Last modified: 2004-07-31 by dov gutterman
Keywords: ukraine | trident | triglav |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
.gif)
by Andriy Grechylo, 16 July 2004
See also:
Rejected Project of Ukraine Great Coat of Arms
from Ukraine
Heraldry site
From <www.toronto.edu>
(by A. Zhukovsky):
Trident (tryzub). The official coat of arms of Ukraine is a gold
trident on an azure background. As a state emblem the trident
dates back to Kievan Rus', when it was the coat of arms of the
Riuryk dynasty. There are various theories about its origins and
meaning. A trident was the symbol of Poseidon, the sea god of
Greek mythology. It has been found in different societies, such
as the Bosporan and Pontic kingdoms, the Greek colonies on the
Black Sea, Byzantium, Scandinavia, and Sarmatia, and has been
used in various ways:
a religious and military emblem,
a heraldic symbol,
a state emblem,
a monogram,
and simply a decorative design.
The oldest examples of the trident discovered by archaeologists
on Ukrainian territory date back to the 1st century AD. At that
time the trident probably served as a symbol of power in one of
the tribes that later became part of the Ukrainian people. The
trident was stamped on the gold and silver coins issued by Prince
Volodymyr the Great (980-1015), who perhaps inherited the symbol
from his ancestors as a dynastic coat of arms and passed it on to
his sons, Sviatopolk I (1015-19) and Yaroslav the Wise (1019-54).
Iziaslav Yaroslavych (1054-78), Sviatopolk II Iziaslavych
(1093-1113), and Lev Danylovych (1264-1301) used the bident (two
prongs) as their coat of arms. Although the trident continued to
be used by some ruling families as a dynastic coat of arms until
the 15th century, it was replaced as a state emblem in the 12th
century with the Archangel Michael.
The trident was also used as a religious symbol in Ukrainian folklore and church heraldry. The trident appeared not only on coins but also on the bricks of the Church of the Tithes in Kiev (986-96), the tiles of the Dormition Cathedral in Volodymyr-Volynskyi (1160), and the stones of other churches, castles, and palaces. It was also used as a decorative element on ceramics, weapons, rings, medallions, seals, and manuscripts. Because of its wide use in Rus' the trident evolved in many directions without losing its basic structure. Some of the variations include the bident, the trident with a cross on one of the arms or at the side, and the trident with a half-moon. Almost 200 medieval variations on the trident have been discovered.
At M. Hrushevsky's recommendation Prince Volodymyr's trident was adopted by the Little Rada (12 February 1918) and the Central Rada (22 March 1918) as the coat of arms of the UNR. By that act the UNR leaders linked the modern Ukrainian state with the medieval state of Kievan Rus'. The Great and Minor state emblems of the UNR were designed by V. Krychevsky. The trident also appeared on the UNR banknotes, which were designed by H. Narbut, O. Krasovsky, V. Modzalevsky, Krychevsky, and others. It was retained as the official coat of arms by the Hetman government and the Directory. The trident with a crossed middle arm was confirmed on 18 July 1918 as the emblem of the Black Sea Fleet.
On 15 March 1939 the Diet of Carpatho-Ukraine adopted the trident with a cross as its official coat of arms. On 19 February 1992, after the restoration of Ukraine's independence in 1991, the Supreme Council accepted the trident as the chief element in the state coat of arms. Various versions of the trident are used by Ukrainian organizations: supporters of the Hetman regime and certain affiliates of the Ukrainian Catholic church use a trident with a cross, nationalist organizations use a trident with a sword in the middle (designed by R. Lisovsky), and the Ukrainian Native Faith church has incorporated the trident into its blazing sun emblem.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Skotyns'kyi, T. UkraVns'kyi herb ta prapor (Lviv 1935) [skt35]
Andrusiak, M. Tryzub (Munich 1947) [adk47]
Sichyns'kyi, V. UkraVns'kyi tryzub i prapor (Winnipeg 1953) [sck53]
Lebedynsky, Ya. L'origine et l'histoire du trident ukrainien
(Paris 1982) [lbk82]
Giuseppe Bottasini
Among the others I was watching the Ukrainian part. There are
a lot well documented opinions about origin of the Ukrainian
symbol - "Trizub" (Trident). I have been always
interested in origin of this symbol. Trident was a Neptune's
weapon, symbol of navy, connected with the sea, etc... But
Ukraine does not have rich naval history. In fact I know that
Cossacks in XVI and XVII century used to fight against Tartars on
Black Sea using small boats called "Tchayka". That is
all! They have never had a big navy. So, why they use trident as
the national symbol?...
I am Polish, I work for the american medical company, and I am
responsible for the eastern european market, for Ukraine among
the others. During one of my trips I met an old professor,
Ukrainian, who told me his explanation. This is really
interesting story. Pay attention that this "Trident"
does not look like typical Neptune's trident. Its shape is a
little bit different, a little bit strange. This professor told
me that this is "A SHADOW OF THE HAWK". And everything
became clear to me!
In the common Polish and Ukrainian tradition, Polish were called
as "Eagles" and Ukrainians as "Hawks". Hawk
was the symbol of the zaporozhian Cossacks, a symbol of freedom
during the war against Polish in the XVII century. In many
Ukrainians songs there is the hawk as a synonym of free Cossack.
Maybe this explanation is not correct, but it does make some
sense for me.
Tomasz Kwiecien ,12 March 1998
Reading the FOTW page about Ukraine I found Giuseppe
Bottsani's text dealing with the main element of Ukrainian coat
of arms, the "trident". Unfortunately, he not quite
correctly points out that "on 15 March, 1939 the Diet of
Carpatho-Ukraine adopted the trident with a cross as its official
coat of arms."
I have official minutes of the first session of
Carpatho-Ukrainian parlament (called in local dialect of
Ukrainian as "soim") which took place in the town of
Khust on the 15th of March, 1939. So, according to those
documents, deputies were proposed to adopt the old Czechoslovak
time territorial coat of arms (with blue/yellow stripes and
standing bear) as that of a state one.
During the discussion parlament member Dr. Stephen Rossokha
suggested to adopt the St.Vladimir's trident as the state coat of
arms as well. Priest Cyril Fedeles proposed to make a cross from
the trident's center teeth by adding to it a short horizontal
bar. Those proposal were accepted by all 22 members of parlament.
So, the final text of Law's part 1 (there was no specific title
for the law but only number) was read as follows:
The Law. Part 1.
The parlament of Carpathian Ukraine adopted this law:
Article 1. Carpathian Ukraine is an independent State.
Article 2. State's name is Carpathian Ukraine.
Article 3. Carpathian Ukraine is a republic headed by
parliamentary elected president.
Article 4. Ukrainian is a state language of Carpathian Ukraine.
Article 5. The colo