The use of heraldry in Belarus is used by government bodies, subdivisions of the national government, organizations, corporations and by families.

History

Until it was absorbed into the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Belarus as the

Belarusian Democratic Republic The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; , ), also known as the Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in its Second Constituent Charter on 9 March 1918 during World War I. The ...

was represented by a coat of arms: a charging knight on a red field, called the

Vytis The coat of arms of Lithuania features an armoured knight on horseback, wielding a sword and carrying a shield with a Jagiellonian cross. This emblem is known as ''Vytis'' (). Since the early 15th century, it has served as the official coat o ...

or Pahonia ('the Chase'). Throughout the communist period, coats of arms fell out of favor and were replaced by emblems. The cities still used shields, but these were changed to add socialist realism or to announce the state awards each city earned. Once the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, the Pahonia was restored as the state coat of arms and the cities reverted to old coat of arms or created new designs. Each of the seven voblasts of Belarus has its own coat of arms. Historical achievements, state awards or state symbols are placed on the coat of arms. For example, the enterprise "October" features the state flag of Belarus on their coat of arm

By 1995, Belarus had reverted its Coat of Arms to Soviet-era style emblem.

State symbols

File:Coat of arms of Belarus (2020).svg,

Emblem of Belarus The national emblem of Belarus features a ribbon in the colors of the national flag, a silhouette of Belarus, wheat ears and a red star. It is sometimes referred to as the coat of arms of Belarus, although in heraldic terms this is inaccurate as ...

since 1995 (with minor modifications in 2012 and 2020) File:Coat of Arms of Belarus (1991).svg, Coat of arms of Belarus ( Pahonia) used between 1991 and 1995 File:Emblem of the Byelorussian SSR (1981-1991).svg, Emblem of the

Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...

(with modifications in 1937, 1938, 1949, 1958 and 1981) File:Coat of arms of Belarusian People's Republic.svg, Coat of arms of Belarus as used on the passports of the

from 1918

Civic heraldry

There have been several waves of Belarusian cities receiving coats of arms. Firstly, many cities received coats of arms under the

Magdeburg Law Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...

during the times of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

and the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. After the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

, territories in modern-day Belarus were incorporated into the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. In the late 18th century and during the 19th century, the authorities of the

assigned new coats of arms to most Belarusian cities, often aiming to emphasize the cities' conquest by the Russians. In the

Belarusian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...

era, cities didn't have any official coats of arms. In the late years of the USSR, Russian-Empire-era coats of arms were sporadically used as informal symbols. After the restoration of the independence of

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

in 1991, the cities of Belarus have restored the official usage of coats of arms. Most cities have restored the initial medieval coats of arms, fewer have restored the coats of arms granted during the Russian Empire.

Regional heraldry

Medieval history

During the times of the

and later the

, the

has been the dominating symbol on the coats of arms on the provinces on the territory of today's Belarus. File:POL województwo nowogródzkie IRP COA.svg, Navahrudak Voivodeship File:POL Mińskie COA.svg,

Vilnius Voivodeship The Vilnius Voivodeship (, , , ) was one of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's voivodeships, which existed from the voivodeship's creation in 1413 to the destruction of the Lithuanian state in 1795. This voivodeship was Lithuania's largest, most p ...

File:POL województwo poleskie II RP COA.svg,

Brest Litovsk Voivodeship Brest Litovsk Voivodeship (; ) was a unit of administrative territorial division and a seat of local government (voivode) in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) from 1566 until the May Constitution in 1791, and from ...

File:POL województwo białostockie II RP COA.svg,

Podlaskie Voivodeship (1513–1795) The Podlaskie Voivodeship was formed in 1513 by Sigismund I the Old as a voivodeship in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, from a split off part of the Trakai Voivodeship.Mykhailovskyi, V. Podlaskie Voivodeship (ПІДЛЯСЬКЕ ВОЄВОДСТВ� ...

File:POL Mińskie COA.svg,

Minsk Voivodeship Minsk Voivodeship (; ; ; ) was a unit of administrative division and local government in Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1566Stanisław Kutrzeba: Historia ustroju Polski w zarysie, Tom drugi: Litwa. Lwów i Warszawa: 1921, s. 88. and later in Pol ...

File:Coat of Arms of Połacak Voivodeship.svg,

Polock Voivodeship Polotsk or Połock Voivodeship (; ; , ) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (Grand Duchy of Lithuania) since the 15th century until the partitions of Poland in 1793. History The voi ...

File:Coat of Arms of Viciebsk Voivodeship.svg,

Witebsk Voivodeship Vitebsk Voivodeship (; ; ) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (from 1569 Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) from the 15th century until the partitions of Poland in 1795. History Zygmunt Gl ...

File:Banner of Amścisłaŭ Voivodeship.svg, Banner of the

Mstsislaw Voivodeship Mstislaw Voivodeship or Mścisław Voivodeship (; ; ; ) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (from 1569 the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), since the 15th century until the Partitions of Pol ...

