Viekšnių miesto herbas

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Heraldika; Herbai; Herbas; 18 amžius; 19 amžius; 20 amžius; Miestas; Miesteliai; Viekšniai; Arms; City; Coat of arms; Heraldry; Lithuanian XVIII-XX c. history; Towns; Viekšniai.

ENThe Magdeburg rights were first granted to Viekšniai by the local elder Marcin Leopold Szczuka on 25 October 1725. He also allowed to use the image of three rising hills on the coat of arms and seal of the town. The hills were most probably adopted from the coat of arms of the Szczuka family: a silver rake stuck in the ground on the background of three green hills. The rake was later removed, probably with the aim to make the coat of arms of the town different from that of the noble family. Such symbols are called fwrs pro tofo (a part for the whole) in heraldry. A simplified coat of arms had to show that the town was under the rule of the owner of the full coat of arms, in this case Szczuka. Beside the above-mentioned description, there is no more information about the coat of arms. Another coat of arms was granted to Viekšniai, along with the rights of a free town, by the ruler Stanislaw August (Poniatowski) on 15 May 1792. It depicted three stars, one silver and two golden, on the blue field, and a crown above them. A similar coat of arms with three stars was used by the Karp family well-known in Lithuania, but it is unknown if they had any relation with Viekšniai at that time. The symbolism of the royal crown is clearer. In the 18th century it most often designated state towns, which were usually called royal. It is quite possible that in the same year the coat of arms became no longer effective, as the opposition to the founding of free towns backed by Russia gained ground in of information, it represented hexagonal stars under an open three-leaf crown, and this image was popularized in the press. In 1998 the Lithuanian Heraldry Commission, having discussed versions of the Viekšniai coat of arms, decided to restore the coat of arms established in 1792. [...]. [From the publication]