10 Most Interesting Images Of ‘Pahonia’ Coat Of Arms

27.02.2025, 16:32
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The oldest of the “Pahonia” bas-reliefs is located on the Jagiello tombstone.

In 1991-95, the “Pahonia” coat of arms was the state emblem of the Republic of Belarus. After the illegal “referendum” of 1995, held on the initiative of Lukashenka, the Pahonia coat of arms was deprived of this status.

In the early 2000s, the Pahonia coat of arms was included in the State List of Historical and Cultural Values of Belarus. The Charter97.org website decided to recall the most interesting images of this ancient symbol, which, by the way, is more than seven hundred years old.

Perhaps the most ancient of the “Pahonia” bas-reliefs is located in Kraków, on the tombstone of Jagiello, whom the Poles value as their king, the founder of the Jagiellonian dynasty, and the Belarusians also remember that Jagiello, the son of Olgerd, began his career as “head” precisely as the Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

The most famous (or, as they say now, hyped) image of the Pahonia coat of arms is probably the one located in the former capital of the Grand Duchy, Vilnius. To see the image that inspired Maksim Bahdanovich to create the poem-hymn “Pahonia”, come to the Vilnius Gate of Dawn.

If you do not get to Vilnius, at least look in our Ruzhany, where on the beautifully restored gates of the Sapieha Palace, the horseman with “Pahonia” is the most prominent element of the large coat of arms of a powerful princely family.

However, the coat of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the Polish eagles and “Pahonia” can be seen in Dresden, Germany, on the facade of the famous Zwinger Palace, founded by order of the Elector of Saxony Augustus the Strong. So to speak, “concurrently” for more than three decades, Augustus was the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania — hence our symbol.

Also in Dresden, “Pahonia” occupies a place of honor among European coats of arms on the wall called “Procession of Kings” — the largest porcelain panel in the world, composed of 25 thousand tiles, and, of course, one of the city's attractions.

By the way, once upon a time, the same coat of arms as in the Dresden Zwinger also adorned the royal New Castle in Hrodna (the decision to build it was made under Augustus the Strong). Unfortunately, only a fragment of the “Pahonia” remains from that ancient symbol, which today lies at the entrance to the historical and archaeological museum, which operates in the former palace.

It can be said that by some miracle the “Pahonia” was preserved on the mosaic majolica panel of the building of the Land and Peasants' Bank erected in 1917 (now the veterinary academy operates there).

The symbol of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania also remained on some coats of arms of Belarusian cities, for example, Mahiliou. In 1661, during the war with Russia, the Mahiliou residents rebelled and completely destroyed the seven-thousand-strong garrison of the occupiers — because of this, the city was equalized in rights with the capital Vilnius and it received a new symbol from the king with an element of the state coat of arms “Pahonia”.

Many remember how in the first half of the 1990s “Pahonia” decorated the facades of the presidential administration building and the Government House in Minsk.

The “Pahonia” appeared on the pages of foreign media thanks to visits to Belarus by world leaders. For example, here is a famous illustration for the speech of US President Bill Clinton at the Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

Nowadays, the ancient image of an armed knight on horseback can be found on the capital's State Flag Square — as an effective symbol of the Vitsebsk region.