Coat of arms of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
Encyclopedia
The coat of arms of the Moldavian ASSR
was the official emblem of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union, and underwent a number of changes over time.
In the meeting of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Moldavian ASSR, held on 4 September 1925, was decided that the organizational department of the Committee should organize a contest for designing the coat of arms and state flag of the Moldavian ASSR. The projects were to be evaluated by a committee composed of representatives of the Central Executive Committee, of the Agitprop, of the Popular Commissariat of Education and of the Council of trade unions in Moldova. There were established some prizes worth 50 ruble
for the first place, 30 ruble for the second one and 20 ruble for third place.
Because of the lack of surviving documents, the results of the contest and the proposed designs are not known. A description of the selected model (which hasn't been found drawn anywhere) is included in the letter from 21 July 1927 of the permanent representative of the Moldavian ASSR near the Government of the Ukrainian SSR
, Malcikov: "from the outside, the coat of arms of the Moldavian ASSR shows a wreath of maize stalks and grapes, with a light blue interior over which is displayed a white label. The label contains the map of the Moldavian ASSR, united with Bessarabia
. At the bottom of the map, in the center of the wreath, is rising a sun spreading shining rays. On the sun is represented a red star
. The wreath is festooned all over with the slogan "Workers of the world, unite!
", in three languages - Russian
, Ukrainian
and Moldavian
." These arms therefore contained irredentist symbolism.
On 21 September 1925, the small Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Moldavian ASSR decided the following amendments:
The chosen coat of arms, together with the amendments above were approved by the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee on 19 October 1925. At the same time there was allocated a sum of 45 rubles for making the corrections, and, after 10 November, another 30 rubles for the execution of the drawings of the flag and coat of arms.
The approval of the Central Executive Committee of Ukraine was long delayed. On 23 February 1926, the Regional Moldovan Office of the Ukrainian Communist Party
ordered that the map of the Moldavian ASSR was to be removed entirely, and replaced with the hammer and sickle. However, on 2 November 1926 the same office ordered that the problem of removing the map should be look into by the Central Committee of the Party.
In his letter from 1927, Malcikov explains the usefulness of keeping the map of the Moldavian ASSR including Bessarabia on the coat of arms and proposed other minor changes: instead of "USSR" should be written "USRR" (the abbreviation of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Ukrainian language, instead of Russian), and on the map the names "Moldavian ASSR", "Odessa
", "Chişinău
" and "Dniester" should be written in the Ukrainian and Moldovan form, not the Russian one.
It is not known which of the options was approved in the end. So far, no graphical representation of such a coat of arms has been found.
between 1919 and 1929. The latter is described as: "the coat of arms of the Ukrainian SSR consists of the golden hammer and sickle on a red background, in the rays of the sun, surrounded by a wreath of wheat ears and the inscription in Russian and Ukrainian: 1. R.S.S.U. and 2. Workers of the world, unite!". In the Moldavian version, R.S.S.U. was replaced by R.A.S.S.M. and the communist slogan was written in Ukrainian and Moldovan languages.
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On 12 July 1936 the draft of the new Constitution of the Soviet Union appeared in the newspapers. It was approved locally by the VIIth extraordinary Congress of the soviets of the Moldavian ASSR, whose work started on 18 November 1936 at Tiraspol
. The Congress established a committee that would elaborate the future Moldavian Constitution. On 5 December 1936 the Constitution of the Soviet Union became effective. A month later, the VIIth extraordinary Congress of the soviets of the Moldavian ASSR resumed its work and on 6 January 1937 adopted the new Constitution of the Moldavian ASSR.
According to the Constitution, the coat of arms of the autonomous republic was supposed to coincide with the soviet socialist republic that it was part of. The only additions were the name of the Moldavian ASSR and the communist slogan "Workers of the world, unite!" in the Moldavian and Ukrainian languages on the ribbon. Chapter X of the new Constitution, entitled "The coat of arms, the flag, the capital," stated in Article 111: "The coat of arms of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is the coat of arms of the Ukrainian SSR, which is composed of a golden hammer and sickle on a red background in the rays of the sun, surrounded by wheat ears, with the inscriptions "RSSU" and "Workers of the world, unite!" in the Ukrainian and Moldavian languages, with the addition, under "RSSU" inscription, in smaller letters, of the inscription "Moldavian ASSR" in the Ukrainian and Moldavian languages."
