The lower part of the coat of arms of Berezino and the Berezinsky region represents a heraldic image of oak leaves, symbolizing the originality of the local landscapes. The mighty oak tree in symbolism has a multifaceted meaning and symbolizes power, endurance, longevity, nobility and glory. These characteristics can easily be attributed to noble representatives of the Sapieha family. The color of heraldic oak leaves is, in addition to silver, green or gold. In symbolism, an oak tree with acorns is separately interpreted as maturity, fullness of strength, and the acorn itself is a symbol of fertility, prosperity, spiritual energy, growing from a grain of truth.
In the presented coat of arms, in the upper silver field there is a figure of a fox in red (red) enamel. The lower green part required the use of metal (silver) leaves. To give the upper and lower parts of the composition balance, the leaves and acorns of the oak stylizedly mirror the golden noble crown: the oak leaves repeat the arrangement of the so-called celery leaves in the crown, and the acorns are the pearls placed between them.
The city flag is a vexillological version of the coat of arms.
The projects of the coat of arms and flag were approved by decision of the Berezinsky District Council of Deputies dated January 31, 2007 No. 10.
The author of the coat of arms and flag is M.M. Elinskaya, artist V.A. Lyakhor.
Coat of arms: in a blue field of a baroque shield, a golden lion, turned to the right, holding a double silver arrow in its paw - the coat of arms "Fox" - a silver, double-crossed arrow.
The coat of arms was registered in the Stamp Matricule of the Republic of Belarus on May 28, 1998 No. 13
In the 16th century Slonim was the povet center of the Novogrudok Voivodeship. In 1531, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund I granted the city Magdeburg law. The right to self-government was confirmed in 1591 by Sigismund III Vasa, and in the same year the city received its coat of arms.
The coat of arms of Slonim in its plot echoes the coat of arms of Lida, which the city received a year earlier from the same monarch. In the Slonim coat of arms, a golden lion holds the coat of arms “Fox” in its paw. This is apparently explained by the fact that since 1586 Lida belonged to the Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Lev Sapieha. The princely family had the above-mentioned coat of arms, which, according to Polish and Russian armorials, represented a silver spear or a white arrow placed in a red field and crossed by two white crossbars like axes. Half of the exiting fox facing left was placed in the kleinode. The coat of arms “Fox” has been known since 1058 and belonged to a certain noble warrior who distinguished himself in the battle with the Yatvingians and, as a reward for his victory, received from the Polish king Casimir, nicknamed the Just (1040-1058), a new sign of courage - a spear. Since 1795, Slonim has been part of the Russian Empire - as a district town of the Grodno province; on April 6, 1845, it received from the Russian Emperor Nicholas I the second coat of arms in its history: “The shield is divided into two halves: the Grodno coat of arms is placed in the upper one, and in the lower one, in a blue field, two swords placed crosswise on the hilts, between which “1275” is displayed, in memory of the capture of the city of Slonim from Lithuania that year by the princes of Galicia.”
It should be added that modern Belarusian heraldists continue the traditions of coat of arms from the period of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Russian Empire. When creating new city symbols, they widely use a technique that was used back in the 16th century: a combination in the coat of arms of various figures with noble heraldry with various divisions of the shield.
The coat of arms of Slonim is one of the historical and heraldic monuments of Belarus.
Download the coat of arms of the city of Slonim in vector (vector format .cdr .eps)
Sources:
Adamushko, V.I. Coats of arms and flags of Belarus / V.I. Adamushko, M.M. Elinskaya. – Minsk: Belarus, 2006. – 254 p.