Coats of arms of the cities of the Penza province of the Russian Empire. Coats of arms of the provinces of the Russian Empire Coats of arms of the cities of the Russian Empire with a description

History of the coats of arms of the city of Kazan and the cities of the Kazan province. Coat of arms of the provincial city of Kazan.

But the Kazan coat of arms has a more ancient origin. The legend tells about the founding of the city. Kazan was built on a place where there were many snakes. The Tatar sorcerer lit fires and cast spells. The snakes died, and the snake king Zilant flew to a nearby mountain called Dzhilantau (Snake Mountain). On the vacant site, people built a city. However, they could not live in peace, since the snake king who settled nearby terrified them. Fortunately, the powerful wizard Hakim happened to be in the city and managed to kill the snake king with cunning witchcraft. In memory of this event, the image of Zilant was included in the city emblem under the Tatars.

Emblem of Kazan, 17th century.

The text is decorated with coats of arms depicted on the Land Map of the entire Kazan province, divided into counties, with plans, views and descriptions of each city and county, XVIII century (Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books of the N.I. Lobachevsky Scientific Library of Kazan State University, unit . 4477).
Visual materials on the department’s collections were prepared by ORRK bibliographers E.I. Amerkhanova and I.L. Novitskaya. We also used Text and illustrations (c) “Land coats of arms of Russia in the 12th-19th centuries”, Kazan magazine

http://kazadmin.narod.ru/gerbs/gerbs.html

In the Russian Empire, all provincial cities and most district cities had their own coats of arms. There were also coats of arms of provinces and regions. The coat of arms of a city or a separate region (province) received the right to exist if it was approved by the tsar. The design of the coat of arms was created by experienced draftsmen in the Heraldry Office. It was founded by Peter I in 1722. From the middle of the 19th century. In the Department of Heraldry of the Senate, a special Arms Department was in charge of coats of arms, which existed until 1917.

The term “city coat of arms” officially appeared in the royal decree of 1692. Peter I ordered the local administrative body (Prikaznaya Izba) of the city of Yaroslavl to have a seal with the image of the Yaroslavl coat of arms and the inscription “Seal of the City of Yaroslavl.” The tsar's decree was carried out by depicting on the seal the emblem of the Yaroslavl principality: a bear standing on its hind legs holds a halberd placed on its shoulder with its right paw. The Yaroslavl emblem was “copied” from the “Titular Book” of 1672 - the first Russian armorial. The coat of arms also corresponded to the legend about the founding of Yaroslavl, on the site of which Prince Yaroslav the Wise once allegedly killed a bear with an axe.

The “Titular Book” of 1672 contained drawings of the emblems of the lands, kingdoms and principalities that were part of the royal title (hence its name). Many of them gradually turned into city emblems, becoming the main figure of the coat of arms. From the “Titular Book” of 1672, images were borrowed for the coats of arms of Rostov the Great (deer), Ryazan (a standing man in a streltsy, then in a princely cap, with a saber or sword in one hand and a scabbard in the other), Vyatka (a hand emerging from a cloud with with a bow loaded with an arrow), Perm (a walking bear carries the Gospel on its back), etc.

Some old Russian cities - Novgorod, Pskov, Nizhny Novgorod - were provided with emblems for coats of arms by an even earlier monument - the Great State Seal of Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible (16th century). From the 16th–17th centuries. the seals of the tsar's governors and governors are known with the emblems of Astrakhan - a crown, under it a saber, Kazan - a dragon in a crown, Smolensk - a cannon, on the barrel of which sits the fantastic bird Gamayun.

The book “Symbols and Emblems”, containing several hundred drawings-emblems, as well as their interpretation in several languages, including Russian, served as a source for the coats of arms of Simbirsk (column under the crown), Tambov (beehive), Sevsk (rye sheaf ) etc. Banners with city symbols were sent to the regiments, and their drawings were collected in special collections - “banner armorials”. Two such armorials are known: one was made in 1712, the other in 1729–1730. Many Russian cities borrowed their coats of arms from these military coats of arms: Kolomna (white column, crown at the top, stars on the sides of the column), Penza (three sheaves: wheat, barley, millet), Samara (wild white goat on green grass). For the first time, the Office of the Arms of Arms was professionally involved in the compilation of coats of arms of cities, where Count Francis Santi was “specially” responsible for the preparation of coats of arms. He decided to draw coats of arms for Russian cities based on their characteristics. To do this, a questionnaire was sent to many cities with questions about the city: its history, economy, fortifications, flora and fauna around the city. Based on the information received, Santi drew up a city emblem. For example, in a description sent from Tula it was reported that a factory had been built on the banks of the Upa River where “fusée and pistol barrels and bayonet tubes” were made. This information is reflected in the figure of the Tula coat of arms, which is a gun barrel, two sword blades are superimposed on it in the form of an St. Andrew's cross, and two hammers at the bottom and at the top.

