The coat of arms of Vilnius is the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of the city of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urba ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. It is also used as coat of arms of

Vilnius city municipality Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...

. The modern version was created in 1991 by

Arvydas Každailis Arvydas Stanislavas Každailis (born 4 April 1939, in Baisogala) is a Lithuanian artist, best known as the creator of many coat of arms for cities and towns of Lithuania. For his achievements in Lithuanian art, he was awarded the Order of the Lith ...

, the same artist who drew the modern

coat of arms of Lithuania The coat of arms of Lithuania consists of a mounted armoured knight holding a sword and shield, known as (). Since the early 15th century, it has been Lithuania's official coat of arms and is one of the oldest European coats of arms. It is ...

. The design is based on the oldest seals of the Vilnius City Council dating back to the 14th century. There is a great version and a small version. The great version incorporates the small version, which depicts

Saint Christopher Saint Christopher ( el, Ἅγιος Χριστόφορος, ''Ágios Christóphoros'') is venerated by several Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman emperor Decius (reigned 249–251) or alternatively ...

(sometimes also called Saint Christophorus) with the infant

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

on his shoulder. This coat of arms was originally given to Vilnius in 1330. It was speculated that in

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...

times, i.e., until the end of the 14th century, it featured Titan Alkis, a hero of ancient Lithuanian tales, carrying his wife Janterytė on his shoulders across the

Vilnia River The Vilnia (also ''Vilnelė''; , ''Vilnia'' ; ) is a river in Lithuania. Its source is near the village of Vindžiūnai, 5 km south of Šumskas, at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. The Vilnia is 79.6 km long and its basin covers 624&nb ...

. The great coat of arms bears the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

motto "UnitasJustitia – Spes" ("UnityJusticeHope"). The words are echoed by objects held by the shield supporters: the axe and tied rods represent unity; the scale, justice; and the anchor, hope. The coat of arms was abolished under the

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...

. It was reinstated after Lithuania declared its independence from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

in 1990. File:Seal of Vilnius (1387).png, Seal of Vilnius in 1387 File:Seal of Vilnius (1548).png, Seal of Vilnius in 1548 File:Vilno COA (Vilno Governorate) (1845).png, Coat of arms of Vilna from 1845 File:Coat of arms of Vilna 1859.svg, Coat of arms of Vilna from 1859 File:Vilnia. Вільня (B. Starzyński, 1875-1900).jpg, Coat of arms of Vilna in 1875–1900 File:Vilnia. Вільня (T. Dmachoŭski, 1910).jpg, Coat of arms of Vilna in a 1910 book File:Coat of arms of Vilnius with Saint Christopher (first half of the 20th century).jpg, Coat of arms of Vilnius with crown (early 20th century) File:Coats of arms of Wilno 1920.gif, Coat of arms of Wilno on a 1920 postcard File:Marka siaredniaja litva.jpg, Coat of arms on a 1920 stamp by

Republic of Central Lithuania The Republic of Central Lithuania ( pl, Republika Litwy Środkowej, ), commonly known as the Central Lithuania, and the Middle Lithuania ( pl, Litwa Środkowa, , be, Сярэдняя Літва, translit=Siaredniaja Litva), was an unrecognize ...

Flag

The flag of Vilnius has the arms in the centre.

References

Sources

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External links

{{Flags and coats of arms of Lithuania 1991 establishments in Lithuania

Culture in Vilnius History of Vilnius