State Emblem of the Soviet Union

State Emblem of the Soviet Union
Details
Armiger	Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Adopted	6 July 1923
Crest	Red five-pointed star with golden border
Escutcheon	Hammer and sickle, globe and the rising sun. An emblem is surrounded by ears of wheat wrapped around red ribbons with the state motto in the languages of the Soviet Socialist Republics.
Motto	Workers of the world, unite!
Earlier versions	1923, 1929, 1936, 1946

The State Emblem of the Soviet Union (Russian: Государственный герб Советского Союза, Gosudarstvenny gerb Sovyetskovo Soyuza^[1]) was adopted in 1923 and was used until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Although it technically is an emblem rather than a coat of arms, since it does not follow traditional heraldic rules, in Russian it is called герб (gerb), the word used for a traditional coat of arms.

It was the first state insignia created in the style known as socialist heraldry, a style also seen in e.g. the emblem of the People's Republic of China.

History

First version (1923–1936)

The project of the first version of the state emblem was accepted on 6 July 1923 by the 2nd session of the Central Executive Committee (CIK) and the version was completed on September 22 of that year.^[2] This design was fixed in the 1924 Soviet Constitution: "The State Emblem of the USSR is composed of a sickle and a hammer on a globe depicted in the rays of the sun and framed by ears of wheat, with the inscription "proletarians of the world, unite!" in six languages - Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani. At the top of the Emblem is a five-pointed star."

Emblem was created by Vladimir Adrianov and finished by Ivan Dubasov. In 1931, Tajik were added after formation of Tajik SSR in 1929^[3].

Second version (1936–1946)

According to the 1936 Soviet Constitution, the USSR consisted of eleven republics. Hence the major new version's difference from the previous one was eleven ribbons bearing USSR State Motto inscriptions in eleven languages. The languages added were Turkmen, Uzbek, Kazakh and Kyrgyz.

Third version (1946–1956)

The number of republics in the USSR became 16 after September 1939, before the Great Patriotic War began in June 1941, but the state emblem was changed to reflect this only after the war. By a Decision of Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on June 26, 1946, all 16 constituent republics were represented on the emblem. The USSR State Motto was inscribed on 16 ribbons in 16 languages. Inscriptions in Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Uzbek, Tajik, Kazakh, Kyrgyz languages were updated due to the transfer from Latin to Cyrillic script of the respective languages within the USSR. Also, several language from new republics were added: Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Moldavian, and Finnish.^[2]

Fourth and final version (1956–1991)

Soviet state emblem on the building of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2011

In 1956, the Karelo-Finnish SSR was transformed into the Karelo-Finnish ASSR, and soon this was reflected on the USSR state emblem.^[2] By a decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on September 12, 1956, the ribbon bearing the USSR State Motto in Finnish was removed.^[3]

A minor change in the Belarusian inscription was a decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on April 1, 1958.^[3]

Inscriptions on the ribbons (which are translated into English as "Proletarians of the world, unite!") are as follows:

Description

The state emblem shows the traditional Soviet emblems of the Hammer and Sickle and the Red Star over a globe, and two wreaths of wheat covered by "Workers of the world, unite!" in the official languages of the Soviet Republics, in the reverse order they were mentioned in the Soviet Constitution.

Each Soviet Republic (SSR) and Autonomous Soviet Republic (ASSR) had its own coat of arms, largely inspired by the state emblem of the Union.

Gallery

See also

• State Quality Mark of the USSR
• Coat of arms of Russia

References