Under Catherine II, the government began to grant coats of arms to cities. This is due to major administrative reforms that began in 1775. As a result of these reforms, a new administrative division of Russia was created (several provinces were united into governorships), along with provincial governments, city governments also arose. Following the decree on the formation of the governorship, a decree appeared on coats of arms, which were assigned to each city of the governorship. All rights of the city to the coat of arms were secured by the “Certificate of Rights and Benefits to the Cities of the Russian Empire” - the Charter, published on April 21, 1785. Among the city privileges granted to the Russian city by Catherine II was the right to have a coat of arms. During the years of reform, from 1775 to 1785, several hundred city coats of arms were compiled and approved. This process continued until 1917.

The shape of the city coat of arms has changed compared to the pre-reform one. The viceroyal coat of arms was now located in the upper part of the coat of arms, and the city coat of arms in the lower part (previously, the coat of arms occupied the entire field of the shield). Headed the Stamp Department in the middle of the 19th century. Baron B.V. Köhne proposed to place the coat of arms of the province, according to the rules of heraldry, in the “free” part of the shield (empty, not bearing any figure) of the city coat of arms. Köhne introduced new attributes and decorations for city coats of arms: crowns crowning the coat of arms, frames of oak leaves and order ribbons, corresponding to the status of the city.

The first Soviet city coat of arms was the coat of arms of Moscow (and the Moscow province). The Presidium of the Moscow Council approved it on September 22, 1924. The composition of the coat of arms is very complex, unmemorable, it included many emblems. Maybe that's why his life span was short. Currently, this coat of arms can be seen in the lattice framing the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge across the Moscow River.

Since the 60s. a new stage in the development of city heraldry began. Coats of arms of new cities that appeared on the map of our country during Soviet times began to be created. The city's coat of arms continues to this day. Many ancient Russian cities are reviving their former coats of arms.

We continue the story about the ancient coats of arms of Russian cities. In our next publication - coats of arms of the cities of the Kaluga province.

An explanation of the symbolism of the coats of arms is given from the book “Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire”. St. Petersburg 1830

After the name of the city, the time of its foundation or first mention in the chronicle and all the names of the city are indicated in brackets. Spelling is given according to the original source.

Coat of arms of the city of Borovsk. XIII century

During the time of the second impostor Demetrius, the city of Borovsk and the monastery located in this city were... besieged; Onago’s defenders were: the governors Prince Mikhailo Volkonsky, Yakov Zmiev and Afanasy Chelishchev with many others, and the last two, betraying the fatherland and the sovereign, surrendered the city and the monastery to this villain. Prince Volkonsky did not stop defending himself, even as he was pierced by many blows; in the very church of the Pafnuty Monastery, near the left choir, his stomach died. Reminiscent of this, the coat of arms of this city consists of: in a silver field, depicting innocence and sincerity, a scarlet heart, showing fidelity, in the middle of which there is a cross... and this heart is surrounded by a green laurel crown, showing the indestructibility and firm presence worthy of glory of this leader and others who died for fair reason with him.

Coat of arms of the city of Kaluga. 1371

On a blue field there is a horizontally twisted silver crossbar, meaning the Oka River, which flows near this city, and in the upper part of the shield there is an imperial golden crown...

Coat of arms of the city of Kozelsk. 1146

During Batu’s stay in Russia, this city, having been the inheritance of the young prince Vasily Titych, was besieged by Tatar troops, and although the prince’s youth should have weakened its inhabitants... they decided to make a sortie and, together with their young prince, perish or be saved. This was accomplished by them, but from the superior number of Tatars they were all beaten, and with their prince, to whom they testified their loyalty by their very death. As a reminder of this adventure, their coat of arms is set in a scarlet field, signifying bloodshed, on a cross placed five silver shields with black crosses, expressing the courage of their defenders and the unfortunate fate, and four golden crosses showing their fidelity.

Coat of arms of the city of Likhvin. The year of foundation is unknown, since 1944 - Chekalin.

It was the Tatar custom to give evil-signifying names to those cities that strongly defended themselves against them and caused significant harm to them, from which the name of this city came from; and so in the scarlet field, signifying bloodshed, his coat of arms is indicated: a standing ermine lion with a golden tongue and claws, facing to the right; in his right paw he holds a brandished golden sword, and in his left a silver shield with a black cross, showing the nobility and courage of its inhabitants of that time...

Coat of arms of the city of Maloyaroslavets (XIV century.

The ancient city of Yaroslavl, which has a bear in its coat of arms, gives the reason for prescribing the same coat of arms, with the difference, however, that in this case the bear is on a silver field, and the shield is surrounded by a crimson jagged edge.

Coat of arms of the city of Medyn. XIV century

A blue shield covered with golden bees, expressing both the abundance of them around this city and the very name of it.

Coat of arms of the city of Meshchovsk. End of the 13th century

In a green field there are three golden ears of grain, placed with the rafters up, showing the fruitfulness of the surrounding fields.

Coat of arms of the city of Mosalsk. 1231

In a silver field, a black eagle, crowned with a princely crown, with a golden cross, placed diagonally, which he holds in the left claws, and in the right, a scarlet shield with a princely crown, crowned with the golden letter M., expressing that this city was part of the Chernigov Possessions, and belonged to one of the princes of Chernigov, who had their own coat of arms, and to distinguish it from the coat of arms of that kind of princes, the silver field of this eagle has a jagged edge of azure color.

Coat of arms of the city of Odoev. Second half of the 14th century. Now it is an urban-type settlement.

Since this city belonged to the Chernigov regions, the very coat of arms of Chernigov belongs to it, as the inheritance of the then eldest tribe of these princes, that is, in a scarlet field, a black single-headed eagle holding in its right claws a golden cross, diagonally placed, with a difference from the Chernigov coat of arms in the position at the top golden title.

Coat of arms of the city of Przemysl. First half of the 14th century. Now it's a village.

In a blue field, from top to bottom, there is a silver crossbar, showing the Oka River flowing near this city, and on both sides two golden sheaves representing the rich

Pages of the history of the harvest of the fields located around this city.

Coat of arms of the city of Serpeisk. 1406 Now - a village.

In a green field are two silver sickles, folded together, with golden handles, expressing the very name of this city.

Coat of arms of the city of Sukhinichi. First half of the 18th century

The shield is divided into two parts: in the upper part there is the coat of arms of Kaluga, and in the lower part, in a blue field, there are trading scales and under them two barrels.

Coat of arms of the city of Tarusa. 1246

A silver shield with a blue stripe from top to bottom, showing the flow of the Taruz River, after which this city is named.

The coats of arms of the cities of the Kaluga province were “composed” by the king of arms Prince Shcherbatov in 1777.

The rule to place part or all of the coat of arms of the provincial city in the coats of arms of county towns was established in 1778. The description of the city coats of arms of Kozelsk and Likhvin reflects the heroic struggle of the Russian people against foreign invaders.

Kozelsk, which Batu Khan called “an evil city,” became especially famous for its courageous defense in the spring of 1238. For seven weeks, the residents defended their city, destroyed four thousand invaders, but in an unequal battle they all died.

The coat of arms of Maloyaroslavets uses the ancient emblem of Yaroslavl - a bear with an axe.

The king of arms borrowed the Yaroslavl emblem only due to the similarity of the names of these cities.

In two city coats of arms - Mosalsk and Odoev, the ancient emblem of Chernigov is used - a single-headed black eagle with a cross in its claws. This was done because in ancient times Mosalsk belonged to the Chernigov principality, and Odoev belonged to the descendants of the Chernigov princes, the Odoevsky princes.

We continue the story about the ancient coats of arms of Russian cities. In our next publication - coats of arms of the cities of the Riga province. The description of the symbolism of the coats of arms is given according to the book “Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire” (St. Petersburg, 1830-1916). The time of the founding of the city or the first mention of it in the chronicle and all its names are indicated in brackets. As in previous publications, we attribute the city to the province to which it belonged at the time the coat of arms was drawn up for it.

