Coat of arms of Gatchina

The shield is crossed. Above, in a golden field, the Russian state double-headed eagle during the reign of Emperor Paul I; black with golden beaks and paws, with scarlet (red) tongues, crowned with three imperial crowns, of which the middle one is larger, with a golden scepter and a power in its paws, with a silver Maltese cross under the crown of the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Sovereign Military Order of Malta ) on the chest; on top of the cross is a scarlet shield, encumbered with the golden monogram name of Paul I under the imperial crown. Below, in the azure (blue, blue) field, the golden letter "G".

The shield is square, with a point below (French type).

The main colors of the coat of arms: azure (symbolizes beauty, gentleness and greatness), yellow (gold) (symbolizes wealth, justice and generosity), scarlet (symbolizes courage, courage and fearlessness), white (symbolizes innocence and purity). The imperial double-headed eagle is made in black (symbolizing modesty and sadness, but in combination with the figure of an eagle loses these properties).

Figures: an eagle - a symbol of power, domination, generosity and insight; crowns (4 images) - a sign of power; scepter and power - attributes of power; the six-pointed star is a symbol of eternity.

A part of the coat of arms was also the blue Andreev ribbon , attached only to capitals ( Moscow , St. Petersburg ) and the cities of ordinary residence of their Imperial Majesties ( Peterhof , Tsarskoye Selo , Gatchina ).

The Gatchina coat of arms has several unique features:

• On the coat of arms, as a sign of special royal favor, Paul I placed his imperial monogram. Imperial monograms are found on the arms of only six cities of Russia : Tsarskoye Selo (now the city of Pushkin ) - “E I” (monogram of Catherine I ), Peterhof - “PPI” (Petrus Primus Imperator), Pavlovsk - “PM” (Pavel, Maria), Taganrog - “P I” (monogram of Peter I ), Yekaterinodar (now the city of Krasnodar ) - “E II” (monogram of Catherine II )) and Gatchina, and only Pavlovsk and Gatchina received monograms on the coat of arms during the life of the emperor.
• The coat of arms of Gatchina is one of four Russian coats of arms of cities with the capital letter of the city name in their field (the rest are Verkhoturye , Vyborg and Mosalsk ).
• The Gatchina’s coat of arms is also one of fourteen Russian emblems of cities with a double-headed eagle in their field - an element of the State Emblem of Russia (other cities with a double-headed eagle on the coat of arms: Velizh , Voronezh , Kizlyar , Mozdok , Novocherkassk , Orenburg , Ostashkov , Pyatigorsk , Sebezh and etc.).

The status of the city was assigned to Gatchina in 1796 , and on December 13, 1800 , by the decree of Paul I , the emblem of the city was approved.

Several unapproved designs for the coat of arms of Gatchina are known:

• In 1859 , a coat of arms design was developed, on the azure shield of which was a gold letter “G”, and in the golden chapter of the shield is a black imperial eagle.
• In 1882 , a coat of arms design was developed with a scarlet field and a silver Maltese cross on it.

The coat of arms of the city lasted until the October Revolution of 1917 , and was canceled by a decree of the Soviet government on November 10 (23), 1917 "On the destruction of estates and civil ranks."

In Soviet times, a project of the Gatchina coat of arms was created that did not receive official status: on a French-type shield, images of the Connetable obelisk and three intertwined elliptical orbits of electrons are reproduced on a white field, indicating the Institute of Nuclear Physics located in the city. At the head of the coat of arms was the inscription "Gatchina", and at the end - the numbers "1796", the inscriptions were yellow. The head of the coat of arms is scarlet, the tip is green (a symbol of hope, abundance, freedom). The emblem was issued in the form of souvenir badges.

The modern coat of arms of the city was approved by the decision of the representative meeting of the city of Gatchina No. 15 dated October 4, 1995 and is a copy of the coat of arms of Pavlovsky time. March 18, 1998 by the decree of the head of the city No. 151 approved the "Regulation on the coat of arms of the city of Gatchina"

• Coat of arms of the Heraldicum. Coat of arms of Gatchina
• Coats of arms of St. Petersburg and the cities of the Leningrad region
• Decision of the head of the municipal formation "City of Gatchina" on the approval of the "Regulation on the coat of arms of the city of Gatchina"

• Old Gatchina (collection of articles) / Comp. A.V. Burlakov . - SPb. : League, 1996 .-- 304 p. - 3000 copies. - ISBN 5-88663-003-3 .