This coat of arms ceased to be valid on the disbanding of the Moldavian ASSR, on 2 August 1940.
Moldavian ASSR
The Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic , shortened to Moldavian ASSR or, less frequently, Moldovan ASSR, was an autonomous republic of the Ukrainian SSR between 12 October 1924 and 2 August 1940, encompassing modern Transnistria The Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic...
was the official emblem of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union, and underwent a number of changes over time.
Mid-1920s
The first coat of arms was adopted in 1925, when the Congress of the Soviets of Ukraine approved on May 10 the Constitution of the Moldavian ASSR. Thus, in section VII, Article 48, the coat of arms was enacted as follows: -"the Moldavian ASSR has its flag and coat of arms, established by the Central Executive Committee and confirmed by the Moldavian Central Executive Committee of the whole Ukraine."In the meeting of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Moldavian ASSR, held on 4 September 1925, was decided that the organizational department of the Committee should organize a contest for designing the coat of arms and state flag of the Moldavian ASSR. The projects were to be evaluated by a committee composed of representatives of the Central Executive Committee, of the Agitprop, of the Popular Commissariat of Education and of the Council of trade unions in Moldova. There were established some prizes worth 50 ruble
Russian ruble
The ruble or rouble is the currency of the Russian Federation and the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Formerly, the ruble was also the currency of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union prior to their breakups. Belarus and Transnistria also use currencies with...
for the first place, 30 ruble for the second one and 20 ruble for third place.
Because of the lack of surviving documents, the results of the contest and the proposed designs are not known. A description of the selected model (which hasn't been found drawn anywhere) is included in the letter from 21 July 1927 of the permanent representative of the Moldavian ASSR near the Government of the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
, Malcikov: "from the outside, the coat of arms of the Moldavian ASSR shows a wreath of maize stalks and grapes, with a light blue interior over which is displayed a white label. The label contains the map of the Moldavian ASSR, united with Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
. At the bottom of the map, in the center of the wreath, is rising a sun spreading shining rays. On the sun is represented a red star
Red star
A red star, five-pointed and filled, is an important ideological and religious symbol which has been used for various purposes, such as: state emblems, flags, monuments, ornaments, and logos.- Symbol of communism :...
. The wreath is festooned all over with the slogan "Workers of the world, unite!
Workers of the world, unite!
The political slogan Workers of the world, unite! is one of the most famous rallying cries of communism, found in The Communist Manifesto , by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels...
", in three languages - Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
and Moldavian
Moldovan language
Moldovan is one of the names of the Romanian language as spoken in the Republic of Moldova, where it is official. The spoken language of Moldova is closer to the dialects of Romanian spoken in northeastern Romania, and the two countries share the same literary standard...
." These arms therefore contained irredentist symbolism.
On 21 September 1925, the small Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Moldavian ASSR decided the following amendments:
- Where the wreath arms join are to be written the letters "USSR", the abbreviation of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in Russian
- The slogan "Workers of the world, unite!" is to be arranged as follows: at the top end of ribbon, to the right and left - in Moldovan, in the middle, to the right and left - in Ukrainian and at the bottom - in Russian.
- The star is to be located on the top of the coat of arms; the diameter of the star is to be smaller and its corners sharper.
- The sun rays are to be prolonged to the end of the blue field
- The proportion between maize and wheat ears is to be established, and leaves are to be painted so that they would look more like grape leaves.
- The proportion between the territories of the Moldavian ASSR on left and the right banks of the Dniester river is to be established.
- The part of the Moldavian ASSR on the left bank of the Dniester is to be colored in red, while the part on the right bank - in black with diagonal red lines
- The letters along the territory are to be arranged so that on the right bank of the Dniester are the letters "R.A.S.", and on the left bank - "S.M."
- The hammer and sickleHammer and sickleThe hammer and sickle is a part of communist symbolism and its usage indicates an association with Communism, a Communist party, or a Communist state. It features a hammer and a sickle overlapping each other. The two tools are symbols of the industrial proletariat and the peasantry; placing them...
must have the same shape as the one in the coat of arms of the Soviet UnionCoat of arms of the Soviet UnionThe State Emblem of the Soviet Union was adopted in 1923 and was used until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Although it technically is an emblem rather than a coat of arms, since it does not follow heraldic rules, in Russian it is called герб , the word used for a traditional coat of...
.
The chosen coat of arms, together with the amendments above were approved by the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee on 19 October 1925. At the same time there was allocated a sum of 45 rubles for making the corrections, and, after 10 November, another 30 rubles for the execution of the drawings of the flag and coat of arms.
The approval of the Central Executive Committee of Ukraine was long delayed. On 23 February 1926, the Regional Moldovan Office of the Ukrainian Communist Party
Ukrainian Communist Party
The Ukrainian Communist Party was an oppositional political party in Soviet Ukraine, from 1920 until 1925. Its followers were known as Ukapists , from the initials UKP.Socialist Sovereigns...
ordered that the map of the Moldavian ASSR was to be removed entirely, and replaced with the hammer and sickle. However, on 2 November 1926 the same office ordered that the problem of removing the map should be look into by the Central Committee of the Party.
In his letter from 1927, Malcikov explains the usefulness of keeping the map of the Moldavian ASSR including Bessarabia on the coat of arms and proposed other minor changes: instead of "USSR" should be written "USRR" (the abbreviation of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Ukrainian language, instead of Russian), and on the map the names "Moldavian ASSR", "Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
", "Chişinău
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...
" and "Dniester" should be written in the Ukrainian and Moldovan form, not the Russian one.
It is not known which of the options was approved in the end. So far, no graphical representation of such a coat of arms has been found.
Late 1920s / 1930s
In 1927 - 1929 a new coat of arms of the Moldavian ASSR was adopted, similar to the coat of arms of the Ukrainian SSRCoat of arms of the Ukrainian SSR
The coat of arms of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted on March 14, 1919 by the government of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and subsequently modified on November 7, 1928, January 30, 1937 and November 21, 1949...
between 1919 and 1929. The latter is described as: "the coat of arms of the Ukrainian SSR consists of the golden hammer and sickle on a red background, in the rays of the sun, surrounded by a wreath of wheat ears and the inscription in Russian and Ukrainian: 1. R.S.S.U. and 2. Workers of the world, unite!". In the Moldavian version, R.S.S.U. was replaced by R.A.S.S.M. and the communist slogan was written in Ukrainian and Moldovan languages.
Late 1930s
Tiraspol
Tiraspol is the second largest city in Moldova and is the capital and administrative centre of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic . The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River...
. The Congress established a committee that would elaborate the future Moldavian Constitution. On 5 December 1936 the Constitution of the Soviet Union became effective. A month later, the VIIth extraordinary Congress of the soviets of the Moldavian ASSR resumed its work and on 6 January 1937 adopted the new Constitution of the Moldavian ASSR.
According to the Constitution, the coat of arms of the autonomous republic was supposed to coincide with the soviet socialist republic that it was part of. The only additions were the name of the Moldavian ASSR and the communist slogan "Workers of the world, unite!" in the Moldavian and Ukrainian languages on the ribbon. Chapter X of the new Constitution, entitled "The coat of arms, the flag, the capital," stated in Article 111: "The coat of arms of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is the coat of arms of the Ukrainian SSR, which is composed of a golden hammer and sickle on a red background in the rays of the sun, surrounded by wheat ears, with the inscriptions "RSSU" and "Workers of the world, unite!" in the Ukrainian and Moldavian languages, with the addition, under "RSSU" inscription, in smaller letters, of the inscription "Moldavian ASSR" in the Ukrainian and Moldavian languages."
This coat of arms ceased to be valid on the disbanding of the Moldavian ASSR, on 2 August 1940.
See also
- Flag of the Moldavian ASSR
- Coat of arms of the Moldavian SSRCoat of arms of the Moldavian SSRThe coat of arms of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted on February 10, 1941 by the government of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. The coat of arms is based on the coat of arms of the Soviet Union. It shows symbols of agriculture, an outer rim featuring wheat, corn, grapes...
- Coat of arms of MoldovaCoat of arms of MoldovaThe coat of arms of Moldova consists of a stylized eagle holding a cross in its beak and a sceptre and an olive branch in its claws. According to the author of the coat of arms, the eagle symbolizes the Latin origin of the people....