The national emblem of Belarus features a ribbon in the colors of the national flag, a silhouette of Belarus, wheat ears and a red star. It is sometimes referred to as the coat of arms of Belarus, although in heraldic terms this is inaccurate as the emblem does not respect the rules of conventional heraldry. The emblem is an allusion to one that was used by the Byelorussian SSR, designed by Ivan Dubasov in 1950, with the biggest change being a replacement of the Communist hammer and sickle with a silhouette of Belarus. The Belarusian name is Dziaržaŭny hierb Respubliki Biełaruś (Дзяржаўны герб Рэспублікі Беларусь), and the name in Russian is Gosudarstvennyĭ gerb Respubliki Belarusʹ (Государственный герб Республики Беларусь).
Between 1991 and 1995, Belarus used a coat of arms, known as the Pahonia, as its national emblem. The Pahonia was originally a symbol of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, of which Belarus had historically been a part.
Description
Design In the center of the emblem sits an orange outline of Belarus, superimposed over the rays of golden sun. The sun is partially covered by a globe, with the landmass (part of Eurasia) in red and waters in blue. Lining the left and right sides of the emblem are stalks of wheat, superimposed with flowers. Clovers adorn the left wheat stalks; flax flowers adorn the right. Wrapped around the wheat stalks is a red and green ribbon bearing the colours of the flag of Belarus; the ribbon meets at the base of the emblem, where the name Republic of Belarus (Рэспубліка Беларусь) is inscribed in gold in Belarusian. At the top of the emblem, there is a five-pointed red star.President of the Republic of Belarus Description of the National emblem . Retrieved March 1, 2006.
Symbolism The elements that comprise the state emblem are not tied to any "official" symbolism. The design of the emblem of the Byelorussian SSR was used as the basis for the current Belarusian emblem; the primary difference between the two is that the Byelorussian SSR emblem contains more references to Communism, such as the Communist symbol of hammer and sickle and pure red ribbon with Communist mottoes, which the modern emblem does not, replaced with the outline and the flag of Belarus, respectively; however, it still retains the communist red star, the red ribbon (albeit without the mottoes), the globe and the wheat bundles, which are also typical of Soviet emblems and still is very Soviet in nature.
Legislation
The current law regulating the design and use of the Belarusian emblem was passed on July 5, 2004. Article 9 of Chapter 3 of Law No. 301-3 begins by describing the official drawing of the Belarusian arms and regulates its proper design. Officially, the arms can be drawn in full colour, monochrome or using two colors. Article 10 states that the national emblem must be displayed at specified locations continually, such as the residences of the Belarusian leader, the chamber of the National Assembly and at governmental offices of national and regional levels.
The emblem can also be used on documents issued by the government, including money, passports and official letterheads. In addition, the emblem is displayed on all ballot boxes, campaign mailings and promotional standards when the election is starting. It also appears on their border posts between Belarus and Russia. State Border Troops Committee of the Republic of Belarus Symbols of the Border Guard. Retrieved 21 November 2006.
The law also restricts the use of the emblem in other contexts—e.g. cities, towns or oblasts may not adopt a coat of arms or emblem using the national emblem either completely or in part. Furthermore, organizations not listed in the Law on State Symbols may only use the emblem by permission. The emblem can be used by both foreigners and citizens of Belarus, as long as the symbol is displayed with respect, although citizens may not use the state emblem on letterheads or business cards if they are not agents of the government. Republic of Belarus Law No. 301-3 Law of the National Symbols of the Republic of Belarus . Retrieved March 1, 2006.
History Pahonia
Despite the fact that the Belarusians share a distinct ethnic identity and language, they never previously had a political sovereignty prior to 1918. According to vexillologist Whitney Smith, the unique Belarusian national symbols were not created until the 20th century, as a consequence of the foreign rule of the Belarusian territories by Prussia, Poland, Lithuania, and Russia. According to the formerly popular historian Arnold J. Toynbee, the pagan Lithuanians performed sweeping conquests of the Orthodox Ruthenians and this medieval greatness of Lithuania was conveyed in its heraldic emblem – a galloping horseman. The 18th-century Russian historian Vasily Tatishchev, who was at the time able to consult the subsequently lost Polotsk Chronicle, maintained that "from time immemorial the coat of arms of Belarus [White Rus′] depicted a knight on horseback with his sword raised."
At the same time, Belarusian nationalists viewed the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a historical form of Belarusian statehood along with medieval principalities of Polotsk, Turov and others.Filyushkin, A. (2017). “The Mobilisation of Middle Ages” as a Search for Identity: How Belarus Wants to Leave Behind the Historical Heritage of the Russian Empire and the USSR – Quaestio Rossica, Vol. 5, No 2, p. 569–590. Saint Petersburg State University In the Lithuanian state's early years, Ruthenian culture dominated the region. The Lithuanians allowed their East Slavic vassals to remain Orthodox, maintain their privileges and authority in local areas. Extensively influenced by their outnumbering Ruthenian subjects, Lithuanians reorganized their army, government administration, and legal and financial systems on Ruthenian models. A predecessor of Belarusian language, Ruthenian (also called Old Belarusian by various sources), was used as an administrative language in the 14th to 16th centuries in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. According to James H. Bater, the ruling Lithuanian warrior caste intermarried extensively with the nobility ruling the East Slav vassal principalities and accepted Orthodoxy. According to Richard Antony French, under Lithuanian rule, Belarusians had considerable autonomy.
