Vladimir's coat of arms - a symbol with an ancient history

Vladimir - a city in the heart of European Russia - has a special significance for Russian identity. It is a part of the Golden Ring of Russia, it has preserved many monuments of ancient Russian architecture, witnesses to the complex and changeable fate of the country.
A real historical monument is the coat of arms of Vladimir. Its origin is almost as old as the city itself.

The city of Klyazma

Historians occasionally have arguments about the date of the founding of the city. Officially, its founder is Vladimir Monomakh, who in 1108 began the construction of a powerful defensive fortification on a high hill on the banks of the Klyazma River. Some historians suggest that Vladimir is considered a whole century older. They are based on the fact that in the annals, where the baptism of Rus is described by Prince Vladimir the Sainte, it is said about the founding of the city by the prince of the priests in 990.

Subsequently, Vladimir experienced much - and the rise to the capital of a huge at the time of the principality, and complete ruin. He was destined to be in the center of civil strife, when many eminent lords of the principalities of all ancient Rus fought for his throne. The city was owned at different times by Yuri Dolgoruky, Andrei Bogolyubsky, Vsevolod the Big Nest, Dmitry Donskoy, Alexander Nevsky. From time immemorial there is the coat of arms of Vladimir. The history of the origin of heraldic symbols depicted on it, counts for many centuries.

The lion's lion

The lion, or the lion's head, is a motif that is very often found among the white-stone decor of the cathedrals of Suzdal, Vladimir and other cities of the Golden Ring. "Leopard Beasts", "running leopards" and other felines were painted on frescoes in the interior church decor. Similar images were used by the ancient chroniclers to design hand-written books. True, the animal poses, the details of the figure, the attributes that the animal paws hold, are of great variety, and it is difficult to directly bring the coat of arms of the Vladimir lion from one particular source.

Historians have not yet found out the exact origin of that lion, which contains the coat of arms of the city of Vladimir, but the fact that such a mighty beast was present on princely seals and banners of Vladimir-Suzdal princes is confidently confirmed by many researchers. So, the running lion was the arms of the family of Prince Svyatoslav Rostislavovich, who ruled in Vladimir in the 13th century.

"Titular" of the XVII century

In the spring of 1672, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was given a magnificent gift. The head of the Posolsky order, boyar Artamon Matveyev, presented him with a large manuscript volume, which was given to historians by the name "Tsar's Titular". It was a kind of reference book, richly illustrated with images of Russian and foreign rulers and artfully executed coats of arms of foreign countries, as well as lands that were part of the Russian state.

Contained in the "Titular" and the coat of arms of Vladimir. His image in the royal "directory" - one of the very first, close to the traditional. It is a lion with a crown on its head, walking on its hind legs, holding a four-pointed cross. True, his head is turned in profile, and he steps to the right side.

Modifications

The Russian Empress Catherine II tried to restore order in everything, including state heraldry. By her decree, the symbols of the largest cities of the empire were approved. The emblem of Vladimir in 1781 became the classic emblem of the city. Subsequent historical cataclysms only slightly modernized it.

German heraldists, invited by Alexander II to bring Russian symbols to European standards, supplied the coats of arms with garlands of oak leaves with Andrew's ribbon and crowned with the imperial crown, but the crowned lion on the red shield remained the same, although in the description it was called the "leopard leopard".

In the Soviet era, the arms of the city of Vladimir tried to deprive monarchical and religious symbols - the lion lost the crown, and instead of the silver cross they tried to give him a staff.

Modern look

In the spring of 1992, the legislative bodies of the Vladimir Region restored the historical coat of arms of Vladimir. Description of the symbol of the city now sounds the same as in imperial times: on the red field - a lion standing on its hind legs, crowned with an iron crown, in its right paw - a long silver four-pointed cross. Another official attribute of the ancient Russian city - the flag - is very similar to the coat of arms. This is a red cloth with the same crowned "lion leopard" in the center.

Time goes by changing the values of ancient symbols. Today, the lion does not look like the personification of the formidable and unshakable power of princely power. For the famous Russian tourist center, which is visited annually by hundreds of thousands of travelers from around the world, this is not relevant. The silver cross also does not have the theological content that was in the old days. Today, it's just a reminder of the long and difficult road traversed by the ancient Russian city.