Coat of arms of Riga | |
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Versions | |
Adopted | not later than 1225, current version in 1925, readopted in 1989 [1] |
Earlier version(s) | before 1925, various versions existed [1] |
Coat of arms of Riga is one of the official symbols of Riga, along with the flag of Riga.
The blazon on the greater, middle, and lesser coat of arms of Riga, on the Riga City Council Binding Regulations No.181, states that: [2]
On the silver field there is a stand-alone red brick wall with two towers and a roof between them. Below the roof, there is a gate with a raised grid facing the golden lion's head. Above the roof there are two crossed black keys, a golden cross, and a golden crown, respectively above each others. The supporters are two golden lions with red tongues and turned heads that stands on a grey plinth.
On the silver field there is a stand-alone red brick wall with two towers and a roof between them. Below the roof, there is a gate with a raised grid facing the golden lion's head. Above the roof there are two crossed black keys, a golden cross, and a golden crown, respectively above each others.
On the silver field there are two crossed black keys, and a golden cross above them.
The colors of the coat of arms for display are regulated in the Riga City Council Binding Regulations No.181. [2]
The colors of the coat of arms for branding is regulated in a document that has been confirmed by the chairman of the Riga City Council, numbered 128-r. In this version, the field and the plinth had the same gray color. [4]
The greater, middle, and lesser coat of arms of Riga should conform to their heraldic descriptions and samples. Coats of arms of Riga with shield holders, coats of arms of Riga, Riga's small coats of arms can be used in heraldic colors, black and white, or in monochrome colours.
The coat of arms usage in the forms and business cards can only be used by the Riga city municipal institutions, institutions, structural units and municipal corporations.
The coats of arms of Riga can be used without the permission of the Symbolic Commission in posters, publications, advertisements and events which was financially supported or/and organized by the Riga City Municipality, or organizers that had signed a cooperation agreement with the Riga Municipality.
Individuals and legal entities can use the coat of arms of Riga, with the heraldic elements, upon obtaining the permission from the Symbolic Commission, for: [2]
It is known that from 1225 to 1226, from 1330 to 1340, a city wall with open gates and two towers, the middle of which is located on the cross pole, can be seen in the city stamp, but on each side along the key. The walls of the medieval towns' marble with the gates were a common heraldic element that symbolized the city's independence, significance and power. [5]
In 1297-1330 when the Livonian Order became the Riga City Council, a new seal was created. The walls with the raised gates and the crossed keys remain from the old version, but with a different location. New heraldic elements, such as cross of the Livonian Order was inserted into the coat of arms to symbolize symbolising the dominance of the Livonian Order in Riga, and replaced the crossed staves. Other new element, a lion in the raised stone gates of the city, was added, which symbolises to the prowess of the townspeople and the growing independence of the citizens of Riga. This coat of arms was created in 1347 and has been preserved in a 1349 document stamp and is considered to be the basis for development of the Riga coat of arms. [1] [5]
In 1554, the coat of arms of the city of Riga was supplemented with a new heraldic element, lions, as the shield holders of the coat of arms. [5]
In 1656, the city acquired the right to place the Swedish crown in its coat of arms as a form of gratitude from the for the heroic defense of the city during the siege of Russia. The color of the white coat of arms was changed to blue, but the order of the cross red color - with gold. Such coat of arms was kept in the Riga stamp seal until 1889. [5]
After the Northern War, when Riga was taken over by the Russian Empire, the Russian Tsarina Catherine II approved the coat of arms of Riga on 4 October 1788. The shield holders of the lions were replaced by the symbol of the Russian Empire - the two-headed eagle's, and the crown of the monarch of Sweden with the Russian imperial crown. [5]
On October 31, 1925, with the approval of the President of Latvia, Riga received a new coat of arms, the description of which is as follows:
Red brick walls on a silver background with two towers and raised gates in which a gold lion’s head is displayed, and on the upper part of the shield between the towers and beneath a gold crown stand crossed gold paws and two crossed black keys. The shield holders are two golden lions with red tongues and turned heads on two grey cornices supported by a stylised leaf. [5]
In the years of the Latvian SSR, there was little attention to the coat of arms of Riga, and the new coat of arms was approved on 15 February 1967, designed by Ivars Strautmanis. It had a coat of arms with a golden border in the color of the flag of the Latvian SSR, with a 2-tower-shaped silhouette of the city gate (the silhouette was added more details in 1987). Above the gate is 2 crossed keys and a yellow star. The establishment year of Riga, "1201", was added later in 1968, and was deleted in a 1987 revision, and was changed with the lions below the gate in 1988. [5]
After Latvia regained independence, Riga regained its historical coat of arms, and the approval in 1925 was renewed in 1988. [3]
From 1988 until 1990, there was no official version of the coat of arms. There was a restoration of the coat of arms, but the restored version is unknown. The first version is based on the 1967 coat of arms, created by artist I. Strautmanis. The other version is based on the 1925 coat of arms, created by artist Y. Ivanov.
