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Latvijas Pilsetu Gerboni
Latvian Civic Heraldry

LUDZA

Origin/meaning :
Ludza is first time mentioned in Russian chronicles of 1117 as a town with church.
In 1399 Germans took this land and built a fortress Ludsen (later called Lutzen in German) to defend the border of Livonia state.
In 1777 the Russian Empress Catherine II granted city rights to Ludza, called then Lucyn in Russian. In 1781 the arms were granted: the upper half of Russian eagle in the upper half of the arms, and the riding knight in the lower half. It comes from the arms of Polotsk and further into the history - from the arms of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which ruled the Polotsk duchy since 13th century. Only background of the knight was different: black for Ludza (silver for Polotsk).


The arms of 1781

After the independence of Latvia the new arms were granted in 1925: mural wall and crossed key and sword. The wall symbolizes the former strong fortress, the key shows that it is the city at the state border, and the sword mentions ancient battles

Literature : scan from a poster (Latvijas Pilsetu Gerboni); Purens : Latvijas gerbonu gramata (translated by Virginijus Misiunas, Vilnius)


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