Historical data on Coat of arms of Poltava :

• Approved by hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky who knew the Ukrainian history to well, the ancient Coat of arms of Poltava excellently featured an old Bulgarian symbolism. It looked like this: a golden drawn bow with an arrow pointed to the ground was seen in escutcheon's sky-blue background. It was followed by four hexahedral golden stars placed at the escutcheon's corners. All images symbolized a peaceful clear sky and peace (blue), (arrow pointed downward) – a rest after the battle. A golden bow with the same arrow was possessed by the House of Dulo (ruling dynasty of the early Bulgars), to which the owner of Great Bulgaria and Baltavar (Poltava) in 12th century, Kubrat belonged. Only to members of that family was granted the right to include this symbolism in their coat of arms. And the hexahedral Tengri star – a symbol of God Tangra became well respected by many nations, including Ukrainian people. Many of the Ukrainian nobility used it in their coat of arms. This fact proves once again the authenticity of the old Bulgarian chronicles about the hoary antiquity of Baltavar – Poltava.
• The next coat of arms of Poltava was already designed in 1720es by King of Arms' friend Francisco Santi. Its description put it like this: “The chamfered escutcheon has four equal divisions, with two crossed swords in the first dark-red grand quarter, a banner with State Emblem on silver ground in the second one, the third silver grand quarter portrays a growing palm-tree, the fourth one is reserved for a stony pyramid with an image of a serpent holding its tail in the jaw – the symbol of eternity”. The composition glorifies the victory of the Russian army over the Swedish troops in Poltava Battle (1709). Authorship og the design is attributed to F. Santi. The coat of arms was officially approved on May 22, 1803 (after the establishment of Poltava province).
• In 1859 the new coat of arms of Poltava was projected. “A black three-cornered memorial in the golden shield is embellished with a ring-shaped serpent. There are two green banners behind the memorial, with a golden crowned monogram of Peter the Great hanging from sharp pointed dark-red shafts, followed by two crossed dark-red swords placed at the shield's top”. It was supposed that the coat of arms would be surrounded by cereal ears connected with the Alexander ribbon, and the shield would be displaying a wall-like crown. The project didn't receive confirmation, rather served as a basis for the coat of arms of Poltava province approved in 1878.
• On February 23, 1993 Poltava city council has approved one of the versions of the city's historical coat of arms, the basis of which was the city's first coat of arms, projected by painter V.M. Baturin. A bow with an arrow pointed to the ground is portrayed on the crimson colored shield, with four hexahedral golden stars in each corner of the shield. The coat of arms bears an inscription “POLTAVA” over the shield, with the letter “T” written in the form of a cross.

  The ancient Coat of arms of Poltava approved by hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky

  The Coat of arms of Poltava approved on May 22, 1803

  The Coat of arms of Poltava province approved in 1878