In classical heraldry, there is a clear content of symbols and a special interpretation of the meaning of each color. In many state symbols created without attention to these provisions of the herbal science and based on ethnic or national customs, the meaning of the color combinations used may be incorrect or even absurd.
The coat of arms and flag of Mordovia is an example of the coincidence of the heraldic significance of the colors and traditions of folk art used.
Mordovian state self-determination
The formation of the Mordovian people as a special group of Finno-Ugric tribes took place in the first centuries of our era. It was formed by the merger of two nationalities, which had the self-name Moksha and Erzya. They lived in the basins of two Oka tributaries - Moksha and Sura - and occupied territories that extended to the Urals.
The Mordovian people did not have their statehood until the 20th century, until Soviet times. After the end of the Civil War, the process of creating autonomous republics, which were formed on the basis of the peoples who supported the Bolshevik government, began. Among such national entities of the Volga, Urals and Siberia were the Mari and Komi, Tatars and Udmurts, Yakuts and Buryats, Bashkirs and others. Mordovians, who lived on the territory of several Volga and Prioksky provinces, also received their autonomy. The Mordovian district was formed, transformed into the Mordovian Autonomous Region. In December 1934, the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created with its capital in Saransk.
New Status - New Heraldry
When creating autonomy in Soviet times, among other state attributes, the coat of arms and flag of Mordovia were established. They repeated, with slight modifications, the state heraldry of the Union Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The new Mordovian state symbols were created when the republic acquired the state status of autonomy within the Russian Federation (1990) and the proclamation of its new official name - the Republic of Mordovia. A contest was organized to create its heraldic attributes. More than a hundred variants of the flag alone were presented at it.
The competition committee determined the best version of the flag, developed by the artist Andrei Stepanovich Alyoshkin, Erzya Mordvin by nationality, a connoisseur and connoisseur of national culture. The flag of Mordovia in the variant of Alyoshkin fully corresponded to the Mordovian traditions in the sense and color scheme and was approved by the official herald masters. The color scheme of the flag is based on the colors that have been used in Mordovian culture since ancient times.
White, red and black
The main color of Mordovian heraldry has become a special shade of red, which is called madder. From ancient times, Mordovian craftsmen received this dark red color from a decoction of the roots of a bedstraw - a herbaceous or semi-shrub plant from the Marenova family or with the help of the well-known natural dye - onion peel. This color on the flag has an upper horizontal strip 1/4 of the entire width and a central solar sign - an eight-pointed rosette - an ancient symbol of the sun.
White color - the color of a canvas whitened by the sun - is familiar for Mordovian national costume as a shirt color, as a background for decorative embroidery using threads dyed in red and black.
Black color, prevailing along with madder in the national pattern of Mordovians, was converted into dark blue in state symbols. The color of the earth has turned into a symbolic designation of moisture-soaked soil. The flag of Mordovia thus avoided the excessive tragedy traditionally associated with black, and gained a new, more optimistic content.
Main character
Of the several options for the coat of arms of the republic, the project of the teacher of the Mordovian Pedagogical Institute Nikolay Chikrinv was chosen. It has a clear national color that prevails over the classical rules of heraldry. The coat of arms of Mordovia has in the description both traditional elements containing a reference to Soviet symbols - ears of wheat intertwined with a ribbon of colors of the national Mordovian flag, as well as narrowly national symbols - a neck female decoration - a golden hryvnia with seven ornamental symbols denoting the seven main Mordovian cities.
The central part of the coat of arms is occupied by a heraldic three-color shield, on which the ancient coat of arms of the capital of the republic, Saransk, is located. This historical symbol of the city, which appeared during the heraldic reform of Empress Catherine II, contains an image of a running red fox in a silver field, above it three black arrows pointing down. This symbol is interpreted as a symbol of the main occupation of the indigenous peoples of Mordovia - hunting. Another interpretation of the fox sign - the symbol of cunning and mind - is more often negative in classical heraldry.
Symbolism of the colors of the coat of arms and the flag of Mordovia
Each culture has its own traditions of the symbolic meaning of flowers. Representatives of different faiths, supporters of various political views and trends interpret the colors in their own way. The coat of arms of Mordovia contains colors that have an interpretation that gives the coat of arms special significance:
- Red - law, strength, courage, courage, fidelity.
- White is peace, purity, innocence.
- Blue - honor, fidelity, glory, sincerity.
The eight-pointed outlet is a sunny symbol of warmth, kindness, openness, stability. Such concepts - "spiritual purity", "the desire for good and openness, for free development on fertile land" - the main content of the main state symbols of the Mordovian Republic. The anthem of Mordovia, which contains three different verses written in three languages spoken in the republic: Moksha, Erzya and Russian, also narrates about them.