History
The first coat of arms of Warsaw depicted a dragon with a male human head, carrying a sword and a shield. The first known usage was on a seal from 1390. This is the oldest existing armed seal of Warsaw, consisting of a round seal bordered with the Latin inscription Sigilium Civitatis Varsoviensis (Seal of the city of Warsaw). [2] Gradually the male head and body was replaced with that of a female, and by the end of 16th century the tail was also changed from that of a dragon to that of a fish. The only remaining parts of the original coat of arms are the sword and shield.
Beginning in the early 17th century Warsaw records associate a sword-wielding mermaid with the city. [3] Since 1622, the Warsaw arms have been rendered as a mermaid with sword and shield in hand, representing Melusina from the River Vistula (Wisła), who in legend led Duke Bolesław II of Masovia (1262–1313) to the appropriate site (a fishing village) and ordered him to found the city, in about 1294. The origin of the legendary figure is not fully known. [4] The city's motto is, appropriately, Contemnit procellas ("It defies the storms").
Modern usage
The current official design of the symbol was introduced in 1938 but it was only used in this form until the beginning of World War II. After 1945, Communist authorities changed the emblem by removing the crown. The insignia was restored to the pre-war form on August 15, 1990.
In addition there is a "Great Emblem of the Capital City of Warsaw" (Herb Wielki Miasta Stołecznego Warszawy) used only for ceremonial occasions. It includes a depiction of the Virtuti Militari medal, which was awarded to the City to honor the bravery of its citizens during World War II. It also adds the second motto to the emblem — Semper invicta (Always invincible). [5]
Every member of the Queen's Royal Hussars of the United Kingdom light cavalry wears the Maid of Warsaw, the crest of the City of Warsaw, on the left sleeve of his No. 2 (Service) Dress. [6] Members of 651 Squadron Army Air Corps of the United Kingdom also wear the Maid of Warsaw on the left sleeve of their No. 2 (Service) Dress. [7]
The wyvern is a type of mythical dragon with two legs, two wings, and often a pointed tail which is said to be a venomous stinger.
The coat of arms of Lithuania is a mounted armoured knight holding a sword and shield, known as Vytis. Since the early 15th century, it has been Lithuania's official coat of arms and is one of the oldest European coats of arms. It is also known by other names in various languages, such as Waykimas, Pagaunė in the Lithuanian language or as Pogonia, Pogoń, Пагоня in the Polish, and Belarusian languages. Vytis is translatable as Chase, Pursuer, Knight or Horseman, similar to the Slavic vityaz. Historically – raitas senovės karžygys or in heraldry – raitas valdovas.
The coat of arms of Poland is a white, crowned eagle with a golden beak and talons, on a red background.
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 coat of arms was originally created around the year 1580.
The flag of the city of Warsaw, the capital of Poland, is a bicolour rectangle, divided into two equally-sized horizontal stripes: yellow at the top, and red at the bottom. It began being used in 1938 without official status, and was officially adopted by the city, in 1991.
The Prince of Wales's feathers are the heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales, the heir to the British throne. The badge consists of three white ostrich feathers encircled by a gold coronet. A ribbon below the coronet bears the German motto Ich dien. As well as being used in royal heraldry, the feathers are sometimes used to symbolise Wales itself, particularly in Welsh rugby union and Welsh regiments of the British Army.
The national emblem of Indonesia is called Garuda Pancasila. The main part is the Garuda with a heraldic shield on its chest and a scroll gripped by its legs. The shield's five emblems represent Pancasila, the five principles of Indonesia's national ideology. The Garuda claws gripping a white ribbon scroll inscribed with the national motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika written in black text, which can be loosely translated as "Unity in Diversity". Garuda Pancasila was designed by Sultan Hamid II from Pontianak, supervised by Sukarno, and was adopted as the national emblem on 11 February 1950.
The Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts contains the coat of arms of Massachusetts. The coat of arms is encircled by the Latin text "Sigillum Reipublicæ Massachusettensis". The Massachusetts Constitution designates the form of government a "commonwealth", for which respublica is the correct Latin term. The seal uses the coat of arms of Massachusetts as its central element.
The coat of arms of Haiti is the national coat of arms of the Republic of Haiti. It was originally introduced in 1807, and it has appeared in its current form since 1986. Since this Haitian national symbol does not conform to the rules of heraldry for a traditional coat of arms, then it could be considered a national emblem instead.
The coat of arms of Niger shows a trophy of four national flags, in the colors orange, white, and green. In the middle, the state seal is arranged. On a green or gold shield the four golden symbols are shown. In the middle, there is a sun, to the left there is a vertical spear with two crossed Tuareg swords, to the right are three pearl millet heads and underneath is the frontal view of a zebu head. Under the coat of arms, there is a ribbon bearing the name of the country in French: Republique du Niger. While the constitution of Niger stipulates the color of the symbols upon the shield, there is no uniformity on the color of the shield. The 1999 Constitution reproduces the text of earlier constitutions, making a distinction between the Seal of State for which no shield colour is stipulated and the Coat of Arms of the Republic for which Sinople is stipulated as the shield colour. Sinople is analogous to Vert (Green) in heraldry, but official buildings and documents do not display green shields. Embassies and official documents use white, with gold emblems. The website of the President of Niger uses gold or yellow with dark gold or black emblems. The National Assembly of Niger meets below a large coat of arms with the shield coloured gold and the emblems in a darker gold.
The coat of arms of Moscow depicts a horseman with a spear in his hand slaying a basilisk and is identified with Saint George and the Dragon. The heraldic emblem of Moscow has been an integral part of the coat of arms of Russia since the 16th century.
The original coat of arms of Ustka, Poland was created in 1922 by local artist Wilhelm Granzow.
The coat of arms of the City of London Corporation is the official coat of arms granted to the City of London Corporation. The Corporation governs the City of London, one of the 33 administrative areas within Greater London, England.
A national coat of arms is a symbol which denotes an independent state in the form of a heraldic achievement. While a national flag is usually used by the population at large and is flown outside and on ships, a national coat of arms is normally considered a symbol of the government or the head of state personally and tends to be used in print, on armorial ware, and as a wall decoration in official buildings. The royal arms of a monarchy, which may be identical to the national arms, are sometimes described as arms of dominion or arms of sovereignty.
The emblem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) was adopted on 10 July 1918 by the government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and modified several times afterwards. It shows wheat as the symbol of agriculture, a rising sun for the future of the Russian nation, the red star as well as the hammer and sickle for the victory of communism and the "world-wide socialist community of states".
The Mermaid of Warsaw is a symbol of Warsaw, represented on the city's coat of arms as well as in a number of statues and other imagery.
The 321st Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry unit of the United States Army during the interwar period. The unit was activated as a Missouri and Arkansas Organized Reserve unit during the interwar period. It was converted into a signal aircraft warning regiment after the United States entered World War II.
Heraldry is the system of visual identification of rank and pedigree which developed in the European High Middle Ages, closely associated with the courtly culture of chivalry, Latin Christianity, the Crusades, feudal aristocracy, and monarchy of the time. Heraldic tradition fully developed in the 13th century, and it flourished and developed further during the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. Originally limited to nobility, heraldry is adopted by wealthy commoners in the Late Middle Ages. Specific traditions of Ecclesiastical heraldry also develop in the late medieval period. Coats of arms of noble families, often after their extinction, becomes attached to the territories they used to own, giving rise to municipal coats of arms by the 16th century.
The coat of arms of the city of Gdańsk, in its current form, dates back to 1410 and Banderia Prutenorum. The coat of arms is very similar to the flag of Gdańsk. It depicts two silver crosses on a red shield above each other, above which hovers a golden crown. The greater arms also has two lions as supporters and Gdańsk motto.