The coat of arms of Bulgaria consists of a crowned golden lion rampant over a dark red shield; above the shield is the Bulgarian historical crown. The shield is supported by two crowned golden lions rampant; below the shield there is compartment in the shape of oak twigs and white bands with the national motto "Unity makes strength" inscribed on them.
The coat of arms of Ukraine is a blue shield with a golden trident. It is colloquially known as the tryzub.
Each of the 26 modern cantons of Switzerland has an official flag and a coat of arms. The history of development of these designs spans the 13th to the 20th centuries.
The coat of arms of Finland is a crowned lion on a red field, the right foreleg replaced with an armoured human arm brandishing a sword, trampling on a sabre with the hindpaws. The Finnish coat of arms was originally created around the year 1580.
The coat of arms of Romania was adopted in the Romanian Parliament on 10 September 1992 as a representative coat of arms for Romania. The current coat of arms is based on the lesser coat of arms of interwar Kingdom of Romania, which was designed in 1921 by the Transylvanian Hungarian heraldist József Sebestyén from Cluj, at the request of King Ferdinand I of Romania, it was redesigned by Victor Dima. As a central element, it shows a golden aquila holding a cross in its beak, and a mace and a sword in its claws. It also consists of the three colors which represent the colors of the national flag. The coat of arms was augmented on 11 July 2016 to add a representation of the Steel Crown of Romania.
The coat of arms of Poznań consists of white city walls with three towers. On the left (heraldic) tower stands Saint Peter with a key and on the heraldic right one stands Saint Paul with a sword. In the gate there are two golden crossed keys with a cross above. Over the middle tower, which contains a single window and is topped by a battlement, there is a gothic shield with a white eagle in crown. On the sides of the two saints there are golden crescents and stars. All of those elements are on a blue field. Over the shield there is golden crown. Author of modern version of coat of arms is Jerzy Bąk.
The coat of arms of Georgia is one of the national symbols of Georgia. The coat of arms is partially based on the medieval arms of the Georgian royal house and features Saint George, the traditional patron saint of Georgia. In addition to St. George, the original proposal included additional heraldic elements found on the royal seal, such as the seamless robe of Jesus, but this was deemed excessively religious and was not incorporated into the final version.
The coat of arms of Belgrade is the official symbol of the City of Belgrade and is stable in three levels - as Basic or Small, Medium and Large.
The coat of arms of the Czech Republic is divided into two principal variants. Greater coat of arms displays the three historical regions—the Czech lands—which make up the nation. Lesser coat of arms displays lone silver double-tailed lion in red shield. The current coats of arms, which was adopted in 1992, was designed by Czech heraldist Jiří Louda.
The coat of arms of Denmark has a lesser and a greater version.
The coat of arms of Greece or national seal of Greece comprises a white Greek cross on a blue escutcheon, surrounded by two laurel branches. It has been in use in its current form since 1975. Prior to the adoption of the current coat of arms, Greece used a number of different designs, some of which were not heraldic; the first heraldic design was introduced in 1832 and its main element, the blue shield with the white cross, has been the base for all other national coats of arms since then. The design is a heraldic representation of the Greek national flag adopted in 1822, which featured a white cross on a blue field.
The coat of arms of Portugal is the main heraldic insignia of Portugal. The present model was officially adopted on 30 June 1911, along with the present model of the Flag of Portugal. It is based on the coat of arms used by the Kingdom of Portugal since the Middle Ages. The coat of arms of Portugal is popularly referred as the Quinas.
The coat of arms of the King of Spain is the heraldic symbol representing the monarch of Spain. The current version of the monarch's coat of arms was adopted in 2014 but is of much older origin. The arms marshal the arms of the former monarchs of Castile, León, Aragon, and Navarre.
The coat of arms of Amsterdam is the official coat of arms symbol of the city of Amsterdam. It consists of a red shield and a black pale with three silver Saint Andrew's Crosses, the Imperial Crown of Austria, two golden lions, and the motto of Amsterdam. Several heraldic elements have their basis in the history of Amsterdam. The crosses and the crown can be found as decorations on different locations in the city.
The current coat of arms of Timișoara was adopted in 1995 and modified in 2009.
Coat of arms of Tallinn represents Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia.
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The flag of Riga is one of the official symbols of Riga, along with the coat of arms of Riga. The flag consists of a horizontal bicolour of blue and white, with the coat of arms of Riga in the middle.
The coat of arms of Guayaquil is used for the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil. Adopted in 1920, it's composed of a circle in blue with an inscribed silver star. The circumference is surrounded on both sides by two olive branches in the shape of a crown, linked at the bottom by a ribbon of gules. Under the ribbon is the slogan "Por Guayaquil independiente". It usually appears with an oval border in blue, although this is not an official version.