Under the Russian Empire

After the annexation of the

(including territories of present-day Belarus) to the Russian Empire, new administrative divisions (

gubernya A governorate (, , ) was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, governorates remained as subdivisions in the Byelorussian, Russian and Ukrainian Soviet republics, and in ...

s, or governorates) were introduced.

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

and

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

governorates inherited coats of arms of their former voivodeships. File:Coat of arms of Vilna Governorate 1878.svg,

Vilna Governorate The Vilna Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. In 1897, the governorate covered an area of and had a population of 1,591,207 inhabitants. The governorate was defined by the Minsk Governo ...

File:Coat of Arms of Minsk Governorate.png,

Minsk Governorate Minsk Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Minsk. It was created from the land acquired in the partitions of Poland and existed from 1793 until 1921. Its territory covered th ...

File:Coat of Arms of Mogilev Governorate.png,

Mogilev Governorate Mogilev Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. The governorate bordered the Vitebsk Governorate to the north, the Smolensk Governorate to the east, the Chernigov Gover ...

File:Coat of arms of Grodno Governorate 1878.svg,

Grodno Governorate Grodno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Grodno. It encompassed in area and consisted of a population of 1,603,409 inhabitants by 1897. Gro ...

File:Coat of arms of Vitebsk Governorate 1856.svg,

Vitebsk Governorate Vitebsk Governorate (, ) was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with the seat of governorship in Vitebsk. It was established in 1802 by splitting Belarusian Governorate and existed until 1924. Today most ...

Independent Belarus

After the restoration of the independence of Belarus, the regions received new coats of arms, mostly based on the coats of the Russian-era governorates. File:Coat_of_arms_of_Minsk.svg, City of

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Brest_Region.svg, Brest Region File:Coat_of_arms_of_Homyel_Voblast.svg, Homiel Region File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Hrodna_Voblasts.svg, Hrodna Region File:Escut_Oblast_Mohilev.png, Mahiloŭ Region File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Minsk_province.svg, Minsk Region File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Vitsebsk_Voblasts.svg, Viciebsk Region

Personal heraldry

''See Armorial of Polish nobility'' The nobility of the historical regions of modern Belarus, which comprise parts of

Lithuania propria Lithuania proper refers to a region that existed within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania where the Lithuanian language was spoken. The primary meaning is identical to the Duchy of Lithuania, a land around which the Grand Duchy of Lithuania evolved. T ...

and

White Ruthenia White Ruthenia (; ; ; ; ) is one of the historical divisions of Kievan Rus' according to the color scheme, which also includes Black and Red Ruthenia. In the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern period, the name White Ruthenia was characterized by i ...

, were a historical part of the

Lithuanian nobility The Lithuanian nobility () or ''szlachta'' of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (, ) was historically a legally privileged hereditary elite class in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth (including during period of foreign r ...

and

Ruthenian nobility The Ruthenian nobility (; ; ) originated in the territories of Kievan Rus' and Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, Galicia–Volhynia, which were incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and later the Russian Emp ...

in the

. Very early, the nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania adopted the heraldic tradition of the Polish

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

. The heraldry of the said nobility constitutes a part of the

Polish heraldry Polish heraldry is the study of the coats of arms that have historically been used in Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It treats of specifically Polish heraldic traits and of the Polish heraldic system, contrasted with heraldic sys ...

. File:POL COA Brochwicz.svg, Brochwicz File:POL COA Bukaty.svg, Bukaty

Ecclesiastic heraldry

The Belarusian Roman Catholic senior clergy has personal coats of arms as according to the customs of catholic

ecclesiastical heraldry Ecclesiastical heraldry refers to the use of heraldry within Christianity for dioceses, organisations and Christian clergy. Initially used to mark documents, ecclesiastical heraldry evolved as a system for identifying people and dioceses. It i ...

. File:Coat of arms of Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz.svg,

Tadevuš Kandrusievič Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz (; born 3 January 1946) is a Belarusians, Belarusian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev, Archbishop of Minsk–Mohilev from 2007 to 2021. He has been a bishop since 1989, ...

, Archbishop of Minsk and Mahilow, consecrated in 1989 File:Coat of arms of Aliaksandr Yasheuski.svg, Alaksandar Jašewski, auxiliary bishop of Minsk and Mahiloŭ File:Coat of arms of Yury Kasabutski.svg, Jury Kasabucki, auxiliary bishop of Minsk and Mahiloŭ File:Gerb biscop velikoselets.jpg, Bishop Kazimier Vielikasielec of the

Diocese of Pinsk The Diocese of Pinsk (, ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese in Belarus. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev. Its cathedral is a minor basilica: the Cathed ...

File:Coat of arms of Aleksander Kaszkiewicz.svg, Bishop Alaksandar Kaškievič of

Hrodna Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, from Minsk, about from the border with Poland, and from the border with Lithuania. Grodno serves as the ad ...

File:Coat of arms of Aleh Butkevich.svg, Aleh Butkievič, bishop of

Viciebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

References

External links

Coats of Arms of Lands of the Commonwealth

Arms of the Belarusian cities

Arms of the cities in the Minsk Oblast
{{in lang, ru Belarusian coats of arms Belarus-related lists Heraldry by country