Jewish Autonomous Region

Heraldry of the World Civic heraldry of Russia - Гербы городов Российской Федерации

JEWISH AUTONOMOUS REGION (Евре́йская автоно́мная о́бласть)

Origin/meaning

The two blue stripes symbolise the rivers Bira and Bidjan; they are also emblematic of the stripes on Jewish tallitot and tzitzit - certain religious types of garments that customarily have blue and white stripes; the tallit is a prayer shawl and tzitzit are ritual fringes. One string in each set of tzitzit is to be dyed a certain blue called tchelet, derived from a snail or shellfish called a 'chilazon' in Hebrew. The identity of the chilazon was lost at the time of Exile, but recent archaeological evidence has pointed to the Murex snail of the Mediterranean Sea. In the meantime, tzitzit have been made entirely of white; tchelet is identified with Judaism and with the return to all things lost at the Exile - including a Jewish homeland - and lends these associations to the Israeli flag.

The tiger is described as a "tiger of Ussouri"

Literature : image from http://heraldry.hobby.ru (with permission)