The coat of arms of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted on 10 February 1941 by the government of the

Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 ...

(Moldavian SSR). The coat of arms is based on the coat of arms of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. It shows symbols of

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

, an outer rim featuring

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

grapes A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

and

clover Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...

. The red banner bears the Soviet Union state motto ("

Workers of the world, unite! The political slogan "Workers of the world, unite!" is one of the rallying cries from '' The Communist Manifesto'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (german: Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt Euch!, literally "Proletarians of all c ...

") in both the

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communities in ...

(in

Moldovan Cyrillic The Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet is a Cyrillic alphabet designed for the Romanian language spoken in the Soviet Union ( Moldovan) and was in official use from 1924 to 1932 and 1938 to 1989 (and still in use today in the breakaway Moldovan regio ...

) and the

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living E ...

. In Romanian, it was initially ""; then, from the 1950s "". Both are written in the Latin alphabet as "". The

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

MSSR is shown only in Romanian in Moldovan Cyrillic (""). The emblem was replaced on 3 November 1990 by the present

coat of arms of Moldova The coat of arms of Moldova is the national emblem of the Republic of Moldova. Official description Moldovan law describes the arms as follows: ''Per fess gules and azure, an aurochs head cabossed overall, accompanied by a mullet of eight points ...

. Currently, the unrecognized breakaway state of

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

uses a similar state emblem.

History

Provisional emblem

A provisional emblem for the Moldavian SSR was created immediately after the formation of the republic on 28 June 1940. The emblem was similar to that of the Ukrainian SSR.

Official emblem

On 10 February 1941, the Supreme Council of the Moldavian SSR of the first convocation adopted the Constitution of the Moldavian SSR, in article 122 of which the State Emblem of the Moldavian SSR was described: The emblem was created by Eugen Nikitovich Merega, whose merits in this regard have been recognized by the Communist Party Leadership and Bureau of the Union of Artists of Moldova on 29 June 1971. His creation has been used almost unchanged until 1990. The text was slightly refined in 1943, when the constitution was printed for the public. Coat of arms of Moldova

First revision

In 1957, the spelling of the Cyrillic alphabet of the supposed

Moldovan language Moldovan (Latin alphabet: ''limba moldovenească''; Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet: лимба молдовеняскэ), also known historically as Moldavian, is one of the two local names of the Romanian language in Moldova. "Moldovan" is declar ...

(the name given to the Romanian language in Moldova back then) was changed, thus, the word "unite" ("") was changed, being spelled with и instead of ь (""). The 1978 Constitution of the Moldavian SSR, which was adopted on 15 April 1978, gives more details regarding the inscription on the emblem. The emblem is described in the article 166 of the constitution.

Minor revision

In 1981, painter Alexei A. Colîbneac improved the emblem's graphics in some respects. Instead of highlights and shadows, the emblem used single tones. Black contours became brown and the medium and big rays of the sun were made of the same length. The amendments of 1981 were mentioned in the "Regulations on the emblem of the republic", adopted on 7 May, same year, by

ukase In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz (russian: указ ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader ( patriarch) that had the force of law. "Edict" and " decree" are adequate translations using the terminology and concep ...

of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR: ''"the colored image of the coat of arms of Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic shows golden sickle and hammer, sun and ears, a gold line around the red star, red ribbon and vegetables, golden ochre maize cobs and strains, fruits and grapes, green leaves of vines and fruits; the contour of the elements is brown."'' On 7 August 1981 the Soviet of the Ministers of Moldavian SSR approved the "Guidelines for implementing the Regulations on the state emblem of Moldavian SSR". This emblem was replaced by a new

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

created by Gheorghe Vrabie, on November 3, 1990.

Symbolism

On 21 April 1965, the director of the "E. M. Rusev" Institute stated in a written reply to G. F. Savcenco, the head of the Office of the Supreme Soviet Presidium of Moldavian SSR, that the elements of the national emblem means the following: * "''The

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...

above the emblem is the guiding star of all humanity building communism;'' * ''The

Hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industr ...

signifies the unbreakable alliance between workers and peasants of our country;'' * ''The sun that rises is the symbol of the bright communism dawn, which is more and more obvious;'' * ''The wreath of ears, cobs of maize, grape leaves and grapes and apples is reflecting the fertility of the Moldavian Republic, which by the will of the Party and the selfless work of its inhabitants is becoming the thriving orchard of the

;'' * ''The Communist slogan: "Workers of all countries, unite!" ..talks about the internationalism of the Moldavian people''". Another interpretation of the emblem of Moldavian SSR indicates the following symbols: * "''The rising sun represents the break of dawn, the horizon of the new communist era;'' * ''The cobs of maize and the ears reflect the republic's economy, abundance of bread, vegetables, fruit and grapes;'' * ''As a summoning bell, as a torch that illuminates the way of liberation from the yoke of oppressors for all the people of the world, there echoes the inscription "Workers of all countries, unite!";'' * ''The five-pointed star states that the peaceful socialist work'' (another draft says ''"peaceful creative work"'') ''of workers, peasants and intelligence is guarded by the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

''". The "Regulations on the emblem of the republic" of 1981 states that ''"The State Emblem of Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic is a symbol of state sovereignty, of unbreakable alliance between workers, peasants and intellectuals, of friendship and brotherhood of the working people of all nationalities in the republic, which are building the communism."''

Gallery

Emblem of the Moldavian SSR (1940-1941).svg, Emblem of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1941) Emblem of the Moldavian SSR (1941-1957).svg, Emblem of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (1941–1957) Emblem of the Moldavian SSR (1957-1981).svg, Emblem of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (1957–1981) Emblem of the Moldavian SSR (1981-1990).svg, Emblem of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (1981–1990)

References

* Silviu Andrieș-Tabac, ''Heraldica teritorială a Basarabiei și Transnistriei'' (Territorial Heraldry of Bessarabia and Transnistria), Editura Museum, Chișinău, 1998, pp. 120–122. {{DEFAULTSORT:Coat Of Arms Of The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 ...

Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic