Pahonia

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Pahonia as the Belarusian state symbol in 1991

The Pahonia Belarusian: Паго́ня, transliteration: Pahonya, [paˈɣonʲa], Lithuanian: Vytis, Pagaunė, (translated as Chaser) is a historical symbol of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, of which the eastern part later became known as Belarus. Pahonia was the official state symbol of the Belarusian National Republic in 1918 and the official coat of arms of Belarus from 1991 to 1995.

[edit] Structure

The heraldic shield features a red field with an armored knight on a white (silver) horse holding a silver sword in his right hand above his head. A silver shield hangs on the left shoulder of the charging knight, and a golden (yellow) Patriarchal cross appears on the shield.

[edit] History

[edit] Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The charging knight first emerged as a state emblem in the region in 1366. It features on the seal of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Algirdas, which marks a document dating from 1366. The old prototype depicts a knight on horseback holding a sword in his raised hand.

An appearance of the coat of arms in the 16th century

The symbol of the charging knight on horseback passed down through the generations: from Algirdas to his son, Grand Duke Jogaila (ruled 1377 - 1392), then to Grand Duke Vytautas ruled 1392 - 1430) and to others. By the 14th century, the charging knight on horseback with a sword had begun to feature in an heraldic shield, first in Jogaila's's seal in 1386 or 1387, and also in the seal of Vytautas in 1401. As early as the 15th century, the heraldic charging knight on horseback became the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and of its central part - the Duchy of Vilnius. 16th century documents refer to it using the Polish term Pogoń. At first, the charging knight might appear riding either left or right; and sometimes he held a lance. But as of the first half of the 15th century, all depictions show him riding towards the left (as seen by the viewer), with a sword in his raised hand and a shield in the left hand.

Coat of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

In the 15th century, the colors of the seal became uniform. The livery colors became fixed: a white (silver) charging knight on a red field of the heraldic shield. The charging knight at this time bore a blue shield, and set against the blue field appeared a double (gold) cross. The coat of arms featured the Grand Duke's headgear on the crest.

At first the charging knight showed the figure of the ruler of the country, but with time it came to be understood and interpreted as that of a riding knight chasing an intruder out of his native country. Such an understanding became especially popular in the 19th century and in the first half of 20th century. The explanation has a sound historical foundation. We know that at the Battle of Grunwald (1410), where the united Polish-Lithuanian army crushed the army of the Teutonic Knights (thus putting an end to the Knights' eastward expansion) thirty Lithuanian and Ruthenian regiments out of a total of forty fought under banners flying the sign of the Pahonia.

A postal stamp of Belarus in 1918

With minor stylistic changes, the Pahonia coat of arms remained the state symbol of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until 1795, when the Russian Empire annexed and extinguished the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Third Partition of Poland. The Pahonia then became incorporated into the imperial state emblem. After the first partition of Poland, Catherine the Great had given the Pahonia coat of arms to several towns in the newly acquired ethnic Belarusian and Latgallian territories, including Daugavpils, Ludza, Sebezh, Polacak, Nevel, Haradok, Viciebsk, Surazh, Velizh. The motive for this was that this territory once belonged to Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

[edit] 1918-1990

The Pahonia appeared on the state seal of the Belarusian National Republic for a short period between 1918 and 1919. West Belarus became part of interwar Poland, and the Pahonia was used as the symbol of several provinces which had sizeable Belarusian minorities, namely the Polesie Voivodeship, the Wilno Voivodeship (1923–1939), and the Nowogródek Voivodeship (1919–1939). It was also used by West Belarusian separatist organizations.

During Soviet times the emblem was forbidden and used only by Belarusian emigrant communities in the USA, Canada, and elsewhere. During the Second World War the Belarusian Central Rada, a puppet Nazi régime in Belarus, also used the Pahonia symbol.

[edit] 1918-1990

In the late 1980s, during a new wave of Belarusian national rebirth, the Belarusian Popular Front adopted the Pahonia as its coat of arms, despite the fact that its public display constituted a criminal offense^{[citation needed]}. In 1990, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Pahonia became the coat of arms of the independent Republic of Belarus.

In 1995, following a controversial referendum, Alexander Lukashenko scrapped the Pahonia's status as the official coat of arms and replaced it with a modified Soviet emblem. Since then the Pahonia has served as one of the symbols of the anti-Lukashenko opposition in Belarus.

[edit] Pahonia as a regional coats of arms

Pahonia has been the main element of emblems of all^[1] Voivodeships on the lands of modern Belarus in the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Payment coupon of the National Bank of Belarus, 1992, 50 kapiejkas (kopecks), reverse

Belarusian passport,
1991-1995

After annexation of Belarus to the Russian Empire, the Vitebsk and Vilno governorates have inherited coats of arms of their former voivodeships.

Vilna Governorate coat of arms
Vitebsk Governorate coat of arms

Pahonia is official emblem of the Vitsebsk voblast and part of official emblem of the Homyel voblast.

Vitsebsk voblast coat of arms
Homyel voblast coat of arms

[edit] Appearances on urban coats of arms

While being part of the Russian Empire, some towns in Belarus, notably Viciebsk, Haradok, Połacak and others, were given Pahonia as part of their coats of arms. Some of them continue usage of Russian-given coats today: