The modern coat of arms of Petrozavodsk is an official symbol; it was approved by the people's deputies back in 1991. The sketch of the city's heraldic sign also has the author - the artist Oleg Chumak, who, of course, relied on historical symbols and colors in his work.
Description of the current emblem
The coat of arms of this ancient city has a rather complex compositional structure and many symbols. Its main feature is not quite the usual color of the shield. The field of the shield is golden, but in its lower part there are three emerald stripes, the shape itself is traditional, French.
The second difference between the heraldic symbol of Petrozavodsk is the use of interesting elements that are not entirely clear to an ordinary viewer who is unfamiliar with the history of this settlement. The following symbolic elements are placed on the shield from top to bottom: a cloud with a hand emerging from it, holding a shield; four black cores connected by a black cross; three iron hammers.
Hammers and cannonballs symbolize the richness of local territories in minerals, deposits of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. They also emphasize that ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises, as well as weapons enterprises, have long been located in this region.
Pre-revolutionary symbols
The city received its first coat of arms back in 1781, this time for the Russian Empire is characterized by increased attention to heraldry, in connection with which many cities and regions of the country received their official symbols.
The heraldic shield was divided into two fields: the upper one was azure, the lower one consisted of stripes of gold and emerald colors. In the upper part, the coat of arms of the Novgorod governorship was depicted, because then Petrozavodsk was subordinate to this city. Accordingly, the following symbol elements were depicted:
- the golden armchair of the monarch, complemented by a scarlet pillow;
- candlesticks with burning candles mounted on the back of the throne;
- a cross and a scepter on the throne;
- supporters in the form of bears.
The lower part of the coat of arms of Petrozavodsk was decorated with three crossing hammers. Experts say that very often you can see this coat of arms, which lacks another important element - the vine, with the help of which they used to search for mineral deposits.
At the end of the 18th century, the coat of arms of Petrozavodsk changed radically - on a gold background were depicted: a hand emerging from a cloud holding a shield, and nuclei connected by chains.
