Coat of arms of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic

Coat of arms of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic

The coat of arms of the Armenian SSR was devised from an initial prototype sketch by Martiros Saryan, a famous Armenian painter and was adopted in 1937 by the government of the Armenian SSR.

The coat of arms prominently features Mount Ararat, regarded as the national symbol of the Armenia. The grapes shown immediately beneath Ararat represent the traditional Biblical account of the first vineyard that Noah planted upon his descent from his ark as a sign of rebirth of humanity. The inner rim on the sides of the grapes includes wheat, symbolic of the land and natural resources of Armenia. Above Mount Ararat is the hammer and sickle with the red star behind it. Printed on the outer rim are the words "Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic" in Armenian (Հայկական Սովետական Սոցիալիստական Հանրապետություն) while in the center outer rim is the motto "Workers of the world, unite!" in both Armenian (Պրոլետարներ բոլոր երկրների, միացե'ք) and Russian (Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!).

The inclusion of Mount Ararat brought objections from Turkey because the mountain is part of its territory. The Kremlin retorted that although the Turkish symbol was the crescent, surely it did not mean that they laid claim to the moon.^[1]

The emblem was changed in 1992 to the present coat of arms of Armenia.

References

1. ^ Louis, Victor and Jennifer. The Complete Guide to the Soviet Union. New York, 1976. p. 98

See also