir-Suzdal Princes

The image of a lion as a personal sign of the Vladimir-Suzdal princes appeared in the XII century , starting with Andrei Bogolyubsky ^{[2] [3] [4]} . This is evidenced by the frescoes on the cathedrals of Vladimir, Suzdal and St. George the XII-XIII centuries with a lion pattern, as well as on Russian coins of the XIV-XV centuries ^[5] . On the facade of the northern vestibule of St. George's Cathedral (1234) in Yuryev-Polsky there is an image of St. George , leaning on a high spear and a Varangian drop-shaped shield with the emblem of the Vladimir dynasty - the “reared” lion (the lion faces to the right of the shield holder, the lion's head is placed in profile ) ^[6] .

Coat of arms of Vladimir in the Imperial Titular of 1672

In 1672, the Tsar’s Titular Book was compiled, which is often called the first Russian coat of arms . The emblem of 33 “Russian lands” was included in the Titular, including the emblem of Vladimir (it was not on the 16th century Russian press). On the emblem of Vladimir - a lion standing on its hind legs, unlike the personal sign of the Vladimir-Suzdal princes, was turned to the left (from the shield holder) and for the first time attributes appeared - a crown and a long four-pointed cross in the front paws, a golden lion with a scarlet tongue. The same image of the prototype of the coat of arms of Vladimir was also posted in the "Diary of a Journey to Muscovy, 1698 and 1699." Austrian diplomat I. G. Korb (1698-1699) ^[7] on the sketch of the Russian state press ^[8] .

Coat of arms on the banner of the Vladimir Regiment

At the very beginning of the XVIII century, the heraldic Vladimir lion appeared on the banner of the Vladimir Infantry Regiment . Moreover, not only a standing lion with a cross was placed on the banners, but with the skin of the killed “Svejskiy” lion under his feet ^[9] .

In 1712, the banners of the Vladimir Infantry Regiment were as follows: one white with the monogram of Peter I surrounded by branches, the rest: “black, with blue, crosswise separated by green and red stripes, with the image, in the upper corner, by the shaft, a golden lion” ^{[10 ]} . The lion on the banners of the Vladimir Regiment of 1712 did not have a crown and was turned to the right, to the pole. One of the ensigns of those times with the Vladimir emblem is kept in the Moscow Armory ^[9] .

In June 1728, the Supreme Privy Council issued a decree on the introduction of a new model of regimental banners with state and city emblems. In 1729, under the supervision of the Director-General over the fortification of General B.K. Minikh and with the participation of the artist Andrei Baranov (painter A.D. Menshikov ), the Banner of Stamps was compiled. On March 8, 1730, new coats of arms for regimental banners were approved. The coat of arms on the banner of the Vladimir Infantry Regiment had the following description: “In a golden shield, on a red field there is a golden lion with a crown on his head, standing on his hind legs and holding a long silver cross with his front” ^[10] . This version of the coat of arms, corresponding to the rules of heraldry, was compiled in 1722 by the assistant to the heraldmeister Count F. Santi according to a drawing from the “Imperial Titular” of 1672. But unlike the Titular, the lion in the emblem of the emblem became turned to the right and acquired a “smiling face” in the face ^[9] .

Coats of arms of 1730 were to be placed not only on regimental banners, but also on seals, with which governors and governors sealed all papers, except for particular ones. Thus, the coat of arms of the Vladimir regiment from this period began to acquire the status of the city coat of arms ^[9] .

Coat of arms of Vladimir 1781

On August 16, 1781, Empress Catherine II, together with other emblems of the cities of Vladimir governorate , approved the emblem of Vladimir ^{[11] [12]} .

The original description of the coat of arms of the city read:

“The city of Vladimir has an old coat of arms. In the red floor standing on the hind legs, the left bearing the glandular crown on the head holds a long silver cross in the front right paw. This is also included in all newly composed coats of arms in the upper part of the shield, meaning that these cities belong to the Volodimir Ombudsman ” .

- PSZRI, 1781, Law No. 15205 ^[11] .

In all emblems of Vladimir governorship approved in 1781, except for the emblem of Suzdal , the Vladimir emblem was located in the upper part ^[11] .

