Coat of arms of Lithuania

{{Short description|none}} {{redirect|Pahonia}} {{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}} {{Infobox coat of arms |name = Coat of arms of Lithuania<br /> {{lang|lt|Lietuvos herbas}} <br /> {{lang|lt|Vytis}} ({{lang|pl|Pogonia}}, {{lang|be-Latn|Pahonia}}) |image = Coat of arms of Lithuania.svg |image_width = 200 |armiger = Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania |year_adopted = 1366 (first documented)<br /> {{start date|df=yes|1991|09|04}} (current official version) |crest = |torse = |shield = Gules, an armoured knight armed cap-à-pie mounted on a horse salient holding in his dexter hand a sword Argent above his head. A shield Azure hangs on the sinister shoulder charged with a double cross (Cross of Lorraine) Or. The horse saddles, straps, and belts Azure. The hilt of the sword and the fastening of the sheath, the stirrups, the curb bits of the bridle, the horseshoes, as well as the decoration of the harness, all Or. |supporters = |compartment = |motto = |orders = |other_elements = |earlier_versions = ''see below'' |use = }}

The '''coat of arms of Lithuania''' features an armoured knight on horseback, wielding a sword and carrying a shield with a Jagiellonian cross. This emblem is known as '''''Vytis''''' ({{IPA|lt|'vîːtɪs|pron}}).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lietuvių kalbos žodynas|url=http://www.lkz.lt/?zodis=vytis&lns=-1&les=-1&id=30130050000|website=Lkz.lt|access-date=2020-05-18}}</ref>

Since the early 15th century, it has served as the official coat of arms of Lithuania and stands among the oldest heraldic symbols in Europe.<ref name="vle">{{cite web |last1=Rimša |first1=Edmundas |author-link=Edmundas Rimša |title=Lietuvos valstybės herbas |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/lietuvos-valstybes-herbas/ |access-date=19 March 2021 |website=Vle.lt |language=lt}}</ref><ref name="PiniguMuziejus" /><ref name="VytisGalkus13">{{cite book |last1=Galkus |first1=Juozas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zm9V70uaH5YC |title=Lietuvos Vytis / The Vytis of Lithuania |date=2009 |publisher=Vilnius Academy of Arts Press |isbn=978-9955-854-44-9 |page=13 |language=lt, en}}</ref> It is also referred to by different names across languages—for instance, ''Waykimas'' or ''Pagaunė<ref>{{cite web |date=17 December 2019 |title=Kultūros uostas Paroda "Vytis istorijoje ir dailėje" |url=https://kulturosuostas.lt/2019/12/17/paroda-vytis-istorijoje-ir-daileje/ |access-date=10 April 2021 |website=kulturosuostas.lt |language=lt}}</ref><ref name="Galkus">{{cite web |last1=Galkus |first1=Juozas |date=26 May 2020 |title=Apie Vyčio pradžią ir vardą |url=https://alkas.lt/2020/05/27/j-galkus-apie-vycio-pradzia-ir-varda/ |access-date=21 March 2021 |website=alkas.lt |language=lt}}</ref>'' in Lithuanian, and ''Pogonia'', ''Pogoń'', or ''Пагоня'' (''Pahonia'') in Polish and Belarusian, all roughly translating to "the Chase."<ref name="vle" /><ref name="Palionis174">{{cite journal |last1=Palionis |first1=Jonas |date=2012 |title=Leszek Bednarczuk. Językowy obraz Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego. Millenium Lithuaniae MIX–MMIX |url=http://lki.lt/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/all_66_maketas.pdf |journal=Acta Linguistica Lithuanica |language=lt |publisher=Lithuanian Language Institute |issue=LXVI |page=174 |access-date=21 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="PetrauskasVytis">{{cite web |author1=Petrauskas, Rimvydas |title=Vytis, the Sign of the Dynasty {{!}} Orbis Lituaniae |url=https://ldkistorija.lt/stories/symbols/vytis-the-sign-of-the-dynasty/ |access-date=1 May 2021 |website=LDKistorija.lt |publisher=Vilnius University}}</ref> The term ''Vytis'' itself can be interpreted as "Chaser," "Pursuer," "Knight," or "Horseman," bearing similarities to the Slavic ''vityaz'', meaning a brave or valiant warrior.<ref name="lietuviuzodynas">{{cite web |title=Vytis reikšmė – lietuvių kalbos žodynas |url=https://www.lietuviuzodynas.lt/zodynas/Vytis |access-date=9 April 2021 |website=lietuviuzodynas.lt |language=lt}}</ref> Historically, it has also been described as ''raitas senovės karžygys'' (a mounted hero of ancient times) or in heraldic terms, ''raitas valdovas'' (a mounted sovereign).<ref name="lietuviuzodynas" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Vytis, vyčio, vyties; kryžius |url=http://www.vlkk.lt/konsultacijos/4654-vytis-vycio-vyties-kryzius |access-date=9 April 2021 |website=vlkk.lt |publisher=Commission of the Lithuanian Language |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Butkus |first1=Alvydas |title=Kas yra Vytis (atsakymas Bogdanui) |url=https://www.delfi.lt/news/ringas/lit/alvydas-butkus-kas-yra-vytis-atsakymas-bogdanui.d?id=78521807 |access-date=9 April 2021 |website=DELFI |language=lt}}</ref>

The Lithuanian state was established by the pagan Lithuanians in response to the growing pressure from the Teutonic Order and the Swordbrothers, who had conquered present-day Estonia and Latvia and imposed Christianity by force.<ref>{{cite web |title=Balt {{!}} people |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Balt |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716064315/https://www.britannica.com:80/topic/Balt |archive-date=2015-07-16 |access-date=11 April 2021 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref><ref name="GDLBritannica">{{cite web |title=Grand Duchy of Lithuania |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/grand-duchy-of-Lithuania |access-date=8 May 2021 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2 January 2019 |title=Lithuania – Historical Development |url=https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/content/historical-development-44_en |access-date=11 April 2021 |website=Eurydice Network |publisher=European Commission}}</ref> The Lithuanians stand out as the only Baltic people to have founded a state prior to the modern era.<ref name="LithuaniaHistoryBr">{{cite web|title=Lithuania – History|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Lithuania/History#ref37336|access-date=21 May 2021|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> This external pressure propelled them to expand eastward, conquering vast areas that are now parts of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.<ref name="GDLBritannica" /> This period of territorial expansion is symbolically captured by the image of the galloping knight in the Lithuanian coat of arms.<ref name="Toynbee">{{cite book |last1=Toynbee |first1=Arnold Joseph |author-link=Arnold J. Toynbee |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499044/page/n181/mode/2up |title=A Study Of History (Volume II) |date=1948 |publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=Fourth impression |location=Great Britain |page=172 |access-date=24 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="lndm">{{cite web |title=Laikrodžių muziejaus paroda "Vytis istorijoje ir dailėje" |url=https://www.lndm.lt/laikrodziu-muziejaus-paroda-vytis-istorijoje-ir-daileje/ |access-date=19 March 2021 |website=Lithuanian National Museum of Art |language=lt}}</ref> Its use became even more widespread following the adoption of the Third Statute of Lithuania in 1588, which mandated that each county include the emblem on its official seal.<ref name="ThirdStatute" />

The horseback knight first appeared as a dynastic symbol of the Gediminid dynasty, representing the ruling family. In the early 15th century, Grand Duke Vytautas the Great formalized the image—a mounted knight against a red field—as the official coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was embraced also by noble families affiliated with the ruling lineage.<ref name="vle" /><ref name="PetrauskasVytis" /> The knight's shield was often adorned with the Columns of Gediminas or the Jagiellonian Double Cross, both symbols of dynastic heritage.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas" /><ref name="DoubleCrossSeimas">{{cite web|title=Double Cross|url=https://www.lrs.lt/sip/portal.show?p_r=38115&p_k=2&p_kade_id=9|access-date=20 March 2021|website=Seimas}}</ref>

Today, Article 15 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, approved by national referendum in 1992, states: T''he Coat of Arms of the State shall be a white Vytis on a red field''.<ref name="Constitution" />

== Blazoning == The heraldic shield features the field gules (red) with an armoured knight on a horse ''salient'' argent (silver). The knight is holding in his dexter hand a sword argent above his head. A shield azure hangs on the sinister shoulder of the knight with a double cross/two-barred cross or (gold) on it. The horse saddle, straps, and belts are azure. The hilt of the sword and the fastening of the sheath, the stirrups, the curb bits of the bridle, the horseshoes, as well as the decoration of the harness, are or (gold). <div class="center"> {| border="1" cellpadding="6" class="wikitable" |- ! colspan="6" | Variants employed by institutions |- |width="120px"| 120px |width="120px"| 120px |width="120px"| 120px |width="120px"| 120px |width="120px"| 120px |width="120px"| 120px |- | President | Seimas | Ministry of Agriculture | Ministry of the Interior | Police | Ministry of National Defence |} </div>

== Names of the coat of arms == In early heraldry, a knight on horseback is usually depicted as ready to defend himself and is not yet called {{Lang|lt|Vytis}}.<ref name="vle"/> It is unknown for certain what Lithuania's coat of arms was initially called.{{sfn|Rimša|2004|p=61-63}}<ref>Rimša, Edmundas (2005), p.121</ref>

=== Lithuanian language === [[File:Pogon Vytys Sandomierz 14c.JPG|thumb|One of the oldest colorful {{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}} depiction, 14th century|200x200px]]The origins of the Lithuanian proper noun Vytis remain unclear. At the dawn of the Lithuanian National Revival, Simonas Daukantas was the first to use the term ''vytis''—not in reference to the Lithuanian coat of arms, but specifically to the knight—in his historical work ''Budą Senowęs Lietuwiû kalneniu ir Żemaitiû'', published in 1846.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Daukantas|first1=Simonas|url=http://www.šaltiniai.info/files/literatura/LG00/Simonas_Daukantas._B%C5%ABdas_senov%C4%97s_lietuvi%C5%B3,_kaln%C4%97n%C5%B3_ir_%C5%BEemai%C4%8Di%C5%B3.LG2100.pdf|title=Būdas senovės lietuvių, kalnėnų ir žemaičių|date=1846|page=99|language=lt}}</ref><ref name="VytisLIMIS" /> It is believed either to be a direct translation of the Polish ''Pogoń'', a noun formed from the Lithuanian verb ''vyti'' ("to chase"), or, less likely, a borrowing from the East Slavic ''vityaz''. In the western South Slavic languages as well as Hungarian, ''vitez'' refers to the lowest rank of the feudal nobility.<ref>{{cite web |title=Meaning of vitez in Croatian-English dictionary – Značenje vitez u engleskom rječniku hrvatskoga jezika |url=https://www.almaany.com/en/dict/en-hr/vitez/ |access-date=10 April 2021 |website=almaany.com}}</ref> ''Vitez'' ultimately derives from the Old High German word ''Witing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Витязь &#124; это... Что такое Витязь? |url=https://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/brokgauz_efron/22695/%D0%92%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8C |website=Словари и энциклопедии на Академике}}</ref>''

The first theory, proposed by linguist Pranas Skardžius in 1937, was challenged by Leszek Bednarczuk, as ''pogoń'' does not have a recorded meaning of a "chasing knight."{{Sfn|Bednarczuk|1986|p=168}}<ref name="BaltNexus">{{cite web |title=Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė (Vytis) |url=https://etimologija.baltnexus.lt/?w=vytis |access-date=5 May 2021 |website=etimologija.baltnexus.lt |publisher=Vilnius University Faculty of Philology |language=lt}}</ref> Lithuanian language features personal names with the root ''-vyt-,'' such as ''Vytenis'', and the noun ''vytis'' follows a morphological pattern typical for verbs-derived nouns<ref>Jonas Palionis. Kieno sukurtas Lietuvos herbas (Vytis). Literatūra ir menas, 2002</ref> According to Bednarczuk, Old Lithuanian had a word ''vỹtis'' (genitive ''vỹčio''), meaning "run, chase, pursuit, or general levy," which, at the time the coat of arms was adopted by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was translated into Polish and Ruthenian. Daukantas accurately reconstructed the word's form from the verb ''výti'', but misinterpreted its meaning, an error followed by later authors.<ref name="BaltNexus" />{{Sfn|Bednarczuk|1986|p=168-169}}

thumb|Name {{lang|lt|Waykimas}} in a dictionary by Konstantinas Sirvydas, 1677 editionIn the 17th century, in his Polish–Latin–Lithuanian dictionary, Konstantinas Sirvydas translated the Polish word ''Pogonia''—in the sense of a person doing the chasing—into Lithuanian as ''Waykitoias'', and in the sense of the act of chasing as ''Waykimas''. In modern Lithuanian orthography, ''Waykimas'' is rendered as ''Vaikymas'', and today it is considered the earliest known Lithuanian-language name for the coat of arms of Lithuania.<ref name="vle" /><ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NOQiAQAAIAAJ&q=Waykimas+herbas |title=Atgimusi Lietuva: 1990–2000 |publisher=Baltijos pranešimai |year=2001 |isbn=978-9986-9312-7-0 |editor-last=Balčiūnas |editor-first=Stanislovas |quote=When looking for the Lithuanian equivalent to the Polish Pogonia, Konstantinas Sirvydas called the coat of arms of the 17th century the Waykimas.}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Rimša |first1=Edmundas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bnwWAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Waykimas%22 |title=The Heraldry of Lithuania |last2=Lietuvos Heraldikos komisija prie Respublikos prezidento |date=1998 |publisher=Baltos lankos |isbn=978-9986-861-34-8 |quote=In the XVIIth C., in an attempt to find a Lithuanian equivalent for the Polish ''{{Lang|pl|Pogonia}}'', Konstantinas Sirvydas named the emblem ''{{Lang|lt|Waykimas}}'', which is what it was mostly called throughout the XIXth C.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sirvydas |first1=Konstantinas |url=https://polona.pl/item/dictionarium-trium-lingvarum-in-usum-studiosae-iuventutis,NTcxNzg4Mg/111/#info:metadata |title=Dictionarium trium linguarum |date=1677 |publisher=typis Academicis Societatis Iesu |location=Vilnius |page=221 |language=la, lt, pl |access-date=3 March 2022}}</ref> In the multilingual poetry collection ''Universitas lingvarum magno Palaemonii orbis et urbis hospiti'', published by Vilnius University in 1729, the Lithuanian coat of arms is referred to in Lithuanian as the "Horse of Palemon" (''Zyrge Palemona'').<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kuolys |first1=Darius |title=Lietuviškas Vilnius: ar tokio būta? (II) |url=https://www.bernardinai.lt/lietuviskas-vilnius-ar-tokio-buta-ii/ |website=Bernardinai.lt |access-date=16 June 2024 |lang=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Universitas lingvarum magno Palaemonii orbis et urbis hospiti |publisher=Vilnius University Press |url=https://polona.pl/item-view/881dbf1c-2419-4a45-8bac-18557de031d8?page=8 |date=1729 |access-date=16 June 2024 |language=de, lt}}</ref> ''{{Lang|lt|Waykimas}}'' was also used into the 19th century,<ref name=":1" /> together with another Lithuanian name – ''{{Lang|lt|Pagaunia}}''.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

In 1884, Mikalojus Akelaitis referred to the coat of arms of Lithuania itself as {{Lang|lt|Vytis}} in the ''Aušra'' newspaper.<ref name="SeimasCoA">{{cite web |title=History of the national coat of arms of Lithuania |url=https://www.lrs.lt/sip/portal.show?p_r=38110&p_k=2 |access-date=19 March 2021 |website=Seimas}}</ref><ref name="rimsa3">Šiandien visiem gerai žinomą vyčio terminą XIXa. viduryje, tiesa, ne herbui, bet raiteliui (riteriui) apibūdinti pirmasis panaudojo Simonas Daukantas, o herbui – 1884m. "Aušroje" jį pabandė pritaikyti Mikalojus Akelaitis</ref> The name quickly gained popularity and was eventually adopted as the official term in the independent Republic of Lithuania. Originally used in the first person singular dative case as ''Vytimi'', by the 1930s the form ''Vyčiu'' had become standard in the same grammatical case.<ref name="SeimasCoA" />

[[File:Statut Vialikaha Kniastva Litoŭskaha. Статут Вялікага Княства Літоўскага (1588).jpg|thumb|The Third Statute of Lithuania of 1588, featuring ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'']]

=== Slavic languages === The words ''pogoń'' and ''pogonia'' have been attested in Polish since the 14th century, originally meaning "pursuit"{{sfn|Kiersnowski|1988|p=14}} or the legal obligation to chase a fleeing opponent.<ref>''Słownik Staropolski'', Wrocław 1970–1973, p. 295.</ref> It was not until the 16th century that the term began to be used to describe an armed horseman.{{sfn|Piech|2003|p=239}}{{sfn|Rogulski|2017|p=112}}

The word entered heraldic usage in 1434, when King Władysław II granted a coat of arms bearing the name ''Pogonya'' to Mikołaj, the mayor of Lelów. The design depicted a hand wielding a sword emerging from a cloud. Given its resemblance to the Lithuanian royal coat of arms, it is possible that this was an abatement—a simplified or modified version—of the ruler's own arms.{{sfn|Kiersnowski|1988|p=14}}

The term ''pogonia'' to refer specifically to the Lithuanian coat of arms first appeared in Marcin Bielski's chronicle, published in 1551. However, Bielski made an error: while describing the Lithuanian arms, he actually referred to a Polish noble coat of arms, writing, "From this custom the Lithuanian principality uses Pogonia as its coat of arms, that is, an armed hand bearing a bare sword."{{sfn|Kiersnowski|1988|p=13}}<ref>"''Z tego obyczaju litewskie księstwo za herb Pogoniey używa, to jest ręka zbroyna goły miecz podawa''". {{cite book |last1=Bielski |first1=Marcin |author-link=Marcin Bielski |url=https://polona.pl/item/kronika-tho-iesth-historya-swiata-na-szesc-wiekow-a-cztery-monarchie-rozdzielona-z,MTA5NTE3OTQ0/839/#item |title=Kronika wszystkiego świata |date=1564 |publisher=Jagiellonian Library |location=Kraków |page=403 |language=pl}}</ref> The term gradually became established with the spread of the Polish language and culture.<ref name="vle" /><ref name="PetrauskasVytis" /><ref name="VytisLIMIS">{{cite web |title=Lietuvos herbas Vytis atvirukuose, spauduose ir ženkliukuose |url=https://tim.limis.lt/virtualios-parodos/-/virtualExhibitions/view/53117650?backUrl=%2Fvirtualios-parodos%2F-%2FvirtualExhibitions%2Flist%3F_virtualExhibitionsportlet_WAR_limiskportlet_backUrl%3D%26 |website=tim.limis.lt |access-date=22 April 2021}}</ref>{{sfn|Rogulski|2017|p=112}} {{lang|pl|Pogonia}} is also found in Prince Roman Sanguszko's documents from 1558 and 1564.{{sfn|Rogulski|2017|p=112}}

The emblem was described a century earlier. In a document issued by Supreme Duke Władysław III, confirming the rights of the Czartoryski family, descendants of Karijotas, to use their ducal seal ({{langx|la|sigillo eorum ducali frui, quo ex avo et patre ipsorum uti consueverunt, scilicet equo, cui subsidet vir armatus, gladium evaginatum in manu tenens}}; {{langx|en|to enjoy their duke's seal, which they were accustomed to use from their grandfather and father, namely, a horse on which sits an armed man, holding a drawn sword in his hand}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Paprocki |first1=Bartosz |author-link1=Bartosz Paprocki |title=Herby rycerstwa polskiego przez Bartosza Paprockiego zebrane i wydane r. p. 1584; wydanie Kazimierza Józefa Turowskiego |date=1858 |publisher=Nakładem Wydawnictwa Biblioteki Polskiej |location=Kraków |pages=828–829 |url=https://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/publication/31164/edition/48455/content |access-date=31 October 2021 |language=la, pl}}</ref>). Similar descriptions are found in Jan Długosz's {{Interlanguage link|Annales seu cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae|pl}} or the early 16th-century Bychowiec Chronicle.{{sfn|Rogulski|2017|p=112}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Długosz |first1=Jan |title=Annales seu Cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae |date=1997 |publisher=Polish Scientific Publishers PWN |location=Warsaw |isbn=8301123990 |page=89 |url=https://polona.pl/item/ioannis-dlugossi-annales-seu-cronicae-incliti-regni-poloniae-lib-10-11-1404-1412,MzczMTU2OTQ/23/#info:metadata}}</ref> Another popular Polish term was ''{{lang|pl|pogończyk}}''.<ref name="SeimasCoA" />

The name ''{{lang|pl|Pogonia}}'' was first recorded legally in the Third Statute of Lithuania in 1588.<ref name="statute">{{cite book |title=Статут Вялiкага княства Лiтоўскага 1588. Тэксты. Даведнiк. Каментарыi |year=1989 |orig-year=1588 |location=Minsk |url=http://starbel.narod.ru/statut1588_4.htm |quote=Тежъ мы, г[о]с[по]д[а]ръ, даемъ подъ геръбомъ того паньства нашого, великого князства литовъского, "Погонею" печать до кожъдого повету<br /> Transliteration: Teź' my, g[o]sp[o]d[a]r', daem' pod' ger'bom' togo pan'stva nasogo, velikogo kniazstva litov'skogo, "Pogoneju" pečat' do koź'dogo povetu<br /> Translation: We, the King, bring the seal with "Pogonia", the coat of arms of our state of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, for every powiat |access-date=2008-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071119022120/http://starbel.narod.ru/statut1588_4.htm |archive-date=2007-11-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Vaičaitis |first1=Vaidotas |title=Lietuvos Statutų priėmimo priežastys, jų santykis su Liublino unija ir LDK parlamentarizmo bruožai |date=2014 |publisher=Vilnius University Faculty of Law |location=Vilnius |page=80 |url=https://www.tf.vu.lt/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/V.-Vai%C4%8Daitis.-Lietuvos-Statut%C5%B3-pri%C4%97mimo-prie%C5%BEastys-j%C5%B3-santykis-su-Liublino-unija-ir-LDK-parlamentarizmo-bruo%C5%BEai.pdf |access-date=2 May 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>

== Possible early beginnings == [[File:Prussian gods (Peckols, Perkunas, Potrimpo).jpg|thumb|Baltic mythology pagan Gods: Peckols, Perkūnas, Potrimpo]] The leader of neo-pagan movement Romuva, Lithuanian ethnologist and folklorist Jonas Trinkūnas suggested that the Lithuanian horseman depicts Perkūnas, considered as the god of the Lithuanian soldiers, thunder, lightning, storms, and rain in Lithuanian mythology.<ref name="Seimas2012">{{cite web |date=20 November 2012 |title=Lietuvos valstybės herbas |url=https://www.lrs.lt/pls/inter/w5_show?p_r=4056&p_k=1&p_rp=N&p_dr=N&p_d=9978 |access-date=21 March 2021 |website=Seimas |language=lt}}</ref><ref name="Trinkunas">{{cite book |last1=Trinkūnas |first1=Jonas |author-link=Jonas Trinkūnas |title=Baltų tikėjimas: lietuvių pasaulėjauta, papročiai, apeigos, ženklai |date=2000 |publisher=Diemedis |isbn=9986230799 |pages=110–111 |url=https://romuva.lt/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Jonas.Trinkunas.-.Baltu_.tikejimas.2000-krantai.pdf |access-date=22 March 2021 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Perkūnas |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/perkunas/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=22 March 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> It is believed that the {{Lang|lt|Vytis}} may represent Perkūnas as supreme god or Kovas who was also a war god and has been depicted as a horseman since ancient times. Very early on, Perkūnas was imagined as a horseman and archeological findings testify that Lithuanians had amulets with horsemen already in the 10th–11th centuries, moreover, Lithuanians were previously buried with their horses who were sacrificed during pagan rituals, and prior to that it is likely that these horses carried the deceased to the burial sites.<ref name="Seimas2012" /><ref name="Trinkunas" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Iršėnas |first1=Marius |last2=Račiūnaitė |first2=Tojana |title=The Lithuanian Millennium: History, Art and Culture |date=2015 |publisher=Vilnius Academy of Arts Press |location=Vilnius |isbn=978-609-447-097-4 |pages=28–29 |url=https://leidykla.vda.lt/Files/_TheLithuanianMillenium_2015_per.pdf |access-date=24 May 2021}}</ref> One of the pendants made from brass and symbolizing a horseman was found in tumulus in the Plungė District Municipality, dating to the 11th–12th centuries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Artėjant Lietuvos gimtadieniui – žvilgsnis į istorinę Vyčio vėliavą |url=https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/istorija/artejant-lietuvos-gimtadieniui-zvilgsnis-i-istorine-vycio-veliava-582-833752 |website=15min.lt |access-date=31 October 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>

Lithuanian mythologists believe that the bright rider on the white horse symbolizes the ghost of the ancestral warrior, reminiscent of core values and goals, giving strength and courage.<ref name="lrytasVytis">{{cite web|title=Kaip Lietuvos herbu tapo Algirdo Vytis, o ne Kęstučio karys|url=https://www.lrytas.lt/kultura/istorija/2015/06/20/news/kaip-lietuvos-herbu-tapo-algirdo-vytis-o-ne-kestucio-karys-1514772/|access-date=8 May 2021|website=lrytas.lt|language=lt}}</ref> Gintaras Beresnevičius also points out that a white horse had a sacral meaning to Balts.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beresnevičius |first1=Gintaras |title=Dievas raitelis |journal=Baltos Lankos |date=1994 |page=44 |url=http://tautosmenta.lt/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Beresnevicius_Gintaras/Beresnevicius_KB_1994_4.pdf |access-date=28 August 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> These interpretations coincide with one of the interpretations of the German coat of arms, that suggests an ''adler'' being the bird of Odin, a god of war, which is commonly depicted as a horserider.

== Emblems of Lithuania's rulers (before 1400) == The old Lithuanian heraldry of the Lithuanian nobles was characterized by various lines, arrows, framed in shields, colored and passed down from generation to generation.{{sfn|Rimša|2004|p=116–120}} They were mostly used until the Union of Horodło (1413) when 47 Lithuanian families were granted various Polish coat of arms,<ref name="Horodlo">{{cite web |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |author-link=Edvardas Gudavičius |title=Horodlės susitarimai |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/horodles-susitarimai/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=28 March 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> yet some Samogitian nobles retained old Lithuanian heraldry up to the mid-16th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Saviščevas |first1=Eugenijus |title=Žemaitijos savivalda ir valdžios elitas 1409–1566 metais |date=2010 |publisher=Vilnius University Press |location=Vilnius |isbn=9789955335474 |page=77 |language=lt}}</ref>

The second redaction of the Lithuanian Chronicles, compiled in the 1520s at the court of Albertas Goštautas mentions that semi-legendary Grand Duke Narimantas (late 13th century) was the first Grand Duke to adopt knight on horseback as his and the Grand Duchy's coat of arms. It describes it as an armed man on a white horse, on the red field, with a naked sword over his head as if he was chasing someone, as the author explains that is why it is called "погоня" (''pohonia'').<ref name="lndm"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=Хроніка Литовська й Жмойтська|url=http://litopys.org.ua/psrl3235/lytov02.htm|publisher=ІЗБОРНИК|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050215092253/http://litopys.org.ua:80/psrl3235/lytov02.htm |archive-date=2005-02-15 }} "Той Наримунт мЂл герб, або клейнот, рицерства своего таковый, и тым печатовался, Великому князству Литовскому зоставил его, a то такий: в гербЂ муж збройный, на коню бЂлом, в полю червоном, мечъ голый, яко бы кого гонячи держал над головою, и есть оттоля названый «погоня»."</ref> A slightly later edition of the chronicle, so-called Bychowiec Chronicle, tells a similar story, without mentioning coat of arms name: "when Narimantas took the throne of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, he handed his Centaur coat of arms to his brothers and made a coat of arms of a rider with a sword for himself. This coat of arms indicates a mature ruler capable of defending his homeland with a sword".<ref name="VytisGalkus13" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Bychowiec Chronicle|url=http://litopys.org.ua/psrl3235/lytov08.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050215092607/http://litopys.org.ua:80/psrl3235/lytov08.htm |archive-date=2005-02-15 }} "Narymont, koli seł na Welikom kniastwie Litowskom, herb swoy Kitawra zostawił bratij swoiej, a sobi wdełał herb czełowika na koni z meczem, a to znamenuiuczy czerez tot herb pana dorosłoho, chto by meł boronit meczem oyczyzny swoiej, a pre to oberyte sobie hospodara dorosłoho, chto by meł boronity toho państwa, Welikoho kniażstwa Litowskogo."</ref>

The legend of the adoption of the Lithuanian coat of arms at the time of Narimantas in the version of Bychowiec Chronicle is repeated by later authors: Augustinus Rotundus, Maciej Stryjkowski, Bartosz Paprocki and later historians and heraldists of the 17th and 18th centuries.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Ryszard |last=Kiersnowski |title=Godła Jagiellońskie |journal=Wiadomości Numizmatyczne |volume=32 |date=1988 |issue=1–2 |page=15}}</ref>

=== Symbols of Mindaugas === [[File:Seal of Mindaugas.jpg|thumb|upright|Seal of Mindaugas]] The symbols used by the earliest rulers of Lithuania remain unknown. One of the few relics that have survived to our times is the seal of Mindaugas. Mindaugas succeeded in uniting several Lithuanian tribes, and in 1251 he embraced Roman Catholicism. Two years later, in 1253, he was crowned King of Lithuania by a papal legate, and his domain was officially elevated to the status of a kingdom.<ref name="BalticStatesPrehistory">{{cite web|title=Baltic states – Prehistory to the 18th century|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Baltic-states/Prehistory-to-the-18th-century#ref418651|access-date=29 April 2021|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref><ref name="LithuaniaHistoryBr" /> However the authenticity of a partially survived seal, attached to the act of 1255, according to which Selonia was transferred to the Livonian Order, is disputed.<ref name="RimsaMindaugas">{{cite journal|last=Rimša|first=Edmundas|author-link=Edmundas Rimša|year=2005|title=Ar Mindaugo majestotinis antspaudas?|url=http://ldmuziejus.mch.mii.lt/Metrastis/Sestas_Rimsos_straipsnis.htm|journal=Lietuvos dailės muziejaus metraštis|language=lt|volume=6|pages=35–44|issn=1648-6706|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229131355/http://ldmuziejus.mch.mii.lt/Metrastis/Sestas_Rimsos_straipsnis.htm|archive-date=29 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Milan and the Kingdom of Lithuania in the 13th c.|url=https://media.valdovurumai.lt/files/a/stendines_parodos/fa0a65fd4d625f681051fcc1d9283a35.pdf|language=it, lt, en|publisher=Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania|access-date=1 May 2021}}</ref> A 1393 description of the seal, made when the inscription was still legible, records the legend as: {{Lang|la|+ MYNDOUWE DEI GRA REX LITOWIE}} ({{langx|en|Mindaugas, by the grace of God, King of Lithuania}}).<ref name="RimsaMindaugas"/>

[[File:Pagan Lithuanian 13th-14th century ring with a solar symbol (found in Kernavė, Lithuania).jpg|thumb|upright|Pagan Lithuanian 13th–14th century ring with a solar symbol, found in Kernavė, the ancient capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] In 1263, following the assassination of King Mindaugas and his family members by Daumantas and Treniota, Lithuania plunged into a period of internal turmoil. Over the next seven years, three of Mindaugas’ successors—Treniota, his son-in-law Švarnas, and his son Vaišvilkas—were all assassinated. Stability was eventually restored under the reign of Traidenis, who was appointed Grand Duke around 1270.{{sfn|Rowell|1994|p=51-52}} Around the same time, the ancient Lithuanian capital of Kernavė was first mentioned in historical sources. In 1279, the ''Livonian Rhymed Chronicle'' recorded that an army of the Livonian Order devastated areas within Traidenis’ realm (part of early military clashes prior to the Lithuanian Crusade).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |author-link=Edvardas Gudavičius |title=Kernavės žemė ir valsčius iki 1564–1566 metų administracinės reformos |publisher=Vilnius University |location=Vilnius |page=1 (140) |url=http://www.llt.lt/pdf/musninkai/istorija-iki_reformos.pdf |access-date=2 May 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> The coat of arms, seals, or personal symbols of Traidenis have not survived, if they ever existed.<ref name=":0" /> However, archaeological excavations at the 13th–14th century necropolis in Kernavė have revealed a striking variety of decorative symbols and ornaments. Among the most prominent are motifs of plants, herbs, palmettes, and suns (swastikas) engraved on headbands and rings. These designs are characteristic of the pagan period, prior to Lithuania's Christianization.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last1=Vėlius |first1=Gintautas |title=Symbols in the 14th-century Jewellery |url=https://ldkistorija.lt/stories/symbols/symbols-in-the-14th-century-jewellery/ |website=LDKistorija.lt |publisher=Vilnius University |access-date=2 May 2021}}</ref>

=== Symbols of Gediminas === Grand Duke Gediminas's authentic symbols did not survive to this day. On 18 July 1323 in Lübeck imperial scribe John of Bremen made a copy of three letters sent by Gediminas on 26 May to the recipients in Saxony.{{Sfn|Rowell|1994|p=329}} According to the notary's transcript, the oval seal of Gediminas had a twelve corners edging, at the middle of the edging was an image of a man with long hairs, who sat on a throne and held a crown (or a wreath) in his right hand and a sceptre in his left hand, moreover, a cross was engraved around the man along with a Gediminas' title in Latin.<ref name="Sajauskas81">{{cite book |last1=Sajauskas |first1=Stanislovas |url=https://www.lb.lt/uploads/documents/docs/publications/sajauskas_2.pdf |title=Pirmųjų Lietuvos didžiosios kunigaikštystės monetų ypatybės [The peculiarities of the earliest Lithuanian coins] |date=2004 |publisher=M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum |location=Kaunas |page=81 |language=lt}}</ref>{{sfn|Rowell|2003|p=133-149}}<ref>{{cite web |author1= Bučys, Algimantas |title=Apie Lietuvos karalių Gediminą (I) |url=https://alkas.lt/2016/09/11/a-bucys-apie-lietuvos-karaliu-gedimina-i/ |website=Alkas.lt |access-date=22 April 2021 |language=lt |date=11 September 2016}}</ref>

=== Symbols on coins of Vytautas and Jogaila === [[File:Lithuanian coin with a head of the spear and a cross.jpg|thumb|left|Early Lithuanian coin with a joint symbol of a spearhead and a cross that was minted by Jogaila, Vytautas, and possibly Algirdas or Skirgaila]]The unique symbol of a spearhead with a cross appeared on Pečat'-type coin minted in the late 14th century. These coins are usually attributed to Jogaila and Vytautas.[[File:Vytautas coin of the Principality of Smolensk (vassal state of Lithuania).jpg|thumb|Principality of Smolensk coin with lions or leopards and the Columns of Gediminas, showing it as a vassal of Vytautas the Great, circa 1399–1401]]Several very rare Lithuanian coins were found with a lion or leopards and the Columns of Gediminas, dated to the reign of Vytautas the Great and Jogaila in the 14th century (one of them was found in Kernavė).<ref name="Remecas50-57">{{cite journal|last1=Remecas|first1=Eduardas|title=Pirmosios oficialiai pripažinto Lietuvos didžiojo kunigaikščio Vytauto monetos|journal=Pinigų studijos|date=2004|volume=3|url=https://www.lb.lt/uploads/documents/docs/publications/remecas_3.pdf|language=lt|publisher=National Museum of Lithuania|pages=50–57|access-date=28 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="Paszkicwicz">{{cite journal |last1=Paszkicwicz |first1=Borys |title=The Earliest Lithuanian coins: vingt ans après |date=2005 |pages=11–14 |journal=Numizmatika |issue=6 |url=https://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/fedora/objects/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2007~1367186286786/datastreams/DS.002.1.01.ARTIC/content |access-date=30 October 2021 |language=en, lt, pl}}</ref> There is still disagreement where these coins were minted, with the most likely location being Smolensk, other proposed are Polotsk, Vyazma, Bryansk, Ryazan or Vilnius.<ref name="Remecas50-57" /><ref name="Sajauskas65-66">{{cite book |last1=Sajauskas |first1=Stanislovas |title=Simboliai Lietuvos didžiosios kunigaikštystės monetose |url=https://www.lb.lt/uploads/documents/docs/publications/sajauskas_3.pdf |language=lt|publisher=M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum|pages=65–66|access-date=28 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="Paszkicwicz" /> Such coins symbolized the Ruthenian vassalship.<ref name="Sajauskas65-66" /> The leopards were depicted with lily-shaped tails, which symbolized a sovereign ruler, therefore such coins must have been minted after the Pact of Vilnius and Radom in 1401 when Vytautas became fully in charge of the Lithuanian affairs.<ref name="Remecas50-57" /><ref>{{cite web|last1=Dundulis|first1=Bronius|last2=Matulevičius|first2=Algirdas|title=Vilniaus–Radomo susitarimas|url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/vilniaus-radomo-susitarimas/|access-date=28 March 2021|website=Vle.lt|language=lt}}</ref> Vytautas minted such coins with leopards in the Principality of Smolensk before its Uprising of 1401 and after 1404 when it became a permanent part of Lithuania.<ref name="Remecas50-57" /> Another type of coins with lion and node symbol are found in eastern Lithuania and Vilnius, researchers associate them with Skirgaila or Jogaila, however such associations lack genuine evidence as the seal of Jogaila attached to the Union of Krewo and the 1382 seal of Skirgaila were not preserved.<ref name="Remecas76-79">{{cite book |last1=Remecas|first1=Eduardas|title=Vytauto monetos su liūtu ir mazgo simboliu bei įrašu pečat (apie 1392–1393 m.)|url=https://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/fedora/objects/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2007~1367161385096/datastreams/DS.002.0.01.ARTIC/content|language=lt|publisher=National Museum of Lithuania|pages=76–79|access-date=28 March 2021}}</ref> Despite that, it is possible that the Ruthenian lion also was one of the early coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as Jogaila in the Union of Krewo styled himself as: {{Lang|la|Nos Jagalo virtute Dei dux magnus Litwanorum Rusieque dominus et heres naturalis}} ({{langx|en|With God's will of the Grand Duke of Lithuania and the natural lord and heir of Rus}}).<ref name="Remecas76-79" /> Historian {{Interlanguage link|Eugenijus Ivanauskas (1959)|lt=Eugenijus Ivanauskas|lt}} suggested that the lion was abolished as the Lithuanian coat of arms after the Union of Krewo because in medieval heraldry it was equivalent to the Polish Eagle (lion is the king of animals, while eagle is the king of birds) and Lithuania at the time became a vassal state of the Kingdom of Poland, thus with a lower status.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Marcinkevičius|first1=Arūnas|title=Kodėl mūsų valstybės herbe Vytis įveikė liūtą?|url=http://www.lituanistika.emokykla.lt/ziniasklaidoje/arunas-marcinkevicius-kodel-musu-valstybes-herbe-vytis-iveike-liuta/|access-date=28 March 2021|website=lituanistika.emokykla.lt|language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Marcinkevičius|first1=Arūnas|title=Kodėl mūsų valstybės herbe Vytis įveikė liūtą?|url=https://www.savaite.lt/lietuva/1392-kodelmussvalstybesherbevytisiveikeliuta.html|access-date=28 March 2021|website=savaite.lt|language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Babinskas|first1=Nerijus|title=Krėvos sutartis. Jogaila ir Jogailaičiai.|url=http://www.xn--altiniai-4wb.info/index/details/46|access-date=28 March 2021|website=šaltiniai.info|language=lt}}</ref>

[[File:Lithuanian Denar of Jogaila with a lion.jpg|thumb|Lithuanian Denar of Jogaila with a lion, minted in 1386–1387, discovered in Kernavė, the ancient capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] The Lithuanian dukes and nobles declined Uliana of Tver's, Jogaila's mother, suggestion to baptise the Lithuanians as Orthodox before the Union of Krewo and sought Catholicism instead.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jučas|first1=Mečislovas|title=Krėvos sutartis|url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/krevos-sutartis/|access-date=28 March 2021|website=Vle.lt|language=lt}}</ref> Grand Duke Jogaila also rejected the Grand Prince of Moscow Dmitry Donskoy's offer to marry his daughter Sofia, convert Lithuania into an Orthodox state and to recognize himself as a vassal of Dmitry Donskoy, instead he chose Catholicism and married Queen Jadwiga of Poland, while also continuing to title himself as ruler of all the Rus' people, therefore minting coins with his portrait (as a horseman) on the obverse and a lion with a braid above him on the reverse, other Jogaila's coins features the Polish Eagle instead of his portrait on one side and a lion on the other side.<ref name="RemecasLp">{{cite web|last1=Remecas|first1=Eduardas|title=Vilniaus Žemutinės pilies lobis – XIV a. pabaigos valstybinių bei valdovų atributų atspindys|url=http://www.lietuvospilys.lt/data/eduardas-lobis.htm|access-date=18 April 2021|website=Lietuvospilys.lt|language=lt}}</ref> In 2021, a treasure was discovered in Raišiai, with 40 Jogaila's coins (Denars), some of which are with lions while others are with horsemen wielding swords or spears, most of these coins were minted in 1377–1386 (prior to crowning of Jogaila as the Polish King).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Žuolytė|first1=Jūratė|title=Lietuvoje rastas Jogailos laikų lobis|url=https://www.delfi.lt/kultura/naujienos/lietuvoje-rastas-jogailos-laiku-lobis.d?id=87716833|access-date=16 July 2021|website=DELFI|language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Bertašiūtė|first1=Monika|title=Rastas kol kas didžiausias Jogailos laikų lobis Lietuvoje|url=https://www.15min.lt/kultura/naujiena/naujienos/rastas-kol-kas-didziausias-jogailos-laiku-lobis-lietuvoje-1104-1536250|access-date=16 July 2021|website=15min.lt|language=lt}}</ref>

[[File:Vytautas denar with the Columns of Gediminas, cross and spearhead.jpg|thumb|Vytautas the Great's denar with a cross, spearhead (or crossbow bolt) and the Columns of Gediminas, minted in 1413–1430]] The Treasure of Verkiai, discovered in 1941, has 1983 coins of Vytautas the Great which resembles the ''Pečat''-type coins, however, they likely have a crossbow bolt (instead of an arrowhead or a spearhead) and a cross on one side and the Columns of Gediminas on the other side, thus they presumably have been minted later than the ''Pečat''-type coins.<ref name="Sajauskas2008">{{cite journal |last1=Sajauskas |first1=Stanislovas |title=Mįslingiausias lietuviškas heraldinis simbolis |journal=Kultūros barai |date=2008 |volume=10 |pages=90–93 |url=https://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/fedora/objects/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2008~1367188186478/datastreams/DS.002.0.01.ARTIC/content |access-date=30 October 2021 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sajauskas |first1=Stanislovas |title=Pinigėliai |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/pinigeliai/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=2022-04-09 |language=lt}}</ref> Quite a lot of such coins of Vytautas the Great were also found in other places of Lithuania (mostly in the southeastern and central part, but also in Samogitia), Ukraine (especially in Volhynia), and Belarus.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Remecas |first1=Eduardas |title=Paskutinės Lietuvos didžiojo kunigaikščio Vytauto kaldintos monetos |journal=Pinigų studijos |date=2005 |volume=3 |publisher=National Museum of Lithuania |pages=63–64 |url=https://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/fedora/objects/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2005~1367155399911/datastreams/DS.002.0.01.ARTIC/content |access-date=30 October 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> In comparison, coins attributed to Jogaila, which have a similar appearance to the ''Pečat'''-type coins, has a spearhead and a cross on one side and the Double Cross of the Jagiellonians ({{langx|pl|Bojcza}}) in a shield on the other side.<ref name="Sajauskas2008" />

Following the Christianization of Lithuania, in circa 1388, Grand Duke Jogaila minted new coins: with a fish rolled into a ring (Christian sign of the fish) and inscription ''КНѦЗЬ ЮГА'' (Duke Jogaila) on the obverse and with a Double Cross of the Jagiellonians in a shield on the reverse.<ref name="RemecasLp" /> It is believed that such coins were minted to commemorate the Christianization of Lithuania and the Christian sign of the fish could have been chosen when Pope Urban VI officially recognized Lithuania as a Catholic state (such recognition occurred on 17 April 1388).<ref name="RemecasLp" /> Nevertheless, a fish–blossom symbol, depicted on the coins, can also be associated with an earlier date of 11 March 1388 when Pope Urban VI recognized the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vilnius, which was established by Grand Duke Jogaila.<ref name="RemecasLp" /> In any case, the main purpose of this symbol was to showcase the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a Catholic state, recognized and under the auspices of the Pope.<ref name="RemecasLp" /> Lithuania was the last state in Europe to be Christianized.{{sfn|Rowell|Baronas|2015|p=2}}

=== Knight on horseback === [[File:Authentic Seal of Kęstutis.jpg|thumb|150px|Authentic Seal of Duke Kęstutis with Latin words]] The coat of arms of Lithuania originate from rulers depictions on seals.<ref name="vle" /><ref name="SeimasCoA" /> Originally the riding horseman symbolized the ruler of the Duchy of Lithuania (Duchy of Vilnius), which was the most important land of the state.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lietuvos valstybės herbas |url=https://grybauskaite.lrp.lt/lt/lietuvos-valstybes-herbas |website=Grybauskaite.lrp.lt |access-date=23 October 2021 |language=lt |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020170136/https://grybauskaite.lrp.lt/lt/lietuvos-valstybes-herbas |url-status=dead}}</ref> Algirdas was probably the first ruler to use a seal with a depiction of himself on horseback. The seal, which was attached to the Polish–Lithuanian treaty of 1366, wasn't preserved,<ref name="SeimasCoA" /><ref name="lrytasVytis" /> and we know its appearance only thanks to historian Tadeusz Czacki who claimed to have seen the seal.<ref name="VytisGalkus13" />{{sfn|Daujotytė|2018|p=20}} The oldest preserved such seal is Jogaila's seal that he was using in years 1377–1380, when he became Grand Duke of Lithuania.{{Sfn|Gumowski|1930|p=699-700}} Duke of Kernavė Vygantas' seal of 1388 is the oldest preserved seal with a riding knight depicted on the shield, giving it a status of a coat of arms.{{Sfn|Gumowski|1930|p=690-691}}<ref name="SeimasCoA" /> Jogaila and other Algirdas sons: Skirgaila, Lengvenis, Kaributas, Vygantas, and Švitrigaila all were using seals with a horseman-type images.<ref name="PetrauskasVytis" /><ref name="SeimasCoA" /> The horseman was chosen due to at the time flourishing culture of knighthood in Europe.<ref name="lrytasVytis" /> At first, the charging knight was depicted riding to left or right, and holding a lance instead of the sword: two seals of Lengvenis of 1385 and of 1388 exhibit this change.<ref name="Sajauskas88">{{cite book|last1=Sajauskas|first1=Stanislovas|url=https://www.lb.lt/uploads/documents/docs/publications/sajauskas_2.pdf|title=Pirmųjų Lietuvos didžiosios kunigaikštystės monetų ypatybės [The peculiarities of the earliest Lithuanian coins]|date=2004|publisher=M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum|location=Kaunas|page=88|language=lt}}</ref> Initially Kęstutis and his son Vytautas were depicted on their seals as standing warriors. Only later Vytautas adopted, like other Lithuanian dukes, the image of a riding knight.{{Sfn|Piech|2003|p=228-229}}

thumb|150x150px|Jogaila's seal from 1382 with an inscription in Latin: ''iagal dey gracia rex in lettow'' The establishment of the sword in the heraldry of the Lithuanian rulers is related to the ideological changes of the ruling Gediminids dynasty.<ref name="Sajauskas88" /> The lance was more often exhibited on the seals of Skirgaila and Kaributas.<ref name="vle" /> In 1386, after Jogaila was crowned as King of Poland, a new heraldic seal was made for him, with four coat of arms: white eagle, representing Kingdom of Poland, knight on a horse, with lance in hand and a Double Cross on his shield, representing the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and coat of arms Kalisz land and Kuyavia.{{Sfn|Piech|2003|p=243}} It was the first time that a double cross was depicted on the Lithuanian horseman's shield.<ref name="Kryzius" /> The Double Cross was adopted by Jogaila after his baptism as Władysław and marriage with a queen Jadwiga of Poland in 1386, daughter of Louis I of Hungary, therefore the Double Cross was most likely taken over from the Kingdom of Hungary where it spread in the 12th century from the Byzantine Empire.<ref name="Kryzius">{{cite web|title=Dvigubas kryžius|url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/kryzius-4/|access-date=20 March 2021|website=Vle.lt|language=lt}}</ref> It is also possible that the new coat of arms was made in imitation of the Holy Cross relics from the sanctuary of Łysa Góra, and with this gesture the newly crowned king emphasised his sincere faith.{{Sfn|Piech|2003|p=261-262}} The symbolism of the Double Cross was connected with this event's significance for both Jogaila and the entire land.<ref name="DoubleCrossSeimas" /> A similar cross in Western heraldry is called the patriarchal Cross of Lorraine, and it is used by archbishops while the cross itself symbolizes baptism.<ref name="DoubleCrossSeimas" /> <gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" heights="150"> File:Seal of duke Lengvenis Algirdaitis with Vytis (Waykimas), 1379.jpg|Seal of duke Lengvenis, 1379 File:Lithuanian Denar of Jogaila with Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas), minted in 1388–1392.jpg|Lithuanian Denar of Jogaila with horseman, minted in the 14th century File:Seal of Jogaila with the Polish Eagle and Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas), 1386.png|Seal of Jogaila, 1386 File:Seal of Kaributas with Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas), 1386.jpg|Seal of Kaributas, 1386 File:Seal of Skirgaila with Vytis (Waykimas), 1387.jpg|Seal of Skirgaila, 1387 File:Seal of Vygantas (Duke of Kernavė) with Vytis (Waykimas), 1388.jpg|Seal of Vygantas, the Duke of Kernavė, 1388 File:Vitaŭt Vialiki, Pahonia. Вітаўт Вялікі, Пагоня (1385).jpg|Seal of Vytautas the Great, 1385 File:Vitaŭt Vialiki, Pahonia. Вітаўт Вялікі, Пагоня (K. Kielisiński, 1390, 1842).jpg|Seal of Vytautas the Great, 1390 (1842) File:Coat of arms of Lithuania Vytis (Waykimas), depicted on Tenebrat Bell (which was possibly funded by Jogaila and Jadwiga in circa 1388) of St. Mary's Basilica in Kraków, Poland.jpg|Lithuanian ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' on Tenebrat Bell (which was possibly funded by Jogaila in circa 1388) of St. Mary's Basilica in Kraków<ref>{{cite web |title=St. Mary's bells |url=https://mariacki.com/en/st-marys-basilica/st-marys-bells/ |website=Mariacki.com |access-date=23 December 2023}}</ref> File:Lithuanian Groschen of Jogaila with the Double Cross of the Jagiellonians and Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas).jpg|Lithuanian Groschen of Jogaila with the Double Cross of the Jagiellonians and Lithuanian ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'', minted between 1392 and 1434 File:Trinity Chapel in Lublin - North wall choir - The equestrian image of King Władysław Jagiełło.jpg|The equestrian image of Jogaila in the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, Lublin Castle, painted in ~1407 </gallery>

=== Columns of Gediminas === thumb|150px|Columns of Gediminas, one of the coats of arms of Lithuania, painted in 1416 The Columns of Gediminas are one of the earliest surviving national symbols of Lithuania and its historical coats of arms.<ref name="ColumnsVle" /> Historian Edmundas Rimša, who analyzed the ancient coins, suggested that the Columns of Gediminas symbolize the Trakai Peninsula Castle Gates.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Savukynas |first1=Virginijus|authorlink1=Virginijus Savukynas |title=Kas slypi už tautinių simbolių? |url=https://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/kas-slypi-uz-tautiniu-simboliu.d?id=19907065 |website=DELFI |publisher=Prepared according to V. Savukynas telecast Tapatybės labirintai |access-date=3 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> There is no data that they were used by Grand Duke Gediminas himself, and it is believed that their name originated when Gediminas was considered the founder of the Gediminids dynasty.<ref name="ColumnsVle">{{cite web |author1=Gudavičius, Edvardas |author2=Rimša, Edmundas |title=Gediminaičių stulpai |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/gediminaiciu-stulpai/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=3 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> Since 1397, the Columns of the Gediminids were undoubtedly used on Vytautas the Great coat of arms, and it is believed that a similar symbol may have been used by his father Kęstutis, who was Duke of Trakai and Grand Duke of Lithuania, titles which Vytautas inherited.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas">{{cite web |title=Columns of the Gediminids |publisher=Public Relations Unit, Communications Department, Office of the Seimas |url=https://www.lrs.lt/sip/portal.show?p_r=38114&p_k=2 |website=Seimas |access-date=3 April 2021}}</ref><ref name="ColumnsVle" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |author-link=Edvardas Gudavičius |title=Trakų kunigaikštystė |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/traku-kunigaikstyste/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=4 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> After Vytautas' death, the symbol was taken over by his brother Grand Duke Sigismund Kęstutaitis.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas" /> At first, the Columns used to represent the family of Kęstutis, and since the 16th century, when Grand Duke Jogaila's successors started using them in Lithuania as well, the Columns became the symbol of all Gediminids.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas" /> It was Grand Duke Casimir IV Jagiellon who made the Columns of the Gediminids as the coat of arms of his dynasty after becoming the Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1440.<ref name="ColumnsVle" />

thumb|upright|Columns of Gediminas, later version painted in the middle of the 16th century In heraldry, the Columns of Gediminas were usually pictured in gold or yellow on a red field, while they were occasionally portrayed in silver or white since the second half of the 16th century.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas" /> There is no doubt that the Columns of the Gediminids are of local origin as similar symbols can be found on the insignias of the Lithuanian nobility.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas" /> It is believed that the Columns of the Gediminids were derived from signs used to mark property.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas" />

Compared to the Double Cross of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the Columns of the Gediminids had been used more predominantly in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas" /> The Columns of the Gediminids were featured on the Lithuanian coins of the 14th and subsequent centuries; the banners of the regiments led by Grand Duke Vytautas at the Battle of Grunwald; the 15th- and 16th-century church paraphernalia given to Vilnius Cathedral; the 15th-century seals of the Lithuanian Franciscans and major state seals in 1581–1795; book graphics; and the pieces of work by Vilnius' goldsmiths.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas" /><ref name="Batura">{{cite book |last1=Batūra |first1=Romas |title=Places of Fighting for Lithuania's Freedom: in the expanse of Nemunas, Vistula and Dauguva Rivers |date=2010 |publisher=General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania |location=Vilnius |page=4 |url=http://www.tb.lt/Leidiniai/sisteminis_katalogas/Humanitariniai%20mokslai/Istorija/2010-places%20of%20fighting.pdf |access-date=19 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="Reborn2018">{{cite book |author1=Vytautas the Great War Museum |title=Atgimusi po sunaikinimo: skirta Lietuvos kariuomenės vėliavoms (Reborn after destruction: dedicated to the Flags of the Lithuanian Army) |date=2018 |publisher=Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania |location=Vilnius |isbn=978-609-412-150-0 |page=12 |url=https://www.vdkaromuziejus.lt/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Atgimusi-po-sunaikinimo.pdf |access-date=4 September 2021 |language=lt, en}}</ref> Combined with the knight on horseback, the Columns of Gediminas were also embedded on the Lithuanian cannon barrels in the 16th and 17th centuries.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas" /> The symbol also decorated horse bridles and landmarks of the dominions of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas" /> In 1572, after the death of the last male Gediminid descendant, Grand Duke Sigismund II Augustus, the Columns of Gedimimas remained in the insignias of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as the secondary (alongside the knight on horseback) coat of arms of the state.<ref name="ColumnsVle" /> In later years, the Columns of Gediminas were called simply as the Columns (it is known from the early 16th century sources).<ref name="ColumnsVle" />

== Official coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ==

=== 15th century === <gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" heights="150" caption="Coats of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the time of Kęstutaičiai rule"> File:Seal of Vytautas the Great.jpg|Seal of Vytautas the Great with the Lithuanian coat of arms, featuring horseman, in his left hand, circa 14th–15th centuries File:AGAD Pieczec konna Witolda, wielkiego ksiecia litewskiego.png|Seal of Vytautas the Great with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'', which features the Columns of Gediminas on the shield, 1404 File:Vitaŭt Vialiki, Pahonia. Вітаўт Вялікі, Пагоня (K. Kielisiński, 1404, 1842).jpg|Seal of Vytautas the Great with ''Vytis'' and coats of arms of his ruled lands, 1404 (1841) File:Flag of Vytautas the Great with a standing knight of Kęstutaičiai and Lithuanian Vytis (Waikymas), used during the Council of Constance in 1416.jpg|One of the earliest surviving depictions of ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' in a flag of Vytautas the Great. Painted in 1416 by a Portuguese herald, who attended the Council of Constance.<ref name="Violeta">{{cite web |last1=Rutkauskienė |first1=Violeta |title=Senuosius Lietuvos herbus saugoja Bavarijos valstybinė biblioteka |url=https://www.delfi.lt/mokslas/mokslas/senuosius-lietuvos-herbus-saugoja-bavarijos-valstybine-biblioteka.d?id=22970732 |website=DELFI |access-date=10 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> File:Coat of arms of Vytautas the Great with a standing knight of Kęstutaičiai and Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas), used during the Council of Constance from 1414 to 1418 (cropped).jpg|Coat of arms of Vytautas the Great, which features the standing knight of Kęstutaičiai and ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'', used during the Council of Constance. Painted by Ulrich of Richenthal, 15th century. File:Žygimont Karybutavič - Жыгімонт Карыбутавіч, Pahonia - Пагоня.jpg|Duke Sigismund Korybut and his troops flying the Lithuanian banner in Prague, 15th century File:Seal of Sigismund Kestutis.PNG|Seal of Sigismund Kęstutaitis with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' in his left hand, 15th century File:Lietuvos herbas Vytis.Lithuanian CoA Vytis of 15th c.jpg|''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' with Columns of Gediminas from the 15th-century ''Codex Bergshammar''. Attributed to Grand Duke Sigismund Kęstutaitis. </gallery> thumb|Vytautas the Great regiments flying a flag with the Columns of Gediminas during the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 The meaning of the Lithuanian ruler's coat of arms and the coat of arms of the Lithuanian state was given to the horseman not by Jogaila, but by his cousin, the Grand Duke Vytautas the Great.<ref name="vle" /> Firstly, around 1382, he changed the infantry on his coat of arms, inherited from his father Grand Duke Kęstutis, to a horseman, then made the portrait heraldic – in Vytautas' majestic seal (early 15th century), he is surrounded by the coat of arms of lands belonging to him, in one hand he holds a sword, which represents the power of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, in the other hand – a raised shield (on which a horseman is depicted), which, like an apple of royal power, symbolizes the Lithuanian state ruled by him.<ref name="vle" /><ref name="lrytasVytis" /> Furthermore, Vytautas the Great minted coins with the horseman on one side and the Columns of Gediminas on the other side.<ref name="Remecas50-57" />

In the 15th century, Jan Długosz claimed that Vytautas brought forty regiments to the victorious Battle of Grunwald in 1410 and that everyone used red flags of which thirty regiments flags had an embroidered armored horseman with a raised sword riding on a white, sometimes black, bay or dappled horse, while the rest of ten regiments flags had embroidered Columns of Gediminas with which Vytautas marked his elite troops with horses.<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP">{{cite web |date=5 January 2015 |title=The Historical Lithuanian State Flag |url=https://grybauskaite.lrp.lt/en/institution/coat-of-arms-and-flags-of-lithuania/the-historical-lithuanian-state-flag/20806 |access-date=20 March 2021 |website=President of Lithuania (Dalia Grybauskaitė) |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407060523/https://grybauskaite.lrp.lt/en/institution/coat-of-arms-and-flags-of-lithuania/the-historical-lithuanian-state-flag/20806 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Batura" /><ref name="Reborn2018" /> According to Długosz, those flags were named after lands or dukes: Vilnius, Kaunas, Trakai, Medininkai, Sigismund Korybut, Lengvenis, and other.<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP" /> It is believed that the regiments with the Columns of Gediminas were brought from Vytautas' homeland (the Duchy of Trakai), and with a horseman – from other areas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP" /> Sigismund Korybut during his visit to Prague at the invitation of the Czech Hussites in 1422 as a delegate of Grand Duke Vytautas the Great, was depicted in a drawing wherein he carries his armorial banner decorated with a white charging knight on a red field; at its top, there is a narrow streamer, which the Germans, in particular, were fond of depicting in the 15th century.<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP" />

[[File:Władysław Warneńczyk seal 1438.PNG|thumb|upright|The Royal Seal of Supreme Duke Władysław III Jagiellon, which includes a winged Lithuanian Coat of Arms, 1438]]

The history between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Jagiellonian dynasty and the Kingdom of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia is closely related as Władysław III Jagiellon, the eldest son of Władysław II Jagiełło and his Lithuanian wife Sophia of Halshany,<ref>{{cite web|title=Jagiellonians Timeline|url=https://www.jagiellonians.com/jagiellonians-timeline|access-date=20 April 2021|website=Jagiellonians.com|publisher=University of Oxford}}</ref> was crowned as the King of Hungary and King of Croatia on 15 May 1440 in Visegrád, moreover, following his father's death, he also inherited the title of the Supreme Duke ({{Lang|la|Supremus Dux}}) of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, held it in 1434–1444 and presented himself with it, as such share of powers was agreed in the Union of Horodło of 1413 between his father and Grand Duke Vytautas the Great.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gudavičius|first1=Edvardas|author-link=Edvardas Gudavičius|title=Aukščiausiasis kunigaikštis|url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/auksciausiasis-kunigaikstis/|access-date=11 April 2021|website=Vle.lt|language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Vladislovas Varnietis|url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/vladislovas-varnietis/|access-date=11 April 2021|website=Vle.lt|language=lt}}</ref><ref name="Horodlo" /> The Royal Seal of Władysław III Jagiellon includes a Lithuanian {{Lang|lt|Vytis}} (''{{lang|pl|Pogonia}}'') with wings laid out above the coat of arms of Hungary and alongside the Polish Eagle.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Voßberg|first1=Friedrich August|url=https://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/show-content/publication/edition/73699?id=73699&dirids=1|title=Siegel des mittelalters von Polen, Lithauen, Schlesien, Pommern und Preussen ein Beitrag zur Förderung diplomatischen, genealogischer, numismatischer und kunstgeschichtlicher Studien über ursprünglich slavische Theile der preussischen Monarchie mit XXV Kupfertafeln|date=1854|publisher=Stargardt J.A.|location=Berlin|pages=61|language=de|access-date=11 April 2021}}</ref>

thumb|left|160px|Authentic 15th century Double Cross of the Jagiellonian dynasty when it became an integral part of the Lithuanian coat of arms

At the end of the 14th century, the knight on horseback appeared on the first Lithuanian coins, however, this figure had not yet fully formed, therefore in some coins, the knight is depicted as riding to the left, in others – to the right.<ref name="PiniguMuziejus">{{cite web |title=Vytis (Knight) on the Lithuanian Money |url=https://www.pinigumuziejus.lt/en/news/vytis-knight-on-the-lithuanian-money |website=Pinigumuziejus.lt |publisher=Bank of Lithuania Money Museum |access-date=19 March 2021 |archive-date=3 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210403181910/https://www.pinigumuziejus.lt/en/news/vytis-knight-on-the-lithuanian-money |url-status=dead }}</ref> In some he holds a spear while others depict a sword; the horse can either be standing in place or galloping.<ref name="PiniguMuziejus" /> The Double Cross was used in isolation on the Lithuanian coins of the late 14th century and on the banner of the royal court referred to in the Lithuanian language as {{Lang|lt|Gončia}} ({{langx|en|The Chaser}}).<ref name="DoubleCrossSeimas" />

[[File:Copy of a goblet (which was originally made in Venice in circa 1500) belonging to Aleksandras Jogailaitis, featuring the Coat of arms of Lithuania Vytis (Waykimas).jpg|thumb|upright|An exact copy of Alexander Jagiellon's goblet with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' and coats of arms of voivodeships of Lithuania (the original was made before 1501)<ref>{{cite web |title=Krokuvos Jogailos universitetas Valdovų rūmams dovanojo Aleksandro taurės kopiją |url=https://www.lrytas.lt/kultura/istorija/2009/07/05/news/krokuvos-jogailos-universitetas-valdovu-rumams-dovanojo-aleksandro-taures-kopija-5790891 |website=lrytas.lt |access-date=27 February 2023 |language=lt}}</ref>]] During Grand Duke Alexander Jagiellon's reign in Lithuania from 1492 to 1506, the depiction of the knight's direction was established – the horse was always galloping to the left (in the heraldic sense – to the right).<ref name="PiniguMuziejus" /> Also, the knight was for the first time depicted with a scabbard, while the horse – with a horse harness, however, the knight does not yet have on his shoulder a shield with the double-cross of the Jagiellonian dynasty.<ref name="PiniguMuziejus" /> Moreover, Alexander's coins also depict an eagle as the symbol of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania's dynastic claim to the Polish throne.<ref name="PiniguMuziejus" /> During the reign of Grand Duke Sigismund I the Old, who ruled Lithuania from 1506 to 1544, the image of the horseman was moved to the other side of the coins – the reverse, thus marking that it was the coin of Grand Duchy of Lithuania.<ref name="PiniguMuziejus" /> The knight was also for the first time depicted with a shield with the Double-Cross of the Jagiellonian dynasty.<ref name="PiniguMuziejus" /> In heraldry, such an image of the horseman is only associated with the Lithuanian state.<ref name="PiniguMuziejus" /> In the 15th century, the Double Cross of the Jagiellonians became an integral part of the Lithuanian coat of arms and was started to be depicted on the horseman's shield.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rimša |first1=Edmundas |title=Herbai |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/herbai/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=7 August 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>

At the beginning of the 15th century, the colors and composition of the seal became uniform: on a red field a white (silver) charging knight with a sword raised above his head, with a blue shield with a Double Golden Cross to his left shoulder (during the reign of Kęstutaičiai dynasty – red shield with the golden Columns of Gediminas<ref>{{cite book |title=Codex Bergshammar |date=1440 |page=60 (112) |url=https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/R0001216_00060#?c=&m=&s=&cv=59&xywh=-620%2C-153%2C5126%2C2835 |access-date=23 October 2021}}</ref>); horse bridles, leather belts and a short girdle – colored in blue.<ref name="vle" /><ref name="SeimasCoA" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Herby Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej i Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego. Orły, Pogonie, województwa, książęta, kardynałowie, prymasi, hetmani, kanclerze, marszałkowie |date=1875–1900 |publisher=Jagiellonian Library |pages=6, 30, 32, 58, 84, 130, 160, 264, 282, 300 |url=https://polona.pl/item/herby-rzeczypospolitej-polskiej-i-w-x-litewskiego-t-1-orly-pogonie-wojewodztwa,OTc2MzQzMjc/6/#info:metadata |access-date=21 August 2021 |language=pl}}</ref> Metals (gold and silver) and the two most important colors of medieval coats of arms were used for the Lithuanian coat of arms – Gules (red) then meant material, or earthly (life, courage, blood), Azure (blue) – spiritual, or heavenly (heaven, divine wisdom, mind) values.<ref name="vle" /><ref name="SeimasCoA" />

<gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" heights="150" caption="Lithuanian coats of arms during the rest of the 15th century"> File:Majestic Seal of Jogaila (King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania), featuring Polish Eagle, Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas) and other coats of arms, 1411.jpg|Majestic Seal of Jogaila which features ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'', 1411 File:Flag of Jogaila with the Polish Eagle and Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas), used during the Council of Constance from 1414 to 1418.jpg|Flag of Jogaila with the Polish Eagle and ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'', used during the Council of Constance in 1416 File:Pogon nagrobek Jagielly.jpg|''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' on the tomb monument of Jogaila in the Wawel Cathedral File:AGAD Pieczec Zofii Holszanskiej, krolowej polskiej.png|Seal of Sophia of Halshany, 1435 File:Vytis (Pogonia) from the Bavarian State Library (1475).jpg|Lithuanian coat of arms, dating to 1475, which, judging from its archaic look, was likely redrawn from an even earlier painting<ref name="Violeta" /> File:Vytis from Cosmographia universalis.jpg|''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' in the atlas ''Cosmographia universalis'' by Sebastian Münster, 1544 File:Lithuanian Denar of Kazimieras Jogailaitis with the Columns of Gediminas and Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas) 2.jpg|Lithuanian Denar of Grand Duke Casimir IV Jagiellon with horseman and the Columns of Gediminas, 15th century File:Columns of Gediminas (Gedimino stulpai) from the Codex Bergshammar, 1440.jpg|Columns of Gediminas from the 15th-century ''Codex Bergshammar'' File:Half-Groschen of Aleksandras Jogailaitis with Vytis (Waykimas), minted in 1495–1506.jpg|Half-Groschen of Grand Duke Alexander Jagiellon with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' from the late 15th century or early 16th century </gallery>

