Heraldic boom in Russia

New symbols for the new bourgeoisie

Russia's newly affluent elite have discovered a new status symbol - a family coat of arms.

Russian TV6 says that owning your own heraldic coat of arms is increasingly popular among the rich and the famous in the city of Yekaterinburg, in the Urals.

The latest fad for the Urals establishment is getting a coat of arms

TV6

Decorative and symbolic, the coats of arms are designed by heraldic experts using computer software and cost around $800, it said.

Customers choose from thousands of heraldic images and decorative detail symbolising family or personal characteristics.

Many Russians choose symbols of knighthood - swords, helmets, eagles or bears, the television said. More elaborate designs can even feature mythic beasts like a fish with tusks.

Bear: Russia's heraldic favourite

Customised design

One man had dice added to the design to symbolise his passion for gambling.

Heraldic design is a complex subject with its own recondite vocabulary, much of it derived from 13th and 14th century Norman French.

What are called the common 'charges', lions, wolves, bears, for example traditionally symbolise characteristics of bravery and courage.

A member of the Yekaterinburg heraldic association told the television that successful applicants had to know why they wanted a coat of arms. Not everyone would be granted arms, he said.

The dice show one man's passion for gambling

"If the idea of why has never crossed the person's mind, then there is nothing to talk about, really," the expert said without elaborating.

Revival

The origins of heraldry go back to the coat armour used in battle to identify individuals completely encased in armour. It was one of the earliest forms of symbolic identification.

The Russian nobility used arms, seals and banners for centuries, but Russian heraldry was only standardised under Peter the Great in the early 18th century.

There is a new interest in traditional heraldry

After the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, all forms of imperial heraldry were removed and new soviet forms introduced designed around the hammer and sickle.

Since the fall of communism, there has been a revival of interest in traditional Russian heraldic designs for government and corporations - and now status-conscious individuals.

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