The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

consists of a shield divided into four. The image of the Saint Sofia Church which gave the name to the city takes up the upper left quarter (as seen from behind the shield) and a humanized picture of the ancient town of

Serdica Serdika or Serdica (Bulgarian: ) is the historical Roman name of Sofia, now the capital of Bulgaria. Currently, Serdika is the name of a district located in the city. It includes four neighbourhoods: "Fondovi zhilishta"; "Banishora", "Orlandovts ...

taken from an antique coin is located to the right (again, heraldry reverses right and left as it is from the point of view of someone holding the shield from behind). At lower left is a golden baldachin and a statue of

Apollo Medicus Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

representing the

mineral spring Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage underg ...

s around the city, while the lower right quarter is reserved for Vitosha, the mountain at the foot of which Sofia is located. In the middle is another, smaller shield ( inescutcheon), with a lion rampant, a traditional

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n symbol. A mural crown tops the larger shield. At the bottom is the city motto, "Расте, но не старѣе" – ''Raste, no ne staree'' ("Ever Growing, Never Aging").

History

The coat of arms was created for the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Exposition Universelle in 1900 by a team of three noted Bulgarian artists and specialists – Haralampi Tachev,

Ivan Mrkvička Ivan Mrkvička (born Jan Václav Mrkvička; bg, Иван Мърквичка) (23 April 1856 – 16 May 1938) was a Czech-born painter and an active contributor to the artistic life of newly liberated Bulgaria in the late 19th and early 20t ...

and

Václav Dobruský Václav Dobruský ( bg, Вацлав Добруски, ''Vatslav Dobruski''; 11 August 1858 – 24 December 1916) was a Czech archaeologist, epigrapher and numismatist who was mostly active in Bulgaria. The first director of the National Archaeo ...

, as the city was required by the executive committee to submit a symbol in order to take part. The then-

Knyaz , or ( Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependi ...

Ferdinand approved the coat of arms and it was sent to Paris. Changes were made to the original image of the coat of arms in the following years. The motto was first added in 1911 by Haralampi Tachev, who also gave it a final touch by adding a band with the motto and

laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

twigs in 1928. A simplified version was suggested by Boris Angelushev in the 1940s, with Ivan Radoev adding a five-pointed star and additionally stylizing the coat of arms in 1974. The 1928 edition of Haralampi Tachev returned into official use after the democratic changes.

Gallery

Coat of arms of Sofia (1900-1911).svg, 1900-1911 Coat of arms of Sofia (1911-1928).svg, 1911-1928 BG Sofia coa.svg, 1928-1974 Coat of arms of Sofia (1974-1991).svg, 1974-1991 BG Sofia coa.svg, 1991

References

External links

The act restoring the original coat of arms in 1991
{Dead link, date=July 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes *
The Birth of the Coat of Arms
', excerpt from a publication by Haralampi Tachev. Sofia municipal website, accessed 5 April 2006. 1928 establishments in Bulgaria

Culture in Sofia History of Sofia