RIGA (X-XI centuries, first mentioned in 1198). In a blue field there is a stone wall with an open gate and a raised iron grate; in the gate lies a crowned golden lion's head; on the wall there are two towers with golden weather vanes, between which two iron keys are placed crosswise, and above them a golden cross and a crown; the State Russian coat of arms is visible on the sides of the wall.

ARENSBURG (XII century, from 1917 - Kuressaare, in 1952-1990 - Kinggisepp, now in Estonia). In a blue field there is an old episcopal palace and a castle with towers; in the wall there is a gate with a soaring eagle.

VALK (XIII century, since 1917 - Valka, now in Latvia, adjacent to it is the city of Valga in Estonia). In a green field, a hand with a sword emerging from silver clouds.

WENDEN (XII century, in Russian chronicles - Kes, from 1917 - Cesis in Latvia). In the silver field there is a city wall with four towers, at the gate there is a raised golden lattice, above the gate there is a warrior in armor with a shield and sword.

VERRO (1784, from 1917 - Võru, now in Estonia). In the golden field there is a spruce tree as a sign that there is a lot of this tree around the city.

VOLMAR (XIII century, in Russian chronicles - Vladimerets; since 1917 - Valmiera, now in Latvia). In a golden field there is a bull's head from which an oak tree emerges.

DERPT (V century, from 1130 - Yuryev, from 1224 - Dorpat, from 1869 - again Yuryev, from 1919 - Tartu in Estonia). In the silver field there is a city wall with two towers, with open gates, with a raised lattice; above the bars there is a lion's head, at the gate there is a golden star, and under it a crescent; between the towers there is a sword and a key, and above them a crown.

LEMSAL (13th century, from 1918 - Limbazi, now in Latvia). In a blue field there are three city towers with open gates, in which a lion's head and a raised iron grille are visible; Above the gate, two staffs are placed crosswise, and above them is the Bishop’s face.

PERNOV (1251, Pernau, since 1917 - Pärnu, now in Estonia). In a blue field, a hand emerging from the clouds holds a golden cross, and on the left side of the shield a golden key is visible.

FELLIN (1211, from 1917 - Viljandi, now in Estonia). The shield is divided into two parts: on the right there is a rose, above it are nine golden stars and to the side is a cross; on the left is the image of the Virgin Mary with Jesus Christ.

The Riga Governorate was formed in 1714 after the capture of Riga by Russian troops in 1710. The Baltic lands, annexed to Russia as a result of the Russian victory over the Swedes during the Seven Years' War of 1700-1721, were called Livonia or Livonia. At that time, they occupied the southern part of modern Estonia and the adjacent northern part of modern Latvia (up to the Daugava River). Later, in 1796, the province was transformed and received the name Livlyandskaya, but Riga remained its provincial city.

The coats of arms of the cities of the Riga province were supremely approved on October 4, 1788. Unlike most other cities of the Russian Empire, almost all the cities that were included in the Riga province already had coats of arms, which they had received over the centuries from kings, princes and other overlords who owned the cities at different times. These coats of arms were used almost unchanged. Therefore, before the description of the symbolism of the coats of arms of the Riga province, in addition to the coat of arms of the city of Verro, the old coat of arms was added in the original source.

After the renaming of the province to Livlyandskaya, only one new coat of arms was drawn up - the Livlyandskaya province itself, approved on December 8, 1856: “In a scarlet field there is a silver vulture with a golden sword, on the chest, under the Imperial crown, a scarlet monogram: PV IV (Peter the Second, Emperor of All Russia ). The shield is crowned with the Imperial crown and surrounded by golden oak leaves connected by St. Andrew’s ribbon.”

