Coat of arms of the Soviet Union
Encyclopedia
The State Emblem of the Soviet Union
( Gosudarstvennyiy gerb SSSR) 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 (transliteration: gerb), the word used for a traditional coat of arms.
(CIK) of the USSR and the version was completed on September 22 of that year. This design was fixed in the 1924 Soviet Constitution
:"The State Emblem of the USSR is composed of a sickle and a hammer on a globe depicted in the rays of the sun and framed by ears of wheat, with the inscription "proletariats of the world, unite!" in six languages - Russian
, Ukrainian
, Belarusian
, Georgian
, Armenian
, Turko-Tatar
. At the top of the Emblem is a five-pointed star."
Ivan Dubasov
was an important contributor when creating the emblem.
, the USSR consisted of eleven republics. Hence the major new version's difference from the previous one were eleven ribbons bearing USSR State Motto inscriptions in eleven languages.
, Latvian
,
Lithuanian
, Moldavian
, Finnish
languages were added to the previous version). Inscriptions in Azerbaijani
, Turkmen
, Uzbek
, Tajik
, Kazakh
, Kyrgyz
languages were updated due to the transfer from the Latin alphabet
to Cyrillic alphabet
of respective republics.
was transformed into Karelo-Finnish ASSR and soon this was reflected on the USSR state emblem. By a Decision of Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 12, 1956, a ribbon bearing the USSR State Motto in Finnish was removed.
One more minor change was introduced into the USSR State Motto in Belarusian language
by a Decision of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 1, 1958.
Inscriptions on ribbons (which are translated into English as "Proletarians of the world, unite!") are as follows:
and the Red Star
over a globe, and two wreaths of wheat
covered by the USSR State motto
("Workers of the World, Unite
!") in the official language
s of the Soviet Republics
, in the reverse order they were mentioned in the Constitution of the Soviet Union
.
Each Soviet Republic (SSR) and Autonomous Soviet Republic
(ASSR) had its own coat of arms
, largely inspired by the state emblem of the Union.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
( Gosudarstvennyiy gerb SSSR) was adopted in 1923 and was used until the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
in 1991. Although it technically is an emblem rather than a coat of arms, since it does not follow heraldic
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
rules, in Russian it is called герб (transliteration: gerb), the word used for a traditional coat of arms.
First version (1923–1936)
The project of the first version of the state emblem was accepted on July 6, 1923 by the 2nd session of the Central Executive CommitteeCentral Executive Committee of the Soviet Union
The Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union was the highest governing body in the Soviet Union in the interim of the sessions of the Congress of Soviets, existed from 1922 until 1938, when it was replaced by the Supreme Soviet of first convocation....
(CIK) of the USSR and the version was completed on September 22 of that year. This design was fixed in the 1924 Soviet Constitution
1924 Soviet Constitution
The 1924 Soviet Constitution legitimated the December 1922 union of the Russian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, the Belarusian SSR, and the Transcaucasian SFSR to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics....
:"The State Emblem of the USSR is composed of a sickle and a hammer on a globe depicted in the rays of the sun and framed by ears of wheat, with the inscription "proletariats of the world, unite!" in six 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....
, Belarusian
Belarusian language
The Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...
, Georgian
Georgian language
Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...
, Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
, Turko-Tatar
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
. At the top of the Emblem is a five-pointed star."
Ivan Dubasov
Ivan Dubasov
Ivan Ivanovich Dubasov was a Russian artist active in the Soviet Union. He was the head artist of the Goznak from 1932 to 1971 and was made an Honored Artist of the RSFSR in 1959. He developed sketches and designs for multiple Soviet banknotes, stamps, orders, medals, awards and decorations over...
was an important contributor when creating the emblem.
Second version (1936–1946)
According to the 1936 Soviet Constitution1936 Soviet Constitution
The 1936 Soviet constitution, adopted on December 5, 1936, and also known as the "Stalin" constitution, redesigned the government of the Soviet Union.- Basic provisions :...
, the USSR consisted of eleven republics. Hence the major new version's difference from the previous one were eleven ribbons bearing USSR State Motto inscriptions in eleven languages.
Third version (1946–1956)
The number of republics in the USSR became 16 after September 1939, and before the Great Patriotic War began in June 1941, but the state emblem was changed to reflect this only after the war. By a Decision of Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 26, 1946, all 16 constituent republics were represented on the emblem. The USSR State Motto was inscribed on 16 ribbons in 16 languages (EstonianEstonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
, Latvian
Latvian language
Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
,
Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
, 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...
, Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
languages were added to the previous version). Inscriptions in Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
, Turkmen
Turkmen language
Turkmen is the national language of Turkmenistan...
, Uzbek
Uzbek language
Uzbek is a Turkic language and the official language of Uzbekistan. It has about 25.5 million native speakers, and it is spoken by the Uzbeks in Uzbekistan and elsewhere in Central Asia...
, Tajik
Tajik language
Tajik, Tajik Persian, or Tajiki, is a variety of modern Persian spoken in Central Asia. Historically Tajiks called their language zabani farsī , meaning Persian language in English; the term zabani tajikī, or Tajik language, was introduced in the 20th century by the Soviets...
, Kazakh
Kazakh language
Kazakh is a Turkic language which belongs to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic languages, closely related to Nogai and Karakalpak....
, Kyrgyz
Kyrgyz language
Kyrgyz or Kirgiz, also Kirghiz, Kyrghiz, Qyrghiz is a Turkic language and, together with Russian, an official language of Kyrgyzstan...
languages were updated due to the transfer from the Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
to Cyrillic alphabet
Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
of respective republics.
Fourth version (1956–1991)
In 1956 Karelo-Finnish SSRKarelo-Finnish SSR
The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic was a short-lived republic that was a part of the former Soviet Union. The republic existed from 1940 until it was merged back into the Russian SFSR in 1956 ....
was transformed into Karelo-Finnish ASSR and soon this was reflected on the USSR state emblem. By a Decision of Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 12, 1956, a ribbon bearing the USSR State Motto in Finnish was removed.
One more minor change was introduced into the USSR State Motto in Belarusian language
Belarusian language
The Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...
by a Decision of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 1, 1958.
Inscriptions on ribbons (which are translated into English as "Proletarians of the world, unite!") are as follows:
| Left | Right | |
| Turkmen: Әхли юртларың пролетарлары, бирлешиң! | Estonian: Kõigi maade proletaarlased, ühinege! | |
| Tajik: Пролетарҳои ҳамаи мамлакатҳо, як шавед! | Armenian: Պրոլետարներ բոլոր երկրների, միացե'ք! | |
| Latvian: Visu zemju proletārieši, savienojieties! | Kyrgyz: Бардык өлкөлөрдүн пролетарлары, бириккиле! | |
| Lithuanian: Visų šalių proletarai, vienykitės! | Moldavian: Пролетарь дин тоатe цериле, уници-вэ! | |
| Georgian: პროლეტარებო ყველა ქვეყნისა, შეერთდით! | Azerbaijani: Бүтүн өлкәләрин пролетарлары, бирләшин! | |
| Uzbek: Бутун дунё пролетарлари, бирлашингиз! | Kazakh: Барлық елдердің пролетарлары, бірігіңдер! | |
| Ukrainian: Пролетарі всіх країн, єднайтеся! | Belarusian: Пралетарыі ўсіх краін, яднайцеся! | |
| Russian: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! | ||
Description
The state emblem shows the traditional Soviet emblems of the hammer and sickleHammer and sickle
The 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...
and the 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 :...
over a globe, and two wreaths of wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
covered by the USSR State motto
USSR State motto
The Soviet Union state motto is a quotation from Karl Marx's and Friedrich Engels' Communist Manifesto, meaning Workers of the world, unite!....
("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 the official language
Official language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
s of the Soviet Republics
Republics of the Soviet Union
The Republics of the Soviet Union or the Union Republics of the Soviet Union were ethnically-based administrative units that were subordinated directly to the Government of the Soviet Union...
, in the reverse order they were mentioned in the Constitution of the Soviet Union
Constitution of the Soviet Union
There were three versions of the constitution of the Soviet Union, modeled after the 1918 Constitution established by the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , the immediate predecessor of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics....
.
Each Soviet Republic (SSR) and Autonomous Soviet Republic
Autonomous republics of the Soviet Union
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union were administrative units created for certain nations. The ASSRs had a status lower than the union republics of the Soviet Union, but higher than the autonomous oblasts and the autonomous okrugs....
(ASSR) had its own coat of arms
Coats of arms of the Soviet Republics
The coats of arms of the constituent republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics all featured predominantly the hammer and sickle and the red star that symbolised communism, as well as a rising sun , surrounded by a wreath of wheat The coats of arms of the constituent republics of the...
, largely inspired by the state emblem of the Union.