The flag and the coat of arms of Balashikha: description, history, meaning

Balashikha is an important industrial center of the Moscow region, one of the leaders in the region in terms of residential construction. For many, this city is attractive due to its excellent social infrastructure and geographical proximity to the capital. In the article we will briefly describe not only the city itself, but also its official symbols. What does the coat of arms and flag of Balashikha look like?

Balashikha: a short portrait of the city

Balashikha is a city in the central part of the Moscow region, which borders directly with Moscow. The western part of it partially passes through the Moscow Ring Road. Balashikha is one of the five largest cities in Russia, which are not the centers of the subjects of the federation. Today, about 430 thousand people live here.

Balashikha is located within the Meshchera lowland, surrounded by pine and mixed forests (forest tracts are wedged into almost all urban areas). The settlement was founded in 1830 and for a long time remained the most important center of the textile industry in Russia. Today it is one of the most developed (economically) cities of the Moscow region. They produce cryogenic equipment, loader cranes, concrete mixing plants, plastic products, repair some types of aircraft and helicopters.

As for the origin of the city's name, there are several versions. According to one of them, it is associated with the name "Balash" of Turkic origin, on the other - with a Kaluga marsh (a plant whose dialect name is "balakh"). Some researchers connect the name of the city with the name of the famous Russian general and landowner AD Balashov.

Symbols of the city

In autumn 2015, all comers were officially presented with the updated flag and the coat of arms of Balashikha. This update was associated primarily with the accession to the city of Zheleznodorozhny - previously an independent settlement. Accordingly, the new flag and the coat of arms of Balashikha combined the heraldic symbols of two cities - the abolished and the now existing. It:

• compass;
• Cogwheel (pinion);
• Tree branch;
• Arc arch with a bell;
• rising Sun;
• And the railway track.

Developing a new concept of urban symbols, the heraldists listened and took into account all the wishes and recommendations of local residents. In addition, they thoroughly studied the history and characteristics of both settlements. That is why both the flag and the coat of arms of Balashikha came out extremely interesting and informative.

The flag of Balashikha

One of the official symbols of Balashikha is the flag. It is a rectangular panel of standard size, with a classic ratio of 2: 3. The flag cloth is divided into four identical in shape and size parts. Two of them are red, and two are blue. In opposite parts of the flag, the graphic elements (figures) are repeated.

In the red fields are depicted the historical symbols of Balashikha proper: compasses, a fragment of a gear and a branch of a tree. All these figures are yellow. In the fields of blue there is a white horse arch with a bell and an ascending yellow sun. These are the traditional symbols of the now-abolished settlement of Zheleznodorozhny.

The colors for the flag of Balashikha are not chosen by chance. So, the red tint symbolizes labor and courage, yellow - wealth and generosity, and blue - sincerity, purity and rebirth.

The coat of arms of Balashikha - what does it mean?

The city coat of arms is a shield of the French type. It is also divided into four rectangular fields of the same size. According to the color design and selection of graphic objects, the modern coat of arms of Balashikha practically does not differ from the flag of this city. There is only one distinctive detail. On the arms, in contrast to the flag, there is an additional figure - the railway track.

What are all the images that are present in the modern coat of arms of Balashikha? Everything is really very simple:

• Compasses are a symbol of local scientific and technical achievements;
• The gear symbolizes the development of the city (primarily industrial);
• The branch of the tree hints at the fact that Balashikha enters the so-called green zone of Moscow;
• The rising sun is a classic symbol of the desire for knowledge and development;
• The white track is an image of a railway laid here in 1862;
• A horse arch with a bell is a direct hint that the city stands on the ancient path connecting Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod.