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Neringa (Klaipeda, Lithuania)

Last modified: 2003-08-09 by dov gutterman
Keywords: lithuania | neringa | klaipeda |
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by Audrius Slapsinskas, 4 July 2003



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Overview

The flag and the coat of arms of Neringa city (Klaipeda county - Klaipedos apskritis). The flag is drawn by me according to picture from official site of Neringa municipality (<www.neringainfo.lt>). The coat of arms I drew according to the picture from the book: The Heraldry of Lithuania.
Audrius Slapsinskas, 4 July 2003

According to <www.neringainfo.lt>, the five bi-coloured fields are modelled after the traditional weathercocks (sic) of the fishing boats of the villages, and the white field symbolises the villages buried under the sand.
Translated from <www.memelland-adm.de>:
"On 26 June 1844, an administrative decision was announced. This is the birthday of the 'Kurenwimpel'. It was decided that all sailing boats on the Kurische Haff should carry a pennant from the top of the mast. The pennant should be at least 2 feet long and one foot wide. The colours and pattern of the pennant were prescribed for each village by the Haff...... The first pennants were made of canvas in a wooden frame, later versions were made of wooden boards or metal plate, rotating on its axis."
Ole Andersen, 22 July 2003


Coat of Arms


by Audrius Slapsinskas, 4 July 2003

From <www.neringainfo.lt>:
"The shield of the coat of arms of Neringa is divided into six black and silver (white) fields. Rectangular fields symbolize Nida, triangles symbolize Preila, a rhombus symbolizes Purvyne of Nida, the silver field symbolizes Karvaiciai and other villages buried under sand, a cross stands for Juodkrante and a rectangle symbolizes weathervanes of historical fishing boats -kurenai - used by fishers of Pervalka villages. At the bottom of the shield, against the blue backdrop there is a silver letter "N", which symbolizes the city of Neringa. The city was founded in 1961. Artist Arunas Tarabilda created the coat of arms of Neringa City in 1967 - 1968.
It pictured the fishing boats, called kurenai, of the villages of the Curonian Spit as well as weathervanes, which were established in the middle of the 19th century by the Rusne Lagoon inspection.
When preparing a new design of the coat of arms for Neringa, it was noticed that the details were not very accurate in the coat of arms of 1968. The village of Rasyte , which symbol was present in the coat of arms, in fact, belongs to the Russian Federation at present, and the weathervanes of Juodkrante contained only a cross in former times. Therefore, at the request of the inhabitants of Neringa City, the symbol of Rasyte in the new coat of arms was replaced with an empty silver background to symbolize Karvaiciai and 16 other former villages in Neringa territory buried under the sand. Taking into consideration the importance of Nida as the administrative center of Neringa city as well as the aesthetic aspect of the design of the coat of arms, it was decided that the black and silver fields in the shield should be arranged in the following order: the top left field symbolizes Nida, the field below - Purvyne of Nida and the bottom one pictures the weathervanes of fishing boats, Kurenai, of Juodkrante. The top rectangle on the right symbolizes Preila, the empty field below pictures Karvaiciai and other villages buried beneath the sand and the bottom one stands for Pervalka.
The coat of arms of Neringa city created by Tarabilda was corrected by
architect Ricardas Kristapavicius. The Heraldry Commission of Lithuania approved the coat of arms of Neringa on January 23, 1997. The President of the Republic of Lithuania confirmed it on February 18, 1997 (Decree No.1209).
Neringa city flag also pictures the coat of arms of Neringa. White (silver) and black are the domineering colors of the flag."
Ole Andersen, 22 July 2003