The coat of arms and the flag of Kazan trace their history back to pagan times. Despite the fact that in different years the symbolism was either modified or forbidden, the modern city was able to revive and preserve traditions.
Modern coat of arms
The modern coat of arms of Kazan was officially approved not so long ago - December 24, 2004. It was on that day that the Council of Deputies approved the draft official symbols of the city. The logo has been selected from several proposed options. All of them were ancient pagan totems. Each of the proposed characters was closely associated with Kazan.
Representatives of the city government agreed to the adoption of the coat of arms, which was first named official back in 1781. Artists have preserved almost all the elements, only slightly adapting them to modern canons and requirements for the design of symbols.
The image on the coat of arms
The flag and the coat of arms of Kazan carry the same image. On city symbols, a dragon named Zilant is painted. It has a very long history that most locals can retell like a legend. By the way, there are two options. Some consider the dragon an intercessor and guardian. Others believe that this is a negative character, which caused the old city to be destroyed. In any case, it is believed that Zilant contributed to the development of Kazan.
Consider the appearance of symbolism. The coat of arms of Kazan is a standard heraldic shield. A field is drawn on it, along which a dragon walks with spread wings and a protruding tongue. A crown is put on the head of a fire-breathing snake. The Kazan cap is depicted on top of the heraldic shield.
Symbolism
The dragon was a symbol of Kazan in pre-revolutionary times. Among the townspeople, he was associated with wisdom, strength, the magical world, invincibility.
This ancient mythological animal, of course, is identified with immortality. Kazan believes that the city will remain as omnipotent and invincible as its symbol.
The crown on the head of the dragon is associated with the achievement of a high stage of development of the city. The earth under the feet of a snake stores wealth and also symbolizes life.
The mythical serpent has always been revered in different countries of the world as a symbol of wisdom. In modified forms, it can be found on the arms and flags of many states. One of the most famous is considered the dragon on the arms of the City of London. This is due to the fascination of the aristocracy with the Celtic heritage, including the legends of King Arthur. In them, the dragon personifies independence and immortality.
Legends about the coat of arms of Kazan
The main legend says that Zilant could command all reptiles on Earth. Previously, thousands of snakes lived on the site of Kazan. Zilant was not a harmless dragon. He devoured people, stole animals in the nearest villages. The very land where the snakes lived was endowed with generous wealth, but no one could approach it. At that time, the Tatar Khan Sain decided to build a city on a fertile place. Learning about Zilant and his serpentine army, he began to look for an opportunity to defeat the dragon. He found an old sorcerer from a village nearby, which was famous for the power of his spells. The sorcerer agreed to help. With the help of spells he gathered all the snakes in a large pile, doused them with tar and sulfur and set fire to it.
Creeping bastards died. And the poisonous stench from the fire killed all the people and animals that were nearby. Zilant remained alive. He flew away to live on Mount Gilantau.
Khan Sain built the beautiful city of Kazan. But Zilantus hated the people who killed his snakes and drove him away. He began to take revenge on them, raiding in the middle of the night and day. He grabbed people, carried them up the mountain and ate. A wizard named Hakim managed to defeat the dragon with the help of magic and the cunning of his mind. And in memory of the victory over Zilant, the defeated monster was depicted on the symbol of the city. So the dragon fell on the coat of arms of Kazan. Although quite a lot of time has passed since then, the mythical monster is still revered by the locals. His image flaunts not only on symbolism, but throughout the city in the form of statues and bas-reliefs.
The coat of arms of Kazan, pictures of which are posted in the article, contains another interesting element. Naturally, we are talking about a hat over the shield. According to one version, it belonged to the wise ruler of Kievan Rus, Prince Vladimir Monomakh.
As a sign of his favor, the Khan of the Golden Horde presented it to the city. However, in 1552, after Ivan the Terrible conquered Kazan and annexed the khanate to the principality of Moscow, the cap was taken away. To this day, the crown of Monomakh is in the Kremlin, and the city has only a memory of it.
Ancient history
The coat of arms of the city of Kazan was first mentioned in 1705 in an official document. The scientist Carlus Alard during his trip visited Kazan and saw this sign there. He wrote about him in his book. She came out first in Amsterdam, and then in Russia, in 1709.
Alard put forward his version of the origin of symbolism. He called the dragon Zilant a personal sign of the Tatar caesar, noting the last image of a lying serpent on the flag. The dragon’s tail was bent, it resembled a basilisk, another mythical beast. And the flag of the Caesar was bright yellow.
Before the description of Alard, official information about the coat of arms was not preserved. However, Tsar Ivan the Fourth used the symbolism of Kazan on his seal in the 16th century. Aleksei Mikhailovich also has a mention of heraldry in the form of a basilisk with golden wings and a tail.
Incidentally, Tsar Peter the Great invited a specialist, Franz Santi. His duties included collecting and describing the coats of arms of all territories of the Russian Empire. Santi called Zilant a dragon and a black serpent with wings and a crown.
Pre-revolutionary coat of arms
The symbol of Kazan was first officially registered in 1781 in St. Petersburg as a coat of arms. Then the artists on it depicted a white field, a black dragon with red wings, on whose head stood a crown.
This emblem was approved by Empress Catherine the Second. The heraldic shield was created according to French standards, fashionable at that time in Russia.
In 1856, Alexander II also approved the emblem, replacing the color of the regalia with silver and making the dragon gold claws and a beak. The heraldic shield was decorated with oak branches on the sides as a symbol of courage and power.
Soviet era
In Soviet times, a ban on personal bourgeois symbolism of cities was introduced. If before the emblem of Kazan, the description of which was found even in history textbooks, was held in high esteem, then with the arrival of the Bolsheviks the locals had to forget about this regalia for a while.
For 70 years no one has spoken about the emblem. But in the early 90s, the public increasingly began to express the opinion that it was time to restore historical justice.