This led to the Pahonia, one of the symbols of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, being accepted by Belarusian nationalists as a symbol of Belarus since the early 20th century.Да пытаньня аб паходжаньні гэрбу Пагоня [Concerning the question of the origins of the Pahonia coat of arms], by Tamaš Hryb, 1935Што трэба ведаць кажнаму беларусу [What every Belarusian should know], by Vaclau Lastouski, 1918 It was the official coat of arms of the Belarusian Democratic Republic since 1918. It was banned in the USSR, but widely and consistently used by the Belarusian post-World War II diaspora. Pahonia was the first coat of arms of the Republic of Belarus in 1991–1995. Since 1995, it has become one of the symbols of the democratic opposition to the authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko, particularly during the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests.
Origins Some Belarusian historians make a connection between the Pahonia and the cultural context, religious and mythological beliefs of Belarus' earliest inhabitants. Horse worship was widespread both among Slavs and Balts. Lithuanian mythologists believe that the bright rider on the white horse symbolizes the ghost of the ancestral warrior, reminiscent of core values and goals, giving strength and courage. In Belarusian folklore, Yarilo – the ancient pagan god of spring revival and soil fertility – was particularly present. He was described as a young and handsome man on a white horse. Lithuanian ethnologist and folklorist Jonas Trinkūnas suggested that the Lithuanian horseman depicts Perkūnas, who was considered as the god of the Lithuanian soldiers, thunder, lightning, storms, and rain in Lithuanian mythology. Very early on, Perkūnas was imagined as a horseman and archeological findings testify that Lithuanians had amulets with horsemen already in the 10th–11th centuries, moreover, Lithuanians were previously buried with their horses who were sacrificed during pagan rituals, and prior to that it is likely that these horses carried the deceased to the burial sites.
St George was and still is traditionally portrayed riding a horse. He was one of Byzantine Christianity's most popular saints, which spread in Belarus since the 10th century. Brothers Boris and Gleb, two saints revered by east Slavs, were frequently portrayed on a horse.
The Pahonia derives from the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was a regional symbol of Belarusian lands since the time when the territory of modern Belarus made up the largest part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where different variations of it were symbols of the Voivodeships of Minsk, Vitebsk, Polotsk, Brest Litovsk, Mstsislaw and Vilnius (of which the southern and eastern parts are now part of Belarus)
As Belarus was incorporated into the Russian Empire following the Partitions of Poland in the late 18th century, the Pahonia remained a key element of the coats of arms of some of Russian guberniyas established on the territory of Belarus: Vitebsk Governorate, Vilna Governorate. Besides that, under Russian rule, the Pahonia became an element (or the basis of) newly established coats of arms of numerous cities in Belarus and the neighbouring territories, including Polotsk, Vitebsk, Lyepyel, Mogilev and others.
20th century The Pahonia was the state emblem of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. It was also featured on a postcard printed by the government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic as the symbol of most of the “Belarusian voivodeships”. Since then, it is used by the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, the government-in-exile, as the “state symbol of Belarus”.ДЗЯРЖАЎНЫЯ СЫМБАЛІ БЕЛАРУСКАЙ НАРОДНАЙ РЭСПУБЛІКІ [State symbols of the Belarusian Democratic Republic] – Official website of the Rada BNR
As West Belarus became part of interwar Poland, the Pahonia was used as the symbol of several provinces established on its territory, namely the Polesie Voivodeship, the Wilno Voivodeship, and the Nowogródek Voivodeship.
It was also used by West Belarusian political and cultural organisations, such as the Belarusian Schools Society and others.Новы факт пра сімвал кампаніі #БНР100 [A new fact about the symbol of the BNR100 campaign] – Radio Racyja
During World War II, the pro-German collaborationist Belarusian Central Council used the Pahonia as its symbol.
Since after the war, the Pahonia has been used by organisations of the Belarusian diaspora such as the Association of Belarusians in Great Britain,Association of Belarusians in Great Britain , official website the Belarusian Canadian AllianceJoint Belarusian / Lithuanian Action – Official website of the Belarusian Canadian Alliance, 23 August 2020 and the newspaper Biełarus.Беларус Bielarus, official website A publishing and printing house based in Toronto and New York was named Pahonia; it produced also Belarusian titles.
The Order of the Pahonia was established by the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in exile in 1949 as the highest state award of Belarus. Since 2022, the Medal of the Order of the Pahonia is awarded by the BNR Rada.Рада БНР абвяшчае пра абнаўленьне Статуту Ордэна Пагоні і заснаваньне Мэдаля Ордэну Пагоні [BNR Rada announces the modernisation of the Order of the Pahonia and the establishment of the Medal of the Order of the Pahonia] - BNR Rada official website, 24 November 2022
Pahonia features on the original jacket of the first anthology of Belarusian poetry in English translation, Like Water, Like Fire (London, 1971).