=== 16th century === [[File:Lithuanian coat of arms Vytis. 16th century.jpg|thumb|upright|Authentic coat of arms of Lithuania with historical colors (gules, argent, or, and azure), circa 1555,<ref name="SeimasCoA" /> surmounted by Gediminas' Cap]] Only in the 16th century a distinction between the ruler (Grand Duke) and state emerged (it was the same entity previously), from which time one also finds mention of a state flag.<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP" /> In 1578, Alexander Guagnini was the first to describe such a state flag, according to him the state flag of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was made of red silk and had four tails, its principal side, to the right of the flag staff, was charged with a white mounted knight underneath the ducal crown; the other side bore an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP" /> The highly revered Blessed Virgin Mary was considered the patron saint of the state of Lithuania, and even the most prominent state dignitaries favoured her image on their flags, thus the saying: "Lithuania – land of Mary".<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP" /> Later only the knight is mentioned embroidered on both sides of the state flag.<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP" />

After the Union of Lublin, which was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was established, thus a joint coat of arms of the new country was adopted.<ref name="SeimasCoA" /> Nevertheless, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania remained a separate state within the Commonwealth and had a separate army which continued using the coats of arms of Lithuania on its uniforms.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jasas |first1=Rimantas |title=Liublino unija |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/liublino-unija/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=26 March 2023 |language=lt |quote=LDK liko atskira valstybė, turinti pavadinimą, herbą, teritoriją, valdymo aparatą, iždą, įstatymus, teismus, kariuomenę, antspaudą.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Karosas |first1=Albertas |last2=Zikaras |first2=Karolis |title=Žymiausi Lietuvos kariuomenės mūšiai ir karinės operacijos |page=10 |url=https://kam.lt/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Zymiausi-LK-mussiai-ir-karines-operacijos.pdf |access-date=26 March 2023 |publisher=Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania |language=lt}}</ref> Its four quarterly fields portrayed, in diagonal, the eagle and the riding knight as the symbols of the two constituent states.<ref name="SeimasCoA" /> Hence, the old colors of the coat of arms of Lithuania, probably influenced by the colors of the coat of arms of Poland (red, white, and yellow), began to change: sometimes the horse blanket was depicted in red or purple, the leather belts in yellow; however the horseman's shield with the golden Double Cross changed less.<ref name="vle" /> In 1588 the third Statute of Lithuania was adopted and in the 12th article of the fourth chapter of the Statute it is stated that each county is given seals with the coat of arms of Lithuania for approval of decisions, and the name of the county must be written on these seals.<ref name="ThirdStatute">{{cite book |title=Історія державної служби в Україні (Том 3) |date=2009 |publisher=Головне управління державної служби України |location=Kyiv |isbn=978-966-521-524-0 |page=250 |url=http://history.org.ua/LiberUA/978-966-521-524-0/978-966-521-524-0.pdf |access-date=26 March 2023}}</ref>

In 1572, following the death of Grand Duke Sigismund II Augustus, the last male descendant of the Jagiellonian dynasty as he did not leave any male heir to the throne, the Double Cross remained as a symbol in the national coat of arms and was started to be referred to as simply the Cross of ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' after losing the connection with the dynasty.<ref name="DoubleCrossSeimas" />

<gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" heights="150" caption="16th-century depictions of the Lithuanian coats of arms"> File:Coat of arms of Lithuania Vytis (Waykimas), depicted in the Coat of arms of Aleksandras Jogailaitis, 1501.jpg|Coat of arms of Lithuania Vytis (Waykimas), depicted in the Coat of arms of Grand Duke Aleksandras Jogailaitis, 1501. File:Aleksandras Jogailaitis (Alexander Jagiellon) in 1506 (cropped from an authentic painting).jpg|A 1506 depiction of Grand Duke Alexander Jagiellon in the Polish Senate, surrounded by Lithuanian and Polish coat of arms, one of them are the golden Columns of Gediminas File:AGAD Pieczęć większa litewska Zygmunta I, króla polskiego, wielkiego księcia litewskiego.jpg|The Great Seal of Lithuania with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' in the centre, used during the reign of Sigismund I the Old, 1529 File:Statut Vialikaha Kniastva Litoŭskaha, Pahonia. Статут Вялікага Княства Літоўскага, Пагоня (1531).jpg|The first page of the Latin copy of Laurentius (1531) of the First Statute of Lithuania. ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' is drawn on a damasked shield. File:Heraldic tapestry of Žygimantas Augustas with Lithuanian coat of arms Vytis, Polish eagle and coats of arms of Volhynia, Smolensk, Kyiv voivodeships, circa 1548.jpg|Tapestry with the coat of arms of Grand Duke Sigismund II Augustus and Gediminas' Cap, circa 1548 File:Lithuanian coin of Sigismund II Augustus with Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas) and the Columns of Gediminas, minted in 1568.jpg|A 1568 Lithuanian coin of Grand Duke Sigismund II Augustus with Gediminas' Cap, horseman and Columns of Gediminas File:Green room of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius, decorated with Jagiellonian tapestries of Žygimantas Augustas with Polish Eagles and Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas), manufactured in Brussels, Flanders, circa 1560 (3).jpg|One of the halls in the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, decorated with tapestries commissioned by Sigismund II Augustus and manufactured in circa 1560 Nagrobek Zygmunta Starego i Zygmunta Augusta.jpg|Tomb monument of Sigismund I the Old and Sigismund II Augustus in the Sigismund's Chapel of the Wawel Cathedral with multiple ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' File:Coat of arms of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with Vytis (Waykimas), Columns of Gediminas, Polish Eagle and family symbol of Steponas Batoras.jpg|Coat of arms of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'', decorated with the Columns of Gediminas, used during the reign of Grand Duke Stephen Báthory File:Krakow Wawel 20070804 0930.jpg|''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' (''{{lang|pl|Pogonia}}'') on the Sigismund III Vasa Tower (1595) of the Wawel Castle in Kraków, alongside the Polish Eagle and the Double Cross of the Jagiellonians </gallery>

=== 17th century to 1795 === <gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" heights="150" caption="17th-century coats of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania"> File:Vytis_on_Dawn_Gate_2007_05_29.jpg|Authentic ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' depicted on the Gate of Dawn, which survived annexations File:Coat of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the Polish Eagle and Vytis (Waykimas), 1550-1609.jpg|Coat of arms of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the reign of the Vasa dynasty File:Tablica erekcyjna Saint Casimir chapel.JPG|Authentic ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' depicted on the outer wall of the Chapel of Saint Casimir File:15 ducats of Sigismund III Vasa from 1617.png|Coin of 15 golden Ducats of Grand Duke Sigismund III Vasa with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'', 1617 File:Vytis in great seal of Lithuania.png|The Great Seal of Lithuania with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' and Columns of Gediminas, used during the reign of Władysław IV Vasa File:Golden Lithuanian half-Ducat of Jonas Kazimieras Vaza with Vytis (Waykimas), 1665.jpg|Golden Lithuanian Ducat of Grand Duke John II Casimir Vasa with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'', 1665 File:Seal of John II Casimir Vasa with the Polish Eagle, Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas) and coat of arms of the House of Vasa, 17th century.png|Seal of John II Casimir Vasa with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' and Polish Eagles File:Ort koronny 1684 Bydgoszcz.jpg|Coin of Grand Duke John III Sobieski with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' and the Polish Eagle, 1684 File:Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie - panoramio.jpg|''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' (''{{lang|pl|Pogonia}}'') on the façade of the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw, 1696 </gallery>

The Renaissance introduced minor stylistic changes and variations: long feathers waving from the tip of the knight's helm, a long saddle-cloth, the horsetail turned upwards and shaped as nosegay. With these changes, the red flag with its white knight survived until the end of the 18th century and Grand Duke Stanislaus II Augustus was the last Grand Duke of Lithuania to employ it.<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP"/> His flag was colored in crimson, had two tails, and was decorated with the knight on one side and the ruler's monogram – SAR (Stanislaus Augustus Rex) on the other side.<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP"/> SAR monogram was also inscribed on the flagpole finial.<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP"/> In 1795, after the Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Grand Duchy of Lithuania was annexed to the Russian Empire, with a smaller part going to the Kingdom of Prussia, and traditional coat of arms of Lithuania, which represented the state for more than four centuries, was abolished and the Russification of Lithuania was imposed.<ref name="vle"/>

<gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" heights="150" caption="18th-century Lithuanian coats of arms"> File:Talar koronny 1702.jpg|Thaler of Grand Duke Augustus II the Strong with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'', 1702 File:10 dukatów 1756.jpg|Coin of 10 golden Ducats of Grand Duke Augustus III with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'', 1756 File:Seal of the Treasury of Lithuania with Vytis (Waykimas), 18th century.jpg|Seal of the Treasury of Lithuania, 18th century File:Vilnia, Pahonia. Вільня, Пагоня (1707).jpg|Coat of arms of the Vilnius University, 1707 File:Dresden Hofkirche 2012 Wappen.jpg|Coats of arms on the Dresden Cathedral in Dresden, 18th century File:Cartouche of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius with the Polish Eagle and Lithuanian Vytis (Waikymas).jpg|Authentic Coat of arms of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on the Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius File:Гродна. Новы замак (03).jpg|Wall fragment with the Polish–Lithuanian coat of arms in the New Grodno Castle, built in the early 18th century File:Grand Seal of the 1st Cavalry Brigade of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania "Husarska" (XVIII century).PNG|The 1st Lithuanian National Cavalry Brigade's Grand Seal (late 18th century) File:Coat of Arms of Stanisław August Poniatowski with colland of Order of White Eagle.PNG|Coat of arms in the Warsaw Royal Castle, 18th century File:Handle of the Ceremonial sword of Stanisław Augustus Poniatowski.PNG|Handle of the ceremonial sword of Stanislaus II August Poniatowski, 18th century File:The Great Seal of Lithuania (with Vytis) from the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski, circa 1764.png|The Great Seal of Lithuania with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' in the centre, used during the reign of Stanislaus II Augustus, 1764 File:Coat of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the Polish Eagle and Vytis (Waykimas), 1764-1795.jpg|Coat of arms of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, used during the reign of Stanislaus II Augustus, 1764–1795 File:Pahonia. Пагоня (F. Reilly, 1793).jpg|Lithuanian coat of arms with the Jagiellonian Double Cross, depicted by Franz Johann Joseph von Reilly in 1793 </gallery>

== 1795–1918 == [[File:Lithuanian Military History. Hat of a soldier with the Lithuanian Coat of Arms - Vytis of the 17th Lithuanian Uhlan Regiment, Grande Armée, 1812-1813.jpg|thumb|x150px|The coat of arms of Lithuania on an uhlan's hat of the ''Grande Armée'' 17th Lithuanian Uhlan Regiment]]

At first, the charging knight was interpreted as the country's ruler. As time passed, he became a knight who is chasing intruders out of his native country. Such an interpretation was especially popular in the 19th century, and the first half of the 20th century, when Lithuania was part of the Russian Empire and sought its independence.<ref name="vle" /> During the Lithuanian National Revival in the 19th century, Lithuanian intellectuals Teodor Narbutt and Simonas Daukantas claimed that the reviving Lithuanian nation is the inheritor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania heritage, including the Lithuanian coat of arms ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'', which was widely used in their organized events.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Galkus|first1=Juozas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zm9V70uaH5YC|title=Lietuvos Vytis / The Vytis of Lithuania|date=2009|publisher=Vilnius Academy of Arts Press|isbn=978-9955-854-44-9|location=Vilnius|page=216|language=lt, en|access-date=24 May 2021}}</ref>

=== 19th-century anti-Russian uprisings === Uprisings to restore the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth like the 1830–31 November Uprising and 1863–64 January Uprising saw ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'' being used as a symbol of rebellion against the Russian Empire.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gelgaudas|first1=Antanas|url=https://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/object/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2016~1577369212116/J.04~2016~1577369212116.pdf|title=1830–1831 m. sukilimas|date=2016|publisher=Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuanian Culture Council|isbn=978-609-447-225-1|location=Vilnius|language=lt|access-date=10 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=1830–1831 sukilimas|url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/n1830-1831-sukilimas/|website=Vle.lt|language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Mulevičius|first1=Leonas|title=1863–1864 sukilimas|url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/n1863-1864-sukilimas/|access-date=10 April 2021|website=Vle.lt|language=lt}}</ref> The Lithuanian Vytis was widely used alongside the Polish White Eagle throughout the uprisings on flags, banners, coins, banknotes, seals, medals, etc.{{sfn|Skoczek|2016|p=66–73, 88–99}} After the dethronement of Emperor Nicholas I Romanov (Emperor of Russia since 1825, King of Poland 1825–1831) by the Sejm during its proceedings in Warsaw on 25 January 1831, the coats of arms of the Russian Emperors were removed from the mint dies and Polish złotys with Eagle and Vytis were introduced into circulation, which were manufactured at the Warsaw's Banknote Factory and minted at the Warsaw Mint, as on 9 December 1830 the Provisional Government appointed the Bank Polski to manage the Warsaw Mint.<ref>{{cite web|title=Case with a complete set of coins from the period of the November Uprising 1830–1831|url=https://muzeumwarszawy.pl/en/obiekt/case-with-a-complete-set-of-coins-from-the-period-of-the-november-uprising/|access-date=10 April 2021|website=muzeumwarszawy.pl}}</ref>

<gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" heights="150" caption="Lithuanian coats of arms during the Uprisings of 1830–1831 and 1863–1864"> File:Relics of the uprising of 1831 (in Vilnius).jpg|Relics of the Uprising of 1831, exhibited in the National Museum of Lithuania in Vilnius File:Coat of arms of the November Uprising with the Polish Eagle and Vytis (Waykimas), 1830-1831.jpg|Coat of arms of the November Uprising, 1830–31 File:Banner with emblem of November Uprising.PNG|Banner with emblem of the November Uprising, 1830—31 File:2 złote 1831 powstanie - 1 z daszkami.jpg|The Provisional Government in Warsaw reintroduced ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' (''{{lang|pl|Pogonia}}'') and Eagle on the coins and banknotes during the 1830–31 November Uprising File:Unia w Krewie.JPG|Painting commemorating Polish–Lithuanian union; ca. 1861. The motto reads "Eternal union". File:Coat of arms of the January Uprising.svg|Emblem of the January Uprising, 1863–64 File:Cartouche with the coat of arms of the 1863–64 Uprising, featuring Polish Eagle, Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas) and Ruthenian Angel, 19th century.jpg|Cartouche with the coat of arms of the January Uprising, 19th century </gallery>

