Coat of arms of Kazan: photo, history and description. Flag of Kazan

The coat of arms and the flag of Kazan have their history from pagan times. Despite the fact that in different years the symbolism was modified, it was 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 - on December 24, 2004. It was on that day that the Council of Deputies approved the draft of the official symbolism of the city. The emblem was chosen from several suggested options. All of them were ancient pagan totems. Each of the proposed symbols was closely connected with Kazan.

Representatives of the city authorities agreed to the adoption of the coat of arms, which was first named official in the distant 1781. Artists retained almost all the elements, only adapting them to modern canons and requirements for the design of symbols.

Image on the arms

The flag and the coat of arms of Kazan bear the same image. On city symbols a dragon named Zilant is drawn. He has a very long history, which most of the locals can retell like a legend. By the way, there are two options. Some consider the dragon to be an intercessor and custodian. 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 the symbolism. The coat of arms of Kazan is a standard heraldic shield. A field is drawn on it, along which a dragon with wings spread and his tongue sticking out. A crown is on the head of the fire-breathing snake. Over the heraldic shield the Kazan cap is depicted.

Symbolism

The dragon was a symbol of Kazan even in pre-revolutionary times. Among the townspeople, he was associated with wisdom, power, the magical world, invincibility.

This ancient mythological animal, of course, is identified with immortality. In Kazan they believe that the city will remain as all-powerful and invincible as its symbol.

The crown on the head of the dragon is associated with the achievement of a high level of development of the city. The earth beneath the feet of the serpent contains wealth, and also symbolizes life.

The mythical snake has always been revered in different countries of the world as a symbol of wisdom. In mutated forms it can be found on the arms and flags of many states. One of the most famous is the dragon on the coat of arms of London's City district. This is due to the fascination of the aristocracy with the Celtic heritage, including legends about King Arthur. In them, the dragon personifies independence and immortality.

Legends about the emblem of Kazan

The main legend says that Zilant could command all reptiles on Earth. Previously, thousands of snakes lived in Kazan's place. Zilanth was not a harmless dragon. He devoured people, stole animals in the nearest villages. The land itself, where the snakes lived, was endowed with generous riches, but no one could approach it. At that time, the Tatar Khan Sain decided to build a city in a fertile spot. After learning about Zilanth and his snake 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 charms. The sorcerer agreed to help. With the help of spells he collected all the snakes in a large pile, doused them with tar and sulfur and set them on fire.

Crawling creepers died. A poisonous stench from the fire killed all the people and animals that were nearby. Zilanth remained alive. He flew to the mountain of Gilantau.

Khan Sain built the beautiful city of Kazan. But Zilanth hated the people who killed his snakes and drove him away. He began to avenge them, committing raids in the middle of the night and day. I grabbed people, carried them to the mountain and ate. The wizard named Hakim managed to overcome the dragon with the help of magic and the cunning of his mind. And in memory of the victory over Zilant, the stricken monster was depicted on the symbol of the city. So the dragon fell on the coat of arms of Kazan. Although a long time has passed since then, the mythical monster is still revered by the locals. His image flaunts not only on the symbolism, but throughout the city in the form of statues and bas-reliefs.

The coat of arms of Kazan, the pictures with the image of which is placed in the article, contains one more interesting element. Naturally, we are talking about a hat on top of a shield. According to one version, it belonged to the wise governor of Kievan Rus, Prince Vladimir Monomakh.

As a token of his benevolence, 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 Carlos Alyard visited Kazan and saw this sign there. He wrote about it in his book. She first came out in Amsterdam, and then in Russia, in 1709.

Alyard put forward his version of the origin of the symbolism. Dragon Zilant he called a personal sign of the Tatar emperor, noticing the last image of a lying snake on the flag. The tail of the dragon was bent, it resembled a basilisk, another mythical beast. And the flag of the Caesar himself was bright yellow.

Before the description of Alard, official information about the coat of arms has not been preserved. However, Tsar Ivan the Fourth used the symbolism of Kazan on his seal in the 16th century. Alexei Mikhailovich also has a mention of heraldry in the form of a basilisk with golden wings and a tail.

By the way, Tsar Peter the Great invited a specialist Franz Santi. His job was to collect and describe the arms of all the territories of the Russian Empire. Santi called Zilantha a dragon and a black serpent with wings and a crown.

Pre-revolutionary coat of arms

The symbol of the city 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 a crown rose.

This emblem was approved by Empress Catherine II. The heraldic shield was created according to French standards, fashionable at that time in Russia.

In 1856, Alexander II also approved the coat of arms, replacing the color of the regalia with a silver one and making the dragon a golden claw and beak. The heraldic shield was decorated with oak branches on the sides as a symbol of courage and power.

The Soviet era

In Soviet times, a ban on personal bourgeois symbols of cities was introduced. If before the coat of arms of Kazan, a description of which was found even in history textbooks, was in high esteem, then with the arrival of the Bolsheviks about this regalia, local residents had to forget for a while.

For 70 years, nobody spoke about the emblem. But in the early 90's, the public increasingly began to express an opinion that it was time to return historical justice.

Colors of the coat of arms and the flag

All the colors that are involved in the images on the coat of arms and the flag have their own special meaning. On the official banner and the emblem, every detail is a symbol.

If you look at the coat of arms of Kazan, the photo of which is presented in the article, then there are such colors:

• Gold (on the paws and beak of the dragon) - symbolizes the nobility, power, wealth of Kazan, as well as faith and justice;
• Silver (on the shield itself) - responsible for pure thoughts, for excellence, nobility;
• The green color under the feet of Zilanth - a symbol of hope, abundance, eternal life, joy, spring and prosperity;
• Black color of the dragon's body means honesty, wisdom, caution, eternity;
• The scarlet tongue is a symbol of courage and maturity.

Summing up, we can safely say that the flag and the coat of arms of Kazan have passed a long way of becoming and today are some of the best examples of national heraldry.