The City Council of Mykolaiv issued students diplomas with the coat of arms of the city from the time of the Russian Empire
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- Alisa Melik-Adamian
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14:10, 19 January, 2024
Presentation of scholarships to talented students of Mykolaiv in 2023, photo: Mykolaiv City CouncilThe students of Mykolaiv received diplomas on the scholarship of the Mykolaiv mayor and the city council, which depict the coat of arms of the city in the version from 1883, when Mykolaiv was part of the Kherson province of the Russian Empire.
In the upper left corner of the coat of arms is an image of the coat of arms of the Kherson province, to which Mykolaiv belonged at the time. This detail was noticed and reported on his Facebook page by local historian Yurii Reshetnyk.
In the heraldic description of the coat of arms, it is indicated that the coat of arms of the Kherson province is placed in the azure free part of the Mykolaiv coat of arms, which consists of a silver Russian cross with a glow and three golden imperial columns below.
«Mykolaiv is already in the Kherson province, or will we soon have a king? Few people pay attention to the little things, and the little things decide everything! Our most talented students received scholarships, they are paid from the city budget, from the money of all citizens. However, the officials of the city council here managed to extend, either their illiteracy or their narrative?» wrote Yurii Reshetnyk.
What is the difference between the modern coat of arms of Mykolaiv and the coat of arms of the times of the Russian EmpireHistory of the coat of arms of Mykolaiv
This coat of arms was relevant from the moment of approval by Emperor Alexander I in 1883 until the collapse of the Russian Empire. In Soviet times, the coat of arms of the city was replaced only in 1969. Then a sickle and a hammer were depicted on it, a sailing ship, under the keel of which a golden half-gear was placed.
Already in the times of independent Ukraine in 1997, the Mykolaiv city council returned to the coat of arms of 1883, but removed the coat of arms of the Kherson province with imperial crowns. But now, after 114 years, the old coat of arms of the times of the Russian Empire has somehow reappeared on official documents signed by the city's leadership.
Note that in 2022, scholarships were not awarded to talented students, and in 2021, instead of the imperial coat of arms, the diploma had a completely different illustration from the brand book «Mykolaiv — City on the Wave». Thus, these certificates in diplomas were printed precisely when the authorities of Mykolaiv are actively working on the decolonization of the city: renaming streets, dismantling monuments related to the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union or the aggressor state — the Russian Federation.
This is what the diploma looked like in 2021
Diploma for 2023The initiative of Kim, Sienkevych and Haidu regarding the new coat of arms of Mykolaiv
It is worth mentioning that the mayor of Mykolaiv announced the change of the current coat of arms about 5 months ago. Oleksandr Sienkevych explained this by the fact that on the image of the city's coat of arms there is a galley with oars — a symbol of slave ideology, which must be eliminated during Ukraine's struggle for freedom from Russia:
«The thing is that it shows a galley with oars. Without sails. I think you all understand what such a galley means, who worked on it to death. We are not rowing slaves, not slaves. We absolutely do not need such symbols in the identity of our city!».
Vitaliy Kim, the head of the Mykolaiv RMA, and People's Deputy Oleksandr Haidu agreed to finance the competition for the new coat of arms of Mykolaiv. They announced that they would allocate 200,000 hryvnias of personal funds for this.
The Department of Culture of the Mykolaiv City Council is currently working on the development of regulations for holding a contest to change the city's coat of arms.
What other symbols of the «imperial» do they want to get rid of in Mykolaiv?
Mykolaiv authorities propose to move the date of the City Day celebration. Usually this holiday is celebrated on the second Saturday of September, but now the idea has arisen to celebrate it on May 22 — on the Day of Summer Nicholas.
According to the mayor, this decision can also become a symbol of getting rid of the so-called «imperialism», because Mykolayiv was founded by the decree of the Russian empress Catherine II.
This decision also covers the renaming of city streets. For example, the toponymy commission proposes changing the name of Potemkinska Street, which bears the name of the founder of Mykolaiv, Prince Hryhorii Potemkin. The street will be renamed because of his anti-Ukrainian actions, in particular the destruction of Zaporozhian Sich. We will remind, during the times of the Soviet Union, Potemkinska Street was already renamed Plekhanivsk.
Admiral Makarov Street may also be renamed due to associations with the Russian cruiser that shelled Ukraine. Although there are no relevant recommendations from the profile Institute of Memory regarding this street. There are also no plans to dismantle the monument to Admiral Makarov on the embankment.
Pushkinska and Liahin streets, as well as those containing the names of marshals and generals, are also subject to renaming.
In total, in the list of proposed 269 toponyms, more than 250 streets were recommended for renaming.