The coat of arms of the provincial city of Riga - a city wall with gates and towers - is one of the oldest coats of arms of the Baltic states. It remained almost unchanged throughout its history, only its details changed, depending on who received power over the city. The earliest image of the Riga coat of arms is found on document seals from 1225-1226. This coat of arms shows a stone wall with an open gate and two towers at the edges. Between the towers are two horizontally placed keys with a staff in the middle. The encyclopedia “Riga” (Riga, 1989) gives the following explanation of the elements of the coat of arms: the wall symbolizes the independence of the city, the keys (St. Peter) - the guardianship of the papal curia, and the staff - belonging to the bishop. In 1330, Riga became dependent on the Livonian Order. This was reflected in its coat of arms - instead of a staff, an order cross appeared and under it two crossed keys, and in the open gate there was a lion's head, symbolizing the courage of the Riga residents. In the 16th century, the coat of arms was supplemented with the figures of two lions supporting a shield. In 1621, Riga was conquered by the Swedes; in 1660, the Swedish government granted Riga the privilege of allowing the heraldic lion to wear a crown. The crown was also placed above the towers, while the white color of the shield field was replaced by blue, and the red color of the order's cross by gilding.

In Russian sources, Baltic coats of arms appeared for the first time on the seals of Ivan the Terrible. Thus, on the seal of 1564 of the royal governor in Livonia (see picture) there is a “double-headed eagle, and on the eagle’s right feet is the coat of arms of the Master of Livonia, and on the left feet is the coat of arms of the Yuri Biskup”; near the seal there is a signature: “this is the seal of the royal majesty of the boyar and governor of the governor of the land of Liflya.”

On the large state seal of Ivan the Terrible of 1578, among others, the coats of arms of three Baltic cities (lands) are placed, but they do not correspond, as on the seal of 1564, to the coats of arms of these cities (see figure). Thus, the inscription “seal of the master of the Liflan land” surrounds the emblem identified by the historian G. Stockl as the family coat of arms of Wilhelm Furstenberg, the master who was captured by the Russians in 1560, and the inscription “seal of the city of Re-vale” surrounds the coat of arms of the city of Wenden. The last emblem “seal of the arfibiskop (archbishop - O.R.) of Riga” is a drawing from a Riga coin of the 16th century. All these mistakes occurred, most likely, due to the hasty production of the seal, the desire to record on it the lands newly conquered during the Livonian War of 1558-1583.

The following, in time, coats of arms of the Baltic cities and lands are in the banner armorial of 1730.

Here is a description of these coats of arms.

Livlyandsky- in a golden shield on a red field there is a white vulture bird with four legs, with wings and a tail, holding a sword and having a shield with an imperial monogram on its chest.

Rizhsky- in a golden shield on a blue field there are two red towers with white spokes and between them a red gate, in which are depicted: a slingshot and under it a lion’s head; On the sides of the tower there is half a black eagle with a golden crown, and above the gate there are two crosswise keys, and above them there is a cross and a golden crown. Under the towers and gates there is green land.

Wendensky- in a golden shield on a white field there is a red city with towers, above the gates of which there is a knight in armor, armed with a sword and shield.

Pernovsky- in a golden shield on a blue field there is a hand coming out of the clouds and holding a long white cross, next to which is a white key.

Dorpat- in a golden shield on a white field there are two red towers; between them is a gate with a slingshot and a crescent, and above them a golden key and a sword under a crown lie crosswise.

Ezelian- in a golden shield on a blue field there is a white single-headed eagle.

The description of the coats of arms is given according to the book: Viskovatov A.V. “Historical description of clothing and weapons of the Russian troops” (St. Petersburg, 1842). As you can see, the coats of arms from the banner armorial almost completely coincide with the coats of arms of these cities of the Riga province, officially approved later, in 1788. They differ only in the shape of the shield and the color of some details.

Cities are somewhat like people: they are born, grow, experience ups and downs. A person who has reached the age of majority is given a passport, and a city that has overcome the status of a settlement is given its own “identity card,” a coat of arms. To those uninitiated in the mysteries of heraldry, it will seem like nothing more than an amusing picture, an arbitrary set of symbols, but in fact, each such “picture,” like a barcode, carries a lot of information.

From emblem to coat of arms

The first city coats of arms that appeared in Europe became a symbol of the struggle of “free citizens” against feudal overlords. Medieval Russian cities, with the exception of Novgorod and Pskov, did not even dream of independence, remaining princely estates. The princes were at enmity, cities were changing hands - no time for coats of arms! By the end of the 15th century, a centralized state had been established, but there was still no city symbolism. It could not arise on the initiative “from below”: any manifestation of “independence” was punished mercilessly. Therefore, we owe the formation and development of Russian heraldry to the “tops”. The “Tsar's Titular Book,” created in 1672 under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, for the first time included all the territorial emblems (not yet coats of arms!) of the Russian lands. However, over time, some images of the “Titular Book” became city coats of arms. For example, the Novgorod emblem - two bears supporting a golden chair with a candlestick, a scepter and a cross - received the “title” of the coat of arms of Novgorod in 1781.

