Coat of arms of Vidzeme

Coat of arms of Vidzeme, a region in central Latvia, depicts a white griffin in a red field. It is a version of the earlier Coat of arms of Livonia granted in the 16th century.

Coat of Arms of Vidzeme
ArmigerVidzeme
Adopted1566
BlazonGules, a griffin sagreant coward Argent, in his dexter hand a sword colored of the griffin.
Earlier version(s)Coat of arms of the Governorate of Livonia

History

The coat of arms was granted to the Duchy of Livonia on 26 December 1566 by king Sigismund II Augustus of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.[1]

The first version of the coat of arms included the king's initials S.A. on the griffin.

Without the king's initials, the coat of arms was also used in Swedish Livonia the part of the region that came under the control of the Swedish Empire in the 1620s. Since 1677, the coat of arms of Polish Livonia (the Inflanty Voivodeship, roughly corresponding to today's Latgale) included a ducal crown.[1]

After the incorporation of Estonia and Livonia into the Russian Empire in 1710, the Russian Governorate of Riga and later the Governorate of Livonia have been granted coats of arms basing on the historical coat of arms of Livonia.[1]

After the establishment of the independent Latvian state, the symbol of Livonia, representing the Latvian regions Vidzeme and Latgalia, became part of the newly created Coat of arms of Latvia. The white griffin representing Livonia became an element of the shield and one of the supporters. The coat of arms was in official usage in Latvia until the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940. In 1990, shortly before the restoration of independence, the coat of arms was restored.

The official current version of the coat of arms of Vidzeme as a historical and cultural region of Latvia was approved in 2012.[2] While Vidzeme is not a separate administrative unit within Latvia, the coat of arms is used by the Vidzeme Planning Region.

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See also

References
  1. Лифляндия [Coat of arms of Lifland] - heraldicum.ru
  2. Vidzemes, Latgales, Kurzemes un Zemgales ģerboņu likums [Law on the coats of arms of Latgale, Kurzeme and Zemgale], adopted by the Saeima on 22 March 2012 and approved by the President of Latvia on 11 April 2012 - likumi.lv
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