Heraldry as a science helps history preserve the memory of facts and events of the past. Thanks to the emblems, we can learn about the features of the development of various territorial associations and the fate of the famous representatives of the Russian state.
Coat of arms as a historical source
The coat of arms is an important identifying iconic and symbolic sign through which the history of a country, city, clan is transmitted. The word "coat of arms" itself comes from the Polish word translated "inheritance".
An optional part of the coat of arms is the image on the mandatory part - the shield. In fact, the image is an emblem, but the emblem itself cannot be considered an emblem, since it stores information transmitted from generation to generation, related, inter alia, to traditions.
Belgorod - a city with a history
The birth of the city is associated with a fortification called the Northern Mound, which arose near the mouth of the Vyazelitsa River (on the banks of the North Donets) in the X century. An earthen settlement arose on the Cretaceous Mountain to protect against enemies moving inland through the waterways.
The stone fortification was erected on the site of an earthen settlement under Tsar Fedor Ioannovich in the 16th century. And in the XVII century, in order to protect against the attacks of the Crimean Tatars, a more powerful defense fortification was erected - the Belgorod notch line. On the territory of the line, the historical part of the city of Belgorod arose.
In the middle of the XVII century, the Great Belgorod Infantry Regiment was founded on the territory of Belgorod. Grigory Grigoryevich Romodanovsky was put at the head of this regiment. The Belgorod Infantry Regiment made an invaluable contribution to the outcome of military clashes with Poland and Sweden, including the result of military operations of the beginning of the 18th century led by Peter I.
In the first half of the XVIII century, namely 1727, Belgorod became the center of the province, which also became known as Belgorod. And in the middle of the century (after the fire), the city was almost completely rebuilt and became a major industrial and cultural center of Russia. It was through Belgorod that land routes stretched to St. Petersburg and Moscow from the south. Imperial persons also traveled along these roads.
In 2007, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, the city was awarded the title "City of Military Glory" for its contribution to the victory of the Russian people over fascism. Having been occupied in 1942, the city not only lived, but also fought: an underground organization worked in it, and partisan detachments were created in the forests around.
All these historical facts are reflected in the image of the coat of arms.
Coat of arms of Belgorod: formation
In reward for his services to the Fatherland during the years of the Northern War and for his victory near Poltava, Peter I handed the Belgorod Pedestrian Regiment a banner on which a two-headed eagle and a lying lion first appear. Over time, these images became a symbol of Belgorod and became part of the coat of arms of the city.
However, they had predecessors. As early as 1712, according to the decree of Peter I, a number of regiments, among which was Belgorod, needed to develop their own local coats of arms. These coats of arms should have been depicted on regimental banners. So, for the Belgorod regiment, the image of a flying two-headed eagle and a running lion was then selected. Later, the lion on the coat of arms we see lying. At the same time, the semantic emblem of the coat of arms also changed: first, the lion on the regimental coat of arms meant defeated Sweden, and the eagle the winner of Russia, later the lying lion began to symbolize the military power of the Russian army.
The coat of arms of Belgorod was approved in 1730. This happened thanks to the first governor of the city, Prince Yuri Yuryevich Trubetskoy.
Historical coat of arms of Belgorod: description
The emblem was a shield of French form with the image of a soaring rooster on it, and later a golden single-headed eagle with a power and a scepter in its paws - a symbol of imperial Russia - and a lying golden lion. The last image can be interpreted in two ways: both as Sweden defeated in the Northern War, and as the Russian army, defeating the Swedish army with its strength, courage and power.
The shield field is divided into two parts: the lower one is the earth of green color, which means vitality, eternal existence, prosperity, development of the city, abundance; the upper - the sky - blue, symbolizing wisdom and tranquility, beauty and greatness. All these meanings are somehow connected with the valiant actions of the Belgorod regiment in the war years and the historical development of the city itself.
On the 300th anniversary of Belgorod, the city coat of arms gets a new look: the blue French shield shows a golden lion standing on its hind legs with a scarlet tongue sticking out from its mouth, a white (silver) single-headed eagle soars above the lion. In the right (for the coat of arms) upper corner on a white rectangular field there is a diagonal blue ribbon of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, and on it are three flying birds similar to a dove. The shield is crowned with a three-toothed tower crown, most likely of silver color, and entwined with a red sash, most likely Alexandrovskaya. In addition, the shield is laid on two crossed golden hammers.