The 1863–64 January Uprising spread especially wide in the ethnic Lithuanian lands, whereas many rebels demanded for a completely independent, sovereign Lithuanian state, however at the time the majority of the Lithuanians decided to support the Polish–Lithuanian union in order to fight the Russian oppression more effectively.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Genzelis|first1=Bronislovas|date=8 September 2015|title="Nepriklausomybės sąsiuviniai". Lietuviškumo idėja ir 1863 metų sukilimas|url=https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/kultura/12/33396/nepriklausomybes-sasiuviniai-lietuviskumo-ideja-ir-1863-metu-sukilimas|access-date=7 May 2021|website=Lrt.lt|language=lt}}</ref> In the Soviet times, the 1863–64 January Uprising was interpreted as a class struggle between peasantry and landed aristocracy, while since 1990, it came to be seen in Lithuania as a strife for liberation from the Russian rule.<ref>{{cite web|date=21 November 2019|title=Reburial of 1863 Uprising leaders: pivotal moment in relations of Lithuania, Poland and Belarus|url=https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1118227/reburial-of-1863-uprising-leaders-pivotal-moment-in-relations-of-lithuania-poland-and-belarus|access-date=10 April 2021|website=Lrt.lt}}</ref> On 22 November 2019, upon the rediscovery of their remains on the Gediminas' Hill, the 1863–64 January Uprising commanders Konstanty Kalinowski and Zygmunt Sierakowski were buried at the Rasos Cemetery in Vilnius, while the flags covering their coffins were presented to the President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda and the President of Poland Andrzej Duda.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gaučaitė|first1=Modesta|date=22 November 2019|title=1863–1864 m. sukilimo vadai ir dalyviai Rasų kapinėse atgulė amžinojo poilsio|url=https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/lietuvoje/2/1118291/1863-1864-m-sukilimo-vadai-ir-dalyviai-rasu-kapinese-atgule-amzinojo-poilsio|access-date=10 April 2021|website=Lrt.lt|language=lt}}</ref>

=== In the Russian Empire (1795–1915) === Following the partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, most of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was absorbed by the Russian Empire and Vytis was incorporated into the Greater Coat of arms of the Russian Empire.<ref name="Michalovskis">{{cite web|last1=Michalovskis|first1=Vitalijus|title=Vytis atlaikė ir carinės, ir sovietinės valdžios išbandymus|url=https://www.lrytas.lt/kultura/istorija/2014/07/01/news/vytis-atlaike-ir-carines-ir-sovietines-valdzios-isbandymus-4622066/|access-date=27 March 2021|website=lrytas.lt|language=lt}}</ref> Vytis was the coat of arms of the Vilna Governorate following the incorporation of Vilnius and surrounding lands into the Russian Empire.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vilniaus gubernijos carinės valdžios valdininko uniformos saga su Vilniaus gubernijos herbu. XIX a. II p. Bronzuotas varis. |url=http://www.news.lt/lt/Vilniaus-gubernijos-carines-valdzios-valdininko-uniformos-saga-su-Vilniaus-gubernijos-herbu-XIX-a-II.media?id=76020 |website=news.lt |access-date=10 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Mulevičius |first1=Leonas |title=Vilniaus gubernija |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/vilniaus-gubernija/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=10 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Mulevičius |first1=Leonas |title=Vilniaus generalgubernatorija |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/vilniaus-generalgubernatorija/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=10 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> Statues of Vytis placed on the White Columns of Vilnius greeted visitors at the entrances to Vilnius from 1818 until 1840, when the statues were replaced with the double-headed eagles – the state symbol of the Russian Empire.<ref name="bstulpai">{{cite web |title=Vilniaus valdžia siūlo mieste atkurti prarastą istoriją: muitinės postus ir baltuosius stulpus |url=https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/kultura/12/1128338/vilniaus-valdzia-siulo-mieste-atkurti-prarasta-istorija-muitines-postus-ir-baltuosius-stulpus |website=Lrt.lt |access-date=10 April 2021 |language=lt |date=26 December 2019}}</ref> In 2019, the Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius suggested that the White Columns of Vilnius in the city's eldership of Naujamiestis should be restored.<ref name="bstulpai" /> A notable example of the coat of arms of Lithuania usage during the Tsarist period is on the bridge railings above the Vilnelė River in Vilnius.<ref name="Michalovskis" /> Several authentic coat of arms of Lithuania survived the occupations and annexations. For example, on the side wall of the Vilnius Cathedral, on the main portal of the Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit and on the Gate of Dawn.<ref name="Michalovskis" /><ref>{{cite web|date=22 September 2017|title=Vilniaus Šventosios Dvasios bažnyčia|url=http://www.vilniusgo.lt/2017/09/22/vilniaus-sventosios-dvasios-baznycia-2/|access-date=27 March 2021|website=VilniusGO.lt|language=lt}}</ref> <gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" heights="150" caption="Use of the Lithuanian coats of arms in the Russian Empire"> File:Герб Княжества и области белорусские и литовские 1882.svg|Coats of arms with ''Vytis'', which incorporated (near the top) into the Greater Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire, 19th century File:Vilnia, Antokal, Pahonia. Вільня, Антокаль, Пагоня (K. Bachmatovič, 1837).jpg|The White Columns of Vilnius (1818–1840) with ''Vytis'' (''Pogonia''), which were later replaced with the double-headed eagles File:Insignia of the Lithuanian Regiment of the Imperial Guard of the Russian Empire with Vytis (Waykimas), 1910.jpg|Insignia of the {{interlanguage link|Life-Guards Lithuanian Regiment|ru|Литовский лейб-гвардии полк}} File:Pahonia, Spas na Kryvi.JPG|Mosaics featuring the coats of arms with ''Vytis'' on the Church of the Savior on Blood in Saint Petersburg, completed in 1907 File:Seal of the city of Vilnius with the Russian Eagle and Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas), 19th century.jpg|Seal of the Duma of the City of Vilnius, 19th century File:Seals of the Vilnius University with Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas), middle of the 19th century.jpg|Seals of the Vilnius University, mid-19th century File:Castle bridge in Vilnius (2007-09-23)4.jpg|Hand rail decorations with {{lang|lt|Vytis}} on the Pilies (Castle) Bridge in Vilnius File:Troki, Kalona, Pahonia. Трокі, Калёна, Пагоня (1910) (2).jpg|Column with {{lang|lt|Vytis}} in Trakai, 1910 </gallery>

However, in 1845 Tsar Nicholas I confirmed a coat of arms for the Vilna Governorate that closely resembled the historical one.<ref name="vle" /> A notable change was the replacement of the Double-Cross of the Jagiellonians with the Patriarchal cross on the knight's shield.<ref name="vle" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Литовские земли в составе Российской империи|url=http://www.heraldicum.ru/lietuva/v_rossii.htm|access-date=7 October 2022|website=Heraldicum|language=ru}}</ref>

<gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" heights="150" caption="Coats of arms of Imperial Russian Governorates and cities, which were based on the Lithuanian coats of arms"> File:Čerykaŭ, Pahonia. Чэрыкаў, Пагоня (1843).jpg|Coat of arms of Cherikov from 1781 File:Coat of arms of Gorodok 1781.svg|Coat of arms of Gorodok from 1781 File:Coat of arms of Lucin 1781.svg|Coat of arms of Lutsin from 1781 File:Coat of arms of Mogilev 1781.svg|Coat of arms of Mogilev from 1781 File:Coat of arms of Rezhitsa 1781.svg|Coat of arms of Rezhitsa from 1781 File:Coat of arms of Surazh 1781.svg|Coat of arms of Surazh from 1781 File:Coat of arms of Drissa 1781.svg|Coat of arms of Drissa from 1781 File:Viciebsk, Pahonia. Віцебск, Пагоня (1781).jpg|Coat of arms of Vitebsk from 1781 File:Horadnia, Pahonia. Горадня, Пагоня (1843).jpg|Coat of arms of Grodno Governorate, 1802 File:RUS obwód białostocki COA.png|Coat of arms of Belostok Oblast, 1809 File:Dynaburg, Pahonia. Дынабург, Пагоня (1843).jpg|Coat of arms of Dünaburg, 1843 File:Vilnius COA 1845.png|Coat of arms of Vilna Governorate, 1845 File:Lida COA (Vilno Governorate) (1845).png|Coat of arms of Lida, 1845 File:Troki, Pahonia. Трокі, Пагоня (1846).jpg|Coat of arms of Trakai, 1846 File:Coat of arms of Vitebsk Governorate 1856.svg|Coat of arms of Vitebsk Governorate, 1856 File:Coat of arms of Vilna 1859.svg|Coat of arms of Vilna with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' (''{{lang|pl|Pogonia}}'') and Orthodox cross, 1859 File:Coat of arms of Vilna Governorate 1878.svg|Coat of arms of Vilna Governorate, 1878 </gallery>

[[File:Prelude of Vytis (Vyčio preliudas) by Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, 1909.jpg|thumb|240x240px|''Prelude of {{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' by Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, 1909]]

In 1905, the Great Seimas of Vilnius took place in Vilnius during which the decision to demand wide political autonomy of Lithuania within the Russian Empire was made.<ref>{{cite web |title=Didysis Vilniaus seimas |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/didysis-vilniaus-seimas/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=17 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> It was proposed by the Chairman of the Great Seimas of Vilnius Jonas Basanavičius to recognize the flag of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (a white horse rider on a red bottom) as the flag of Lithuania, but this proposal was rejected due to the negative associations of red color with the 1905 Russian Revolution.<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP" /><ref name="VeliavaSeimas">{{cite web |last1=Akmenytė-Ruzgienė |first1=Vilma |title=Lietuvos valstybės vėliavos istorija |url=https://www.lrs.lt/sip/portal.show?p_r=38111&p_k=1 |website=Seimas |access-date=17 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>[[File:Postcard with Vytis (Waykimas) and Lithuanian flag by Jonas Vanagaitis.jpg|thumb|Flags of Lithuania with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'', designed in the late 1910s. Lithuanian musical instrument kanklės is depicted in between the flags.|left]]

=== 1915–1918 === The discussions on the national flag resumed during World War I. Following the German Empire occupation of Lithuania in September 1915, the Lithuanians gathered into committees and organizations of various currents, which united their representatives.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> According to the signatory of the Act of Independence of Lithuania of 16 February 1918 Petras Klimas, they considered the main problems of the reestablishment of Lithuania's statehood, among which one of the main questions were the national colors and the national flag.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> Although, serious discussions about the Lithuanian state flag and coat of arms resumed only in 1917 when the real prospect of restoring the Lithuanian state emerged.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" />

For the first time, according to Petras Klimas, a specific question of the national flag and national colors was raised at the Lithuanian intelligentsia Consortium Meeting of 6 June 1917 in the premises of the Lithuanian Scientific Society (the so-called Consortium Meeting united Lithuanian intellectuals in Vilnius, such as, Jonas Basanavičius, Povilas Dogelis, Petras Klimas, Jurgis Šaulys, Antanas Smetona, Mykolas Biržiška, Augustinas Janulaitis, Steponas Kairys, Aleksandras Stulginskis, Antanas Žmuidzinavičius).<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> During this Consortium Meeting, Jonas Basanavičius read a report in which he proved that in the past the color of the Lithuanian flag was red and that on the red bottom was depicted a rider with a raised sword on a dapple-grey horse.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> Jonas Basanavičius suggested continuing this tradition and choosing this option as the flag of the reborn Lithuanian state.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> There was nobody who opposed it, however considerations began that such variant of the national flag does not solve the issue of the national colors, especially because a red flag without ''Vytis'' (''Pogonia'') could not be used.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" />

As a result, new colors had to be chosen that could form a simple, everyday, easily sewn flag, which would be used alongside the historical flag of ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}''.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> The members of this meeting established the principle according to which national colors had to be chosen: everyone agreed that it is necessary to choose such colors that are most often found in folk wares, ribbons, aprons, etc.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> Everyone agreed that such colors are green and red, therefore the task of harmonizing these colors in the flag was assigned to the artist Antanas Žmuidzinavičius, however the searching for a color combination took a long time.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> Artist and archeologist Tadas Daugirdas', who was invited as a consultant, combinations of the national flag colors varied from those proposed by Antanas Žmuidzinavičius.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> In general, a question of the number of colors arose as some demanded a green-red flag (such proposal was also supported by the Lithuanian Americans), while the others demanded a tricolor combination.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> Finding the third color was the most difficult task, even an exhibition of flag projects was held, however, the question was not solved until the Vilnius Conference of 1917, therefore a question of the national colors was included into the agenda of the Vilnius Conference.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" />[[File:Vilnius Conference 1917.jpg|thumb|Vilnius Conference in 1917 with flags of ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'']]

During the preparation of the Vilnius Conference, which met in Vilnius and set out the guidelines for the restoration of Lithuania's independence and elected the members of the Council of Lithuania, Antanas Žmuidzinavičius prepared a green-red Lithuanian flag project with whom the Vilnius City Theater Hall (present-day Old Theatre of Vilnius) was decorated.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> However, the flag proposed by Antanas Žmuidzinavičius seemed gloomy to the Vilnius Conference participants.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> Consequently, Tadas Daugirdas proposed the flag consisting of green at the top, white in the middle and red at the bottom, but he himself was not fond of such proposal as he preferred the green and red combination because these colors dominated in the Lithuanian cloths.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> Finally, Tadas Daugirdas proposed to include a narrow yellow line between the other two colors of green and red with the yellow color symbolizing dawn (the first national Lithuanian newspaper was also named ''Aušra'') and rebirth (Lithuanian National Revival).<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> Despite that, Antanas Žmuidzinavičius categorically defended the green and red flag as these colors symbolized love and hope, while the others demanded for a green (at the bottom; symbolizing green fields and meadows), yellow (at the middle; symbolizing yellow blossoms), and red (at the top; symbolizing the rising sun).<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" /> As a result, the participants of the conference did not decide on the colors of the flag, therefore assigned this question to a commission formed by the Council of Lithuania that consisted of Jonas Basanavičius, Antanas Žmuidzinavičius, and Tadas Daugirdas.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas" />[[File:Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas) by Tadas Daugirdas, 1918.jpg|thumb|132px|''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'', designed in 1918 by Tadas Daugirdas]]

