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Latvijas Pilsetu Gerboni Latvian Civic Heraldry

VENTSPILS

Origin/meaning :
Ventspils is one of the oldest cities of Latvia. The castle of the Livonian Order, first mentioned in historical documents of 1290, is considered to be the first building in the present territory of Ventspils. Near the castle, that was built in an economically and strategically important place, the camp of the German colonists and later the city of Ventspils gradually formed. The rights of the city have been indirectly mentioned in a document dated 1378.

The oldest known pattern of the coat of arms of Ventspils can be seen in a stamp of a document dated in 1369. The knight's cross and a horn, the two main components of the coat of arms, have not fundamentally changed for several centuries.

The seal of 1369

The coat of arms of Ventspils was confirmed by the decision of the President of Latvia in 1925 together with the symbols of almost all the other cities of Latvia. Small changes were made at that time to some of the city symbols including that of Ventspils which regained its former red background colour.

During the times of the Soviet Union, in 1970, it was decided to make considerable changes in the coat of arms of Ventspils. The colours were changed, the cross was substituted by a steering wheel of a ship and the symbolism of the flag of the Latvian SSR was introduced.

The coat of arms confirmed in 1925 was again adopted in 1989. The present coat of arms of Ventspils comprises the basic components of the historical pattern known since the 14^th century u the cross and the hunting horn.

In old Czarist Russian times the arms were slightly different :

Literature : scan from a poster; old scan from Speransov; Information taken from http://www.ventspils.lv/english/pils_vest.htm and http://www.ventspils.lv/english/pilsvest_ger.htm

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