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Georgia: Coat of arms

Greater and lesser coat of arms of Georgia - Images by Mamuka Gongadze (designer of the arms), 10 November 2005

Current coat of arms of Georgia
Coat of arms of Georgia, 2004
Transient coats of arms of Georgia used in 2004

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Georgia

Current coat of arms of Georgia

On 3 June 2005 the Parliament of Georgia passed the Law No. 1549 "On Changes and Amendments in the Law On State Emblem". Various articles of the Law of 1 October 2004 have been modified as well as the attachments to the Law showing the images of the greater and lesser coat of arms.
The text of the Law of 3 June 2005 (including images), as well as a PDF document with the new images can be found on the website of the Parliament of Georgia.

Antonio Gutierrez, 30 November 2005

Coat of arms of Georgia, 2004

Greater and lesser coat of arms of Georgia as adopted in 2004 - Images by Mamuka Gongadze (designer of the arms), 10 November 2005

Georgia adopted a new coat of arms on 1 October 2004.
The text of the Law of 1 October 2004 (including images) can be found on the website of the Parliament of Georgia.

The coat of arms can be blazoned as:

Gules, mounted St. George slaying the dragon, all argent. The shield surmounted with the royal crown of Georgia (Iberian crown).
Supporters, two lions rampant or.
Motto: Strength in Unity (Dzala Ertobashia, written in the Mkhedruli script of Georgian alphabet, ძალა ერთობაშია).

Mikhail Revnivtsev & Antonio Gutierrez, 30 November 2005

Transient coats of arms of Georgia used in 2004

Since no official coat of arms was adopted until October 2004, the President of Georgia used different versions of the arms in different events and places; he indeed used the "last version" of the arms every time.
The adoption process for the new national coat of arms of Georgia was officially launched on 16 April 2004. The new leaders of Georgia wanted to celebrate Georgia Independence Day (26 May) with new national symbols.
The online magazine Civil shows 11 eleven designs in competition, with the following comment:

A state commission has exhibited the designs that would compete to become Georgia's national symbol. A jury is to decide on the final design and submit it to the Parliament's approval. It is expected that the decision would be made by May 26 - Georgia's national holiday.

Mikhail Revnivtsev & Stoyan Antonov, 27 May 2004

Rejected proposal of caot of arms - Image by Mamuka Gongadze (designer of the proposal), 2 June 2004

The proposal selected by the commission for adoption was not adopted by the Parliament, but used anyway by the President during the national holiday celebration. It is blazoned as follows:

Quarterly per cross or; 1 and 4, gules, mounted St. George with a lance slaying a dragon, all argent (representing all Georgia); 2 azure, a mount flamed and pierced with two arrows in saltire, all or (representing ancient Iberia; eastern Georgia); 3 azure, golden fleece on a ribbon of the fourth (representing ancient Colchis, where the Argonauts stole the Golden Fleece; western Georgia); escutcheon: purpure, tunic of Our Lord of the second (representing the holiest relic of Georgia).
The shield surmounted with the royal crown of Georgia (Iberian crown).
Supporters, two lions rampant or.
Motto: Strength in Unity (written in the Mkhedruli script of Georgian alphabet).

Several members of the Parliament found that coat of arms was too "pagan", because of the Golden Fleece and Prometeus' Caucasus mountain, two elements from Greek mythology.
The early proposals of the coat of arms were without a motto. Motto was discussed by the ad hoc commission as a separate topic. The commission eventually decided to adopt the motto "Strength in Unity" and Gongadze added the motto to his proposal.

Victor Lomantsov, 2 June 2004