"Peacocks, you say?"

The victorious march of city coats of arms in Russia begins under Peter I. The creation of coats of arms becomes a matter of national importance, one of the elements of administrative reform. The Tsar, by order, ordered all cities to acquire their own symbols, and those who do not have them, “to draw decent ones again in the Heraldry Office,” established in 1722. The difficult work of developing standards for domestic heraldry was entrusted to a foreign specialist - the Italian Count Francis Santi. He sent out a questionnaire “to the localities” asking the city authorities to provide information about the history, economy and geography of the cities. The responses were different. For example, Serpukhov reported that their city is famous for... peacocks, which are bred by the monks of the local monastery. “Peacocks, you say”? And now the strange overseas bird proudly spreads its luxurious tail on the city coat of arms.

"By the grace of her imperial majesty"

After the death of Peter I, the coat-of-arms creation process froze for decades and revived only under Catherine II. The enlightened empress grants the cities a “letter of grant”, which for the first time in Russia declares the principles of city self-government, in particular the right of the city to have a coat of arms. But things did not go beyond declarations: the real powers of the city authorities were extremely limited, and coats of arms did not become an honorary right. They appeared mainly “by the grace of Her Imperial Majesty.” For example, during a trip to Russia, Catherine liked the reception in Kostroma so much that the city was thanked with a coat of arms - an imperial galley sailing along the river. It floats on the Kostroma coat of arms to this day...

Symbolism of the "power vertical"

Under Catherine II, heraldic “know-how” appeared on the coats of arms of county towns: a designation of their belonging to the province. For example, on the coat of arms of the city of Kirzhach, the city symbol itself (owl) is depicted in the lower half, and the coat of arms of the provincial city of Vladimir (lion) is depicted in the upper half. Therefore, Kirzhach is a city in the Vladimir province. A purely Russian invention: European heraldry did not know such a simple and understandable graphic display of the “vertical of power” in the coat of arms of cities (such a function was, in principle, alien to the city coats of arms of Europe). However, this is convenient: I looked at the city’s coat of arms and immediately understood where it was.

"The Twilight German Genius"

In the second half of the 19th century, coats of arms were concentrated in the coat of arms department of the heraldry department, which was headed by the German baron Bernhard Köhne. Once again the development of Russian coat of arms was in the hands of a foreigner! It was Koehne who became the author of the Great Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire and the family coat of arms of the House of Romanov. The “ideological load” in city heraldry increased: crowns and Alexander ribbons appeared on the coats of arms - “speaking” symbols of the power of Alexander II. By the way, the emperor personally approved each coat of arms. The coats of arms of industrial cities were framed with two golden hammers, trade cities with ears of corn, and port cities with anchors. The coat of arms of the city of Novocherkassk, approved in 1878, stands apart. The “gloomy German genius” Köhne bordered the coat of arms with as many as four banners, a crown and the unchanged Alexander ribbon. The Baron had clearly lost his sense of proportion.

Between a rock and a hard place

In the post-Soviet era, dozens of old coats of arms, granted to cities by “all-merciful” tsarist decrees, were restored. Paradoxical but true: the sign of royal favor towards loyal citizens suddenly turned into a symbol of sovereignty and self-government. “From Moscow to the very outskirts,” many large and small cities have acquired both lost symbolism and its new meaning. Many modern coats of arms also appeared. Their advantage lies in ease of perception, a laconic display of the distinctive features inherent in this particular city. For example, Reutov, located near Moscow, has a silver dove sitting on a golden bell. Once upon a time there was a small fortress and a watchtower with a bell - “reut”. If enemies approached the fortress, the guards would ring the bell, alerting the garrison, and send a carrier pigeon to Moscow with the news of the attack. Today, coats of arms can be seen at the entrance to any city, on official papers, badges, stamps, labels; not a single city holiday is complete without them. Figuratively speaking, the Russian city coat of arms remains both “with a shield” and “on a shield”.

Dmitry Kazennov