Coat of arms of Lithuania
The
Coat of Arms of Lithuania is called
Vytis (
the Pursuer). It is one of the oldest Coat of Arms in Europe. Article 15 of the
Constitution of Lithuania, approved by national
referendum in 1992, stipulates, "The Coat of Arms of the State shall be a white Vytis on a red field".
The modern heraldic
shield adopted in September, 1991 features an armored knight on a white (silver) horse in the red background. The man is holding a silver
sword in his right hand above his head. A blue shield hangs on the left shoulder of the charging knight with a double gold (yellow) cross on it. The horse saddle, straps, and belts are blue. The hilt of the sword and the fastening of the sheath, the knight's spurs, the curb bits of the bridle, the horseshoes, as well as the decoration of the harness, are gold.
Jonas Trinkūnas, the leader of
neopaganism movement
Romuva, believes that in the
Lithuanian mythology Vytis represents
Perkūnas, the
god of thunder. It is believed that Perkūnas was also a
war god and has been depicted as a horseman since ancient times.
The charging knight is known to have been first used as the state emblem in 1366 on the seal of the
Grand Duke of Lithuania,
Algirdas. However, according to some sources the knight on horseback was mentioned in some early chronicles. The emblem was handed down through the folowing generations: from Algirdas to his son, Grand Duke
Jogaila, then to Grand Duke
Vytautas and others. In the
14th century, the knight was featured on a
heraldic shield, first on Jogaila's seal in 1386 or 1387, and also on the seal of Vytautas in 1401. As early as the
15th century, the heraldic knight became the Coat of Arms of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and of its central part - the Duchy of Vilnius. It is known that at the
Battle of Grunwald in 1410, a major victory of the united Polish-Lithuanian army against the
Teutonic Knights, thirty Lithuanian regiments out of the total forty were flying the banner of the Vytis.
At first, the charging knight was depicted riding to left or right and sometimes holding a
lance. But by the first half of the
15th century, he is always shown riding to the left (as seen by the viewer) with a sword in his raised hand and a shield in the left hand. During the 15th century, the colors of the seal became uniform: a white (silver) charging knight on a red field of the heraldic shield. The shield was blue with a double (gold) cross. The Coat of Arms featured the Grand Duke's headgear on the crest.
At first, the charging knight was interpreted as the ruler of the country. As time passed, he became a knight who is chasing intruders out of his native country. Such an interpretation was especially popular in the
19th century, and the first half of the
20th century, when Lithuania was part of the
Russian Empire and sought its independence.
|
Coat of Arms of Vilnius Guberniya (1845) |
With minor stylistic changes, the Vytis Coat of Arms remained the State symbol of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until 1795, when Lithuania was annexed by the
Russian Empire. The Vytis was abolished. However, in 1845
tsar Nicholas I confirmed a Coat of Arms for the Vilnius Guberniya that closely resembled the Vytis.
When Lithuania restored its independence in 1918-1920, several artists produced different versions of the Coat of Arms. A
romanticized version by
Antanas Žmuidzinavičius became the most popular. The horse appeared to be flying in the air. The gear was very decorative. For example, the
saddle blanket was very long and divided into three parts. There was no uniform or official version of the Coat of Arms. To address popular complaints, in 1929 a special commission was set up to analyze the best
16th century specimens of Vytis to design an official state emblem.
Mstislav Dobuzhinsky was the chief artist. The commission worked for 5 years, but their version of the Vytis was not officially confirmed.
|
Juozas Zikaras' design (1925) |
The Vytis was the state emblem of the Republic of Lithuania until
1940, when the Republic was annexed by the
Soviet Union and all national insignia were outlawed. With the
collapse of the Soviet Union, the Vytis, together with the
Gedimino Stulpai and the
national flag, became symbols of the independence movement in Lithuania. In
1988, the Vytis was legalized. On
March 11,
1990 Lithuania declared its independence and restored all of its pre-war national symbols, including the Vytis. On March 20, 1990 the Supreme Council of Lithuania approved the description of the State's Coat of Arms and determined the principal regulations for its use. The design was based on
Juozas Zikaras design that was used on all
litas coins in the interwar period. This was to demonstrate that Lithuania was continuing the traditions of the State that existed between 1918-1940. On September 4, 1991, a new design was approved based on recommendations of a special heraldic committee. It abandoned romantic interwar traditions and went back to the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It re-established the original colors. However, early coins of
centas still bear the old Zikaras' design.
In 2004, the
Seimas confirmed the new national symbol and the historical flag of Lithuania. It depicts the Coat of Arms on a rectangular red fabric. It did not replace the tri-color
national flag of Lithuania. It is used only by official institutions for special occasions and anniversaries. It is currently proposed that a larger version of the Coat of Arms should be adopted. It would have a line from
Tautiška giesmė, the national anthem of Lithuania, "Vienybė težydi" (Let Unity Flourish).
The origin of the word
Vytis is not quite clear. The word itself was used for the first time in 1846, by
Simonas Daukantas. He used it to refer to knights and horse riders. Some
linguists believe that Daukantas invented the word by translating
Polish pogoń. However, other disagree because
Lithuanian language has a common
verb vyti meaning
to chase. The verb
vyti and noun
Vytis pair seems to follow semantic rules. Compare:
pykti (to get angry) and
pyktis (anger),
krypti (to lean) and
kryptis (direction).
It is likely the word
Vytis to describe the Coat of Arms, was popularized in 1884, in the newspaper
Aušra.
Coat of Arms of
Belarus from 1991 to 1995 (called
Pahonia) was very similar to the Vytis. Several Polish
szlachta families adopted the earlier versions of the Vytis. This shows that the image of the knight was widely spread. Recently established Coats of Arms of
Vilnius County and
Panevėžys County use different color schemes and add some details to the basic knight image.
Several towns in Lithuania have similar motifs as the Vytis. For example, the Coat of Arms of Liudinavas is
parted per pale. One half depicts the Vytis and the other -
Lady Justice. The
Prienai and
Varniai Coats of Arms show
Saint George slaying a dragon. The saint is depicted in a very similar fashion as the Vytis and some suggest that this is just a
christianized version of the Vytis.
*
Pahonia*
Coat of Arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth*
Pogoń Litewska Coat of Arms* Jonas Palionis,
Kieno sukurtas Lietuvos herbas (Vytis)?, Literatūra ir menas, Nov. 22, 2002, no. 2926
*
The Coat of Arms of Lithuania,
Seimas* Gimtoji istorija, Nuo 7 iki 12 klasės (Lietuvos istorijos vadovėlis), CD, 2002, ISBN 9986-9216-7-8
* Edmundas Rimša. Heraldry past to present. ISBN 9955-601-73-6.
