The system of Russian territorial symbols - from the first coats of arms to the territorial identity and brands of places

The article focuses on Russian heraldry as a means of visual identification of territories and a prototype of modern territorial identity. Heraldry can be viewed as a model not only from the position of its function, but also from the point of view of its formation. The paper considers specific examples of coats of arms in comparison with the general trends in the development of modern territorial symbolism and graphic design. The term «Russian heraldry» in the context of the study implies all stages of its development: tsarist, imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet. The paper considers modern coats of arms of the Republic of Transnistria, since at all stages (except for the post-Soviet one) this territory was part of the system of Russian territorial symbols. After the collapse of the USSR and gaining independence, Transnistria supports the pro-Russian course which is mainly expressed in its symbolism. They create the replicas of pre-revolutionary coats of arms and use the Soviet coats of arms alongside the new ones, including the coats of arms designed according to the rules of Soviet heraldry. Such turning points in the sphere of visual identifiers as Koehne’s heraldic reform in the 19th century, the introduction of Soviet heraldry, the replica of pre-revolutionary heraldry after the collapse of the USSR require a separate detailed study. Due to the specifics of this article they are considered in a limited way, as the paper aims to identify the relationship between traditional forms of symbolism and modern territorial identity.