Coat of arms of St. Petersburg

The historical coat of arms of St. Petersburg, approved on March 14, 1730, confirmed in 1780, supplemented in 1857, never canceled and re-introduced in 1991, is the oldest and main official symbol of St. Petersburg. The prototype was the coat of arms of the Vatican , as the city of St. Peter.

After the October Revolution and until the collapse of the Soviet Union (1917-1991), the city emblem was not used. Firstly, because he bore the symbols of imperial power, incompatible with the official ideology of the regime that then governed. Secondly, the widespread use of city emblems (flags) was not at all in the Soviet tradition. Often, instead of the city coat of arms, arbitrary symbols were used at this time, for example, a boat from the spire of the Admiralty .

Only in the spring of 1989, the city authorities of Leningrad raised the question of the need for a city coat of arms. A citywide competition for the best project was announced, a monetary prize was awarded to the winner. The exhibition of projects for the new coat of arms opened in May 1989 in the Peter and Paul Fortress. However, the idea to establish a new - Soviet - coat of arms of the Northern capital was abandoned, the public opinion of the townspeople tended to revive the city coat of arms existing since the time of Peter the Great , which was officially (re) adopted in 1991.

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  One of the first versions of the Coat of Arms in 1730

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  Coat of arms of St. Petersburg from 1730 to 1856

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  Coat of arms of St. Petersburg of the 19th century before the revolution of 1917

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  One of the variants of the coat of arms of Leningrad in the Soviet period until 1991 ^{[1] [2]}

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  Coat of arms of St. Petersburg since 2003

The coat of arms of St. Petersburg (color image) is a heraldic red shield depicting two silver anchors on its field - a sea anchor (obliquely to the left to the viewer, paws in the upper corner of the shield in the upper left of the viewer; has two legs and a transverse detail on the anchor rod) and a river (obliquely to the right of the viewer, with paws in the upper corner of the shield in the upper right of the viewer; has four paws and is devoid of the transverse detail on the anchor stock), laid crosswise, and on them is a golden scepter with a double-headed eagle.

The shield is crowned with an imperial crown with two Andreev azure ribbons emerging from it. Behind the shield are two golden crosses, decorated with diamonds and enamel of Russian scepter, connected by the Andreev azure ribbon.

The heraldic description of the coat of arms of St. Petersburg reads: “In a scarlet (red) field, a golden Russian scepter on top of two overturned silver anchors sea and river, about four prongs, crosswise. The shield is crowned by the Russian imperial crown and placed on top of two Russian scepters of natural color, connected by the ribbon of St. Andrew the First-Called. "

The emblem of St. Petersburg can be reproduced in shortened versions, historically and heraldically determined: without the imperial crown above the shield, without azure ribbons emerging from the imperial crown, without two Russian scepters connected by the Andreev azure ribbon, and also in the form of a golden scepter with a double-headed eagle and two silver anchors - sea and river, laid crosswise, outside the shield.

The scepter has been a sign of rulers since ancient times, in this case the scepter crowned with a state eagle symbolized monarchical imperial power, and also that St. Petersburg is the capital of the Russian Empire. Two silver anchors, one of which is two-bladed, with a crossbeam at the ring - sea, the other - four-bladed, with a ring - “river cat”, meant that the city was a sea and river port. Anchors express the idea of ​​Peter I about access to the sea through river routes. The red field of the shield recalls the bloody battles with the Swedes during the Northern War.

• Flag of St. Petersburg
• Anthem of St. Petersburg
• Coats of arms of the districts of St. Petersburg

• Law of St. Petersburg No. 165-23 “On a detailed description of the official symbols of St. Petersburg and the procedure for their use”
• Coat of arms of the city of St. Petersburg: history of creation, description, significance