• Coats of arms of the cities of Vladimir governorship in 1781:
•  

  Vladimir

•  

  Alexandrov

•  

  Vyazniki

•  

  Gorokhovets

•  

  Kirzhach

•  

  Carpet

•  

  Melenki

•  

  Murom

•  

  Pereslavl-Zalessky

•  

  Cover

•  

  Sudogda

•  

  Suzdal

•  

  Shuya

•  

  Yuryev-Polsky

Lion leopard on the provincial coat of arms

In the mid-19th century, heraldic reform of B. Kene was carried out in Russian heraldry. With his direct participation, the title coat of arms of the Vladimir province was drawn up and subsequently approved in 1856. The emblem had the following description: “In a scarlet field there is a golden lion leopard, in an iron crown decorated with gold and colored stones, holding a long silver cross in his right paw. The shield is crowned by the Imperial crown and surrounded by golden oak leaves connected by the St. Andrew ribbon . ” B. Kene renamed Vladimir Lion into a lion leopard , emphasizing that heraldry does not allow the possibility of considering such an image of a beast as a lion ^{[9] [13]} .

Coat of arms of Vladimir in Soviet and post-Soviet times

In Soviet times, the historical emblem of Vladimir was not used, but his image appeared on souvenirs , often without monarchical and religious attributes. For example, on souvenir badges for the 875th anniversary of Vladimir, the lion was depicted with a sword , the cruciform hilt of which replaced the cross of the historical coat of arms. On the other icon - instead of a cross, a staff was depicted ^[14] . There were also historically correct images of the coat of arms. For example, on the USSR postage stamp of 1977, in the coat of arms of Vladimir were depicted both the crown and the cross ^[15] .

March 17, 1992 the historical coat of arms of Vladimir in 1781 was approved as the official symbol of the city ^[1] .

On July 8, 1994, Decision of the Legislative Assembly of the Vladimir Region No. 63 “On the Coat of Arms of the Vladimir Region” restored the old provincial coat of arms and adopted the Regulation on the coat of arms ^[16] . January 20, 1999 the Legislative Assembly of the Vladimir region adopted the Law on the coat of arms of the Vladimir region , which finally approved the current coat of arms of the Vladimir region. The emblem practically repeated the emblem of the Vladimir province of 1856 and had the following description:

“The coat of arms of the Vladimir region is an image of a golden lion leopard, in an iron crown decorated with gold and colored stones, holding a long silver cross in a scarlet field in its right paw. The shield is crowned with a crown and surrounded by golden oak leaves connected by the St. Andrew ribbon . ”

- Law on the coat of arms of the Vladimir region ^[17] .

On February 1, 2008, the Bank of Russia issued a commemorative coin with a face value of 10 rubles, from the series Ancient cities of Russia , on the reverse of which is depicted the coat of arms of Vladimir ^[18] .

In the post-Soviet era, new coats of arms were developed for a number of urban and rural settlements of the Vladimir region, in the free part of which there is a historical coat of arms of Vladimir.

• Flag of Vladimir

• Von Winkler P.P. Coats of arms of cities, provinces, regions and suburbs of the Russian Empire, included in the Complete Collection of Laws from 1649 to 1900 / Permitted by censorship. St. Petersburg, July 20, 1899. - Edition of the bookseller Yves. Willow Ivanova. - SPb. : Printing house I.M. Komelova, Buckle d. 3, 1899. - S. 33. - 312 p.
• Lakier A. B. Russian heraldry . - SPb. : Printing houses of the 2nd Branch of the Own E. I. Office, 1855. - 329 p.
• Soboleva N.A. and others. Heraldry and coats of arms of ancient Russian cities // Coats of arms of cities of Russia. Reference album / Inst. History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. - Profizdat. - M .: "Fatherland", 1998. - S. 41-80. - 480 p.
• Speransov N. N. Land Coats of Arms of the XII — XIX Centuries - M .: "Soviet Russia", 1974. - 198 p.
• Revo O. Coats of arms of the cities of Vladimir province // Science and Life : Journal. - M .: True, 1987. - No. 12 . - S. 119 . - ISSN 0028-1263 .