Presentation of the book The Modern Heraldry of Belarus by V. Adamushko and M. Elinskaya

The book The Modern Heraldry of Belarus by V.I. Adamushko and M.M. Elinskaya was presented to the public at the bookstore “PResentation” of the Petrus Brovka Belarusian Encyclopedia Publishers on 19 December 2012. Attendees at the event were the publishing company’s chief for historical and socio-economic sciences editorial board Yu.V. Bazhenov, the book’s editor V.V. Fedkovich, the faculty and students of the Belarusian State University, members of the Heraldry Council V.A. Lyakhor and D.V. Yatsevich, and those interested in modern Belarusian heraldry and symbols.

In his speech V.I. Adamushko told the participants about the structure and contents of the book, the importance of the official heraldic symbols in the life of the modern society, and the principles of work at the Heraldry Council under the President of the Republic of Belarus. He noted, in particular, that the book was written during a number of years and presents 197 coat of arms and 150 flags of the administrative and territorial units in this country, the official heraldic symbols instituted by the decrees of the President of Belarus starting from 2002. These constitute the essential part of the State Heraldic Register, the maintenance of which is in charge of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Justice Ministry. V.I. Adamushko also noted that the reconstruction of historical arms, the creation of new arms and flags, their appraisal, institution and use are conducted in accordance with the Belarus Law On Official Heraldic Symbols adopted on 26 May 2012.

M.M. Elinskaya spoke on the specific features of the territorial heraldry in Belarus, starting from the origins of the ancient national symbols. She briefly touched on the conferring of coat of arms to the towns and boroughs by Grand Dukes of Lithuania and the Polish kings in the 16th to18th centuries and to the governorships and provinces in the Russian Empire in the late 18th and 19th centuries. She noted that the modern Belarusian heraldry has adopted the best practices accumulated by the predecessors during the past several centuries. It was emphasized that the Belarusian specialists in heraldry also make use of the international experience, applying to classical knowledge as well as to modern technologies in the creation of the complete heraldic complex for the inhabited localities of different level.

V.A. Lyakhor, who prepared the master images of coat of arms and flags and proposed the artistic design of the edition, told about the specifics and problems in the reconstruction of the historical heraldry and the different stages in developing the new symbols. He emphasized that the book preserves with maximum identity the icon-painting of the 16th to 19th centuries and conveys the atmosphere and artistic trends of the time when these arms appeared. The modern territorial heraldry of Belarus is noted for the variety of subjects and methods in their creation. The arms and flags presented in the new book demonstrate a unique national style of the Belarusian heraldry and vexillology and its specific characteristics.