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HERALDIC SYMBOLS OF GEORGIA

    

      Мichael Wadbolsky

     

 

      Translated from Georgian by Mary Bitsadze and Andrew Andersen

      Web-edition: Andrew Andersen

 

 

 

Part 3

 

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FLAGS, STANDARDS AND COLOURS

 

 

 

Standard bearing the figures of lions

(Trialeti. 2nd millennium BC)

 

 

 

 

Standard (Bolnisi Sioni Cathedral. 5th century)

 

 

Royal standard of King George III

 

 

Standard (similar to Judaic aethode)

 

 

 

 

 

Silver top ornament of the Royal Standard of Queen Rusudan (daughter of Queen Tamar “the Great”). 12th century.

 

 

 

Modern reconstruction of the top ornament of the Royal Standard of Queen Rusudan

 

The battle flag of Svaneti also known as “the lion flag”  (Being filled by the air it took the shape of a lion)

 

 

 

Silver top ornament of “the Lion Flag” of Svanetia.

12th century.

 

 

The battle flag of Mtiuleti (with the bell at the end)

 

 

 

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Flag bearing the image of St.George (light pink)

 

 

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Flag bearing the image of St. Michael the Archangel

(pink with red lining)

 

 

 

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Royal flag (light green) bearing the Coat of Arms of the Bagration House (18th century)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FLAGS OF GEORGIAN STATES AND PROVINCES

(18th century)

 

 

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Flag of Kartli (red, brown lining).

Image: star with a halo over the symbols of military and civil authorities - the lion and ox, severed with a sword and sceptre.

 

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Flag of Kakheti (pink, red lining).

Image: winged gelding - Pegasus, with a flag under a crown, the flagpole ends with a cross. The horse is an ancient religious symbol – an element of the solar cycle.

 

 

 

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Flag of Imereti (greenish-blue, pale yellow lining).

Image: deer with a cross between the antlers under a crown. Beneath the crown, a crescent, perhaps, a sign of lunar cult.

 

 

 

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Flag of Guria (dark pink, yellow lining).

Image: deer under the shining star. Deer symbolizes the Divine goodness. It came from pagan symbolism to the Christian one)

 

 

 

 

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Flag of Odishi-Megrelia (light brown, dark brown lining).

Image: boar with a flag bearing abird and four stars in the corners. Boar is a symbol of fertility, the bird stands for a  Heavenly messenger, the stars are the symbols of the Sun.

 

 

 

 

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Flag of Abkhazia – Abkhazeti (pale green, red lining).

Image:  goat under the symbol of three crescents, whose meaning is unknown. Goat, apparently, is a totem.

 

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Flag of Samtskhe Saatabago (green, blue lining).

Image: recumbent bull with the flag bearing the sword and two black stars.

 

 

 

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Flag of Svaneti (blue, red lining).

Image: bear with the mountains at the background. Bear originates from the ancient religious traditions of the Svan people, as a symbol of mountaineers.

 

 

 

 

 

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Flag of Ovseti – Ossetia (pink, pink lining).

Image: panther with the mountains at the background.

 

 

 

Flag of Armenia under Georgian suzerainty

(pale green, pink lining).

Image: panther holding a spear under the crown and the sun

 

 

 

 

Исторические флаги Грузии

 

Flag of Shirvan under Georgian suzerainty

(yellow, blue lining).

Image: wild goat with a swallow-tailed flag bearing a rosette that symbolizes the sun. Rosette shape resembles diagonal crosses of the Bronze Age.

 

Исторические флаги Грузии

 

Flag of Ran under Georgian suzerainty

(pale green, brown lining).

Image: spider, sitting in a blue square with a red border. Spider is perceived as a symbol of hard work and industriousness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OTHER STANDARDS AND COLOURS (INCL. THE LATER ONES)

 

 

 

 

 

Silver top ornament of the Princely standard of Constantine Mukhran-Batoni

(18th century)

Image:  St. George fighting the dragon in the middle of the cross. Both sides of the ornament bear inscriptions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sample forms of Georgian standards of the 18th century

 

 

Royal standard of King Solomon I of Imereti

(reconstruction based on the sketches of Jean Mourier)

The standard mysteriously disappeared in 1883. Before that it was kept in Khoni monastery.

Image: St. George with a sword and shield. The top ornament had a form of a cross. Unfortunately, Mourier did not specify the colors of the standard.

 

 

 

Regimental colours of Georgian Mounted Militia (1854).

Later it became a personal flag of Prince Ivan Amilakhvari.

 

 

  

Early 20th century  flag (gonfalon) of the Guild of Saddlers