Orenburg is a large city in the south of the Urals with a population of 460 thousand inhabitants. The article will focus on the symbols of this locality. Coat of arms and flag of Orenburg - what are they? And what's the point in them?
Orenburg: a brief biography of the city
The first mention of the city on the banks of the Ural River dates from 1735. It was then that the Orenburg fortress was laid here.
All researchers agree that the name of the city comes from the phrase "fortress on Ori" (just at the place where Ori entered the Urals and the city was laid). Most likely, this name was given to Orenburg by I. Kirilov, the initiator of the development of this region. He argued that in this place it was simply necessary to build a city in order to open the way to Central Asia and India.
Orenburg, in fact, tried to establish three times. At first, V. Tatishchev (the head of the expedition for exploration) thought that the selected area was flooded too much with spring floods. As a result, the construction was moved to another place - on Red Mountain. However, it turned out that the territory there is completely treeless, with rocky soil. And the new head of the expedition laid the city for the third time, in another place (it is there that the old city is now located).
However, the original name "Orenburg" was decided not to change.
It is curious that in the middle of the twentieth century, under Soviet rule, the city was called Chkalov for some time - in honor of the famous pilot. Despite the fact that Valery Chkalov himself was never in Orenburg, on the embankment of the Ural River, in the city center, in 1956 a six-meter bronze monument was erected to him.
Coat of arms of Orenburg: description and its history
At the heart of the city’s modern coat of arms is a shield of classical form, pointed downwards. On a gold background is a double-headed eagle crowned with a large imperial crown. It is as if coming out of the blue waves, under which there is a blue Andreevsky cross.
Obviously, the blue ribbon on the coat of arms is the local Ural River. An eagle symbolizing state power - black, with golden beaks and red tongues. In total, three emperor crowns can be counted on the coat of arms of Orenburg - two on the heads of the eagle and one on the top of the shield.
The first coat of arms of the city of Orenburg was approved in 1782. Before this, the village withstood a five-month round of the paddock Emelyan Pugachev. Because Orenburg resisted the onslaught of a large army, Catherine II awarded him the St. Andrew's Cross, the highest order of Tsarist Russia. That is why this cross is present on the coat of arms of Orenburg.
Talented artists and designers from different regions of the country worked on the reconstruction of the city coat of arms of Orenburg. Among them are Mikhail Medvedev, Konstantin Mochenov, Olga Salova.
Coat of arms of Orenburg and its significance
The modern emblem of the city is a confirmation of the enormous contribution of Orenburg residents to the development of the country. In the entire history of Orenburg, they have shown themselves both as reliable defenders and as workers. And the double-headed eagle shows off on the city emblem is not at all accidental. So Orenburg residents were thanked for their great services to the Motherland.
What do the colors of the Orenburg symbol symbolize? The golden background of the coat of arms is, first of all, a sign of prosperity, stability and wealth of the region. The blue color represents high spirituality, pure thoughts and nobility of the inhabitants of Orenburg.
Red color symbolizes strength, dedication and courage, and black is a symbol of deep wisdom and modesty at the same time.
Flag of the city of Orenburg
The official flag of the city is not much different from its coat of arms. This is a standard rectangular canvas with dimensions of 2: 3. Exactly in the middle of it is a wavy blue strip symbolizing the Ural River. Against the golden background of the flag is the same black two-headed eagle, and under the ribbon of the river is the Andreevsky cross of blue color.
The updated Orenburg flag was first hoisted on a flagpole in August 2012. During its development, the historical coat of arms of this settlement was taken as the basis. Before that, the city symbol looked a bit different.
It is worth noting that for the entire time of Russia's independence, the Orenburg flag was changed three times: in 1996, 1998 and 2012. All previous options were repeated by the Russian tricolor, in the center of which was placed the coat of arms of Orenburg, but with the eagle of the modern Russian Federation. In 1996 and 1998, only the sizes and proportions of the stripes of the flag changed.
Later, heraldists noted that such a flag is contrary to the existing laws of the country, and suggested changing it, in particular, placing the Catherine’s double-headed eagle on it. And so it happened: in 2012, a new flag of Orenburg was established.
