Belarusian regional centers are in approximately the same situation. Their history goes back more than one century, and even the main official symbols have an undeniable similarity. For example, the coat of arms of Grodno, like the coat of arms of Gomel, contains one main symbol - an animal. The only difference is that Gomel residents have chosen a predatory beauty lynx, and Grodno residents have chosen a slender deer. Both animals are well known in world heraldry.
Description of the Grodno symbol
The entry in the Coat of Arms of Belarus officially confirmed the image of the official symbol of this regional center. According to him, the coat of arms of the city has the following important elements:
- the image of the deer of St. Humbert;
- a golden cross between the horns of an animal;
- white trellis hedge.
The elements are located on a blue (azure) baroque shield. The same color was chosen as the color of the Grodno flag, and the city's coat of arms is its integral part.
Immersion in history
Grodno was one of the first to receive Magdeburg law from Belarusian cities, in 1444 - full right (in 1391 - incomplete), thanks to the privilege given by Casimir IV Jagiellonchik, Grand Duke of Lithuania.
What images were present at that time on city seals, historians cannot yet say. It is known that Queen Bona, the wife of Sigismund I the Old, contributed to the appearance of the city's coat of arms. It was she who advised the magistrate to take the coat of arms of the city of Lublin as a model. True, the official symbol of this Polish city depicted a goat standing on its hind legs and reaching for a branch of grapes. This coat of arms in Lublin is still valid, but the Grodno symbol looks more noble.
The symbolic meaning of the elements of the coat of arms
Each of the elements of the heraldic symbol has its own meaning. Even a fence, because the etymology of the word refers to such concepts as "fence" or "fence off" and is consonant with the old name of the regional center - Goroden, Garodnya.
In the context of the coat of arms, the hedge is a kind of image of the city itself. The deer above the hedge symbolizes the fact that the city is under the patronage of Saint Humbert. He is known primarily as the patron saint of hunters. He was revered in the Middle Ages by the inhabitants of Grodno, since the lands of the Grodno Forest began immediately outside the city, behind it, the most famous in Belarus, Belovezhskaya Pushcha, hunting was one of the most important activities for the townspeople.
From a religious point of view, a deer with a gold cross between the horns is a symbol of the human soul, renewal and striving for moral purity. In the mythology of many peoples, this animal symbolizes the worship of natural forces.