On 16 February 1918, the Council of Lithuania declared the Independence of Lithuania and adopted Vytis as its coat of arms with the first drafts of the coat of arms being designed by Tadas Daugirdas and Antanas Žmuidzinavičius.<ref name="SeimasCoA"/><ref name="FlagBrit">{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Whitney |author-link=Whitney Smith |title=Flag of Lithuania |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Lithuania |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=2 May 2021}}</ref> On 19 April 1918, the commission accepted a Lithuanian flag project which consisted of three equal width horizontal lines of yellow, green, and red colors.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas"/> On 25 April 1918, the Council of Lithuania unanimously approved this flag project as the Flag of the State of Lithuania.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas"/> At the meeting of the same day, it was proposed to raise the tricolor flag of the Lithuanian state above the Tower of the Gediminas' Castle, which was done in the middle of 1918 after difficult negotiations with the German authorities.<ref name="VeliavaSeimas"/>

Following the occupation of Vilnius by Soviet Russia, the Lithuanian institutions were evacuated to the temporary capital Kaunas in the first days of January 1919. In the temporary capital Kaunas, the historical flag of Lithuania was raised above the Presidential Palace, Palace of Seimas, and on top of the Tower of the Vytautas the Great War Museum (this historical flag was previously adopted by the Council of Lithuania and had a white horseman on a red bottom on one side and the Columns of Gediminas on the other side).<ref name="VeliavaSeimas"/><ref name="FlagBrit"/>

== Republic of Lithuania in the interwar period == {{quote box|width=65em|align=center|quote="What is the ideal of our nation? It is inscribed on the symbol of our state, inherited from the ancient times. Other nations have lions, Ares, or other symbols of power in their flags. It is beautiful, it is majestic! We have {{lang|lt|Vytis}}, an armored horseman on a horse with a sword in his hand, rushing with gallops. It is beautiful, it is noble! He, as published in the ancient writings, was chanted by the Vaidilas [ a clergymen in the Baltic religion ], sung by the singers. That symbol is the pride of our nation: a symbol of chivalrous justice. Let us never forget him, either in our relations with our minorities or with other states. Until we are faithful to him, no one will defeat us. The knight is righteous, but he is equipped with armors and has a sword in his hand. When necessary, he pulls out the sword and stands up for justice against those who despise it. To depict justice in this way is to feel and act not only statesmanlike, but also nationally." |source=— Antanas Smetona, the first and last President of ''interbellum'' Lithuania (1919–1920, 1926–1940) about the coat of arms of Lithuania.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brazauskaitė-Voverienė |first1=Ona |title=Prof. O.Voverienė. Prezidentas Antanas Smetona apie lietuvių ir lenkų santykius |url=https://komentaras.lt/prof-o-voveriene-prezidentas-antanas-smetona-apie-lietuviu-ir-lenku-santykius/ |website=komentaras.lt |access-date=10 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Smetona, Antanas |author2=Eidintas, Alfonsas |title=Rinktiniai raštai |date=1990 |publisher=Menta |location=Kaunas |page=493 |language=lt}}</ref> }} [[File:Presidential Seal of the Republic of Lithuania with Vytis (Waykimas), used in 1919-1940.jpg|thumb|150px|Presidential Seal of the Republic of Lithuania with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'', used in 1919–1940]] When Lithuania restored its independence in 1918&ndash;1920, several artists produced updated versions of the coat of arms. Almost all included a scabbard, which is not found in its earliest historical versions. A romanticized version by Antanas Žemaitis became the most popular.<ref name="vle"/> The horse appeared to be flying through the air (''courant''). The gear was very ornate. For example, the saddle blanket was very long and divided into three parts.<ref name="vle"/> There was no uniform or official version of the coat of arms. To address popular complaints, in 1929 a special commission was set up to analyze the best 16th-century specimens of Vytis to design an official state emblem.<ref name="SeimasCoA"/> Mstislav Dobuzhinsky was the chief artist.<ref name="SeimasCoA"/> The commission worked for 5 years, but its version was never officially confirmed.<ref name="SeimasCoA"/> Meanwhile, a design by Juozas Zikaras was introduced for official use on Lithuanian coins.<ref name="vle"/>

[[File:Presidium of the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania in the Seimas Meeting Hall, decorated with the Columns of Gediminas and Lithuanian Vytis, in Kaunas in 1920.jpg|thumb|Presidium of the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania in the Seimas Meeting Hall, decorated with the Columns of Gediminas and ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'', in Kaunas in 1920]] The Columns of the Gediminids and the Double Cross of the Jagiellonians were particularly widely used in the first half of the 20th century following the restoration of the independent state of Lithuania on 16 February 1918.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas"/><ref name="DoubleCrossSeimas"/> These symbols, as a distinctive sign, were adopted by the Lithuanian Land Forces, Lithuanian Air Force, and other public authorities.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas"/><ref name="DoubleCrossSeimas"/> It was used to decorate Lithuanian coins, banknotes orders, medals, and insignias and became an attribute of numerous public societies and organizations.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas"/><ref name="DoubleCrossSeimas"/> To commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of Grand Duke Vytautas the Great, flags decorated with the Columns of the Gediminids were hoisted in Lithuanian cities and towns in 1930.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas"/> Moreover, in his honor, a Lithuanian state award was instituted in the same year – Order of Vytautas the Great, which was awarded for distinguished services to the State of Lithuania and since 1991 is still conferred nowadays.<ref>{{cite web |title=Order of Vytautas the Great |url=http://adamkus.president.lt/ordinai/vdordinas_e.phtml |website=Adamkus.president.lt |publisher=President of Lithuania (Valdas Adamkus) |access-date=8 May 2021 |archive-date=25 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125123955/http://adamkus.president.lt/ordinai/vdordinas_e.phtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1919, the Double Cross of the Jagiellonians was named the Cross for Homeland and was featured on one of the highest-ranking Lithuanian state decorations – Order of the Cross of Vytis, which was awarded for acts of bravery performed in defending the freedom and independence of Lithuania (the order was abolished following the occupations of Lithuania, but was re-established in 1991).<ref name="DoubleCrossSeimas"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Order of the Cross of Vytis (the Knight) |url=http://adamkus.president.lt/ordinai/vkordinas_e.phtml |website=Adamkus.president.lt |publisher=President of Lithuania (Valdas Adamkus) |access-date=8 May 2021 |archive-date=24 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924224923/http://adamkus.president.lt/ordinai/vkordinas_e.phtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to a presidential decree of 3 February 1920, issued by the President of Lithuania Antanas Smetona, the Cross for Homeland was renamed to the Cross of Vytis.<ref name="DoubleCrossSeimas"/> In 1928, the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas was instituted and was awarded to the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices (it was also abolished following the occupations of Lithuania, but was re-established in 1991).<ref>{{cite web |title=Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas |url=http://adamkus.president.lt/ordinai/dlkgordinas_e.phtml |website=Adamkus.president.lt |publisher=President of Lithuania (Valdas Adamkus) |access-date=8 May 2021 |archive-date=27 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130227050122/http://adamkus.president.lt/ordinai/dlkgordinas_e.phtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Vytis was the state emblem of the Republic of Lithuania until 1940 when the Republic was occupied by the Soviet Union and national symbols were suppressed, those who still displayed them received severe punishments.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas"/> With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Vytis, together with the Columns of Gediminas and the national flag, became symbols of the independence movement in Lithuania.<ref name="ColumnsSeimas"/><ref>{{cite web |title=National flag of Lithuania |url=https://www.lrs.lt/sip/portal.show?p_r=38111&p_k=2 |website=Seimas |access-date=8 May 2021}}</ref> In 1988, Lithuania's Soviet authorities legalized the public display of {{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Žilys |first1=Juozas |title=Valstybės vėliava, herbas ir himnas – kaip jie tapo tokiais, kokie yra dabar? |url=https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/lietuvoje/2/241789/valstybes-veliava-herbas-ir-himnas-kaip-jie-tapo-tokiais-kokie-yra-dabar |website=Lrt.lt |access-date=8 May 2021 |language=lt |date=16 February 2019}}</ref>

<gallery mode="nolines" class="small" heights="150" widths="125" caption="Coats of arms of the Republic of Lithuania in the interwar period"> File:LithuanianRepublicGreaterCOA.jpg|An unknown version of the First Lithuanian Republic coat-of-arms, probably its greater coat of arms File:Vytis (Waykimas), coat of arms of Lithuania, designed by Antanas Žmuidzinavičius.jpg|A design of ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' by Antanas Žmuidzinavičius; popular in interwar independent Lithuania File:Swiss postcard with Vytis (Waykimas) and presumed territory of Lithuania, 1920.jpg|Swiss postcard with Vytis (Waykimas) and presumed territory of Lithuania, 1920. File:Coat of arms of the Republic of Lithuania. 1921.jpg|Coat of arms of the Republic of Lithuania in 1921 File:Older version of Lithuania COA.png|Juozas Zikaras' design (1925), widely used on the interwar independent Lithuania coins File:LTU 10 Litu 1927 obv.jpg|A banknote of 10 Lithuanian litas with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' and the Columns of the Gediminids (1927) File:LTU 5 Litai 1929 obv.jpg|A banknote of 5 Lithuanian litas with Vytautas the Great and ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'', 1929 File:LR-uzsienio-pasas-iki-1940.jpg|A foreign passport of the Republic of Lithuania with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'', used until the 1940 annexation File:Sitting-room of Vytautas the Great KGOC 3.jpg|A fireplace of a sitting-room of Vytautas the Great at the Kaunas Garrison Officers' Club Building File:Transitional prize with Vytis (Waykimas) of the commander of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union team for shooting from automatic pistols.jpg|Transitional prize with Vytis (Waykimas) of the commander of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union team for shooting from automatic pistols. File:Queen Louise Bridge decorated with Vytis (Waykimas) in Panemunė, Lithuania, 1937.jpg|Queen Louise Bridge, which at the time connected the Lithuanian town Panemunė and Prussian city Tilsit, decorated with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' in 1937 File:Ministry of Finance of Lithuania with Vytis (Waykimas) and the Columns of Gediminas in Kaunas, 1930.jpg|Ministry of Finance of Lithuania Building in Kaunas, decorated with portraits of Antanas Smetona, Vytautas the Great, ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' and the Columns of Gediminas, 1930 File:Stasys Rastikis with flag in 1939.jpg|Commander of the Lithuanian Army Stasys Raštikis holds the Lithuanian Army flag with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' on obverse side, while a Lithuanian soldier swears his loyalty by kneeling in front of it File:Anbo8.jpg|A Lithuanian bomber-reconnaissance monoplane ANBO VIII with the Double Cross of the Jagiellonians, constructed by the Lithuanian aeronautical engineer Antanas Gustaitis, in 1939 File:Lithuanian tanks heading to Lithuanian capital Vilnius in 1939.jpg|Lithuanian Vickers Light Tanks M1936 with the Columns of the Gediminids, heading to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius in 1939 File:Session of the Provisional Government of Lithuania.jpg|Session of the Provisional Government of Lithuania, which attempted to restore the statehood of the interwar Republic during the June Uprising in Lithuania, in 1941 File:Members of the Lithuanian partisans (Zalgiris Territorial Defense Force) in 1946.jpg|The Lithuanian partisans fought with the occupants in 1944–1953, wearing the interwar Lithuanian uniforms and insignia </gallery>

== Republic of Lithuania in the post-Cold War era == [[File:Seimas door.JPG|thumb|150px|The Lithuanian coat of arms at the entrance of Seimas Palace in Vilnius]] On March 11, 1990, Lithuania declared its independence and restored all of its pre-war national symbols, including its historic coat of arms ''Vytis''.<ref name="SeimasCoA"/> On March 20, 1990, the Supreme Council of Lithuania approved the description of the State's coat of arms and determined the principal regulations for its use.<ref name="SeimasCoA"/> The design was based on Juozas Zikaras' version.<ref name="SeimasCoA"/> This was to demonstrate that Lithuania was resuming the traditions of the state that existed between 1918&ndash;1940. Later on 10 April, the Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas adopted the ''Law on the National Coat of Arms, Emblems, and Other Insignias of the Republic of Lithuania'', which regulates the usage of the Lithuanian national coat of arms Vytis and the historical national symbols of Lithuania.<ref name="CoASymbolsLaw">{{cite web |title=I-130 Lietuvos Respublikos valstybės herbo, kitų herbų ir herbinių ženklų įstatymas |url=https://www.e-tar.lt/portal/en/legalAct/TAR.55B9E4E382B3/asr |website=e-tar.lt |publisher=Seimas |access-date=8 May 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> According to the 6th article of this Law, the historical national symbols of Lithuania are the Double Cross of the Jagiellonians and Columns of Gediminas.<ref name="CoASymbolsLaw"/>

On September 4, 1991, a new design by Arvydas Každailis was approved based on the recommendations of a special Lithuanian Heraldry Commission.<ref name="SeimasCoA"/> It abandoned romantic interwar interpretations, harkening back to the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Nevertheless, it re-established the original colors and metals (red, blue, silver, and gold), dating to the reign of Grand Duke Vytautas the Great, but placed the horse and rider in an ostensibly more "defensive" posture, airs above the ground, rather than leaping forward and sword simply elevated rather than poised to strike.<ref name="vle"/><ref name="SeimasCoA"/> The revival of historical colors and the historical coat of arms ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' meant that the Republic of Lithuania is not only the heir and follower of the traditions of statehood of independent Lithuania of 1918–40, but also of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.<ref name="vle"/> The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, adopted by citizens of the Republic of Lithuania in the Constitutional Referendum of 25 October 1992, states that the Coat of Arms of the State shall be a white ''Vytis'' on a red field.<ref name="Constitution">{{cite web |title=Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania |url=https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/TAIS.21892 |website=e-seimas.lrs.lt |publisher=Seimas |access-date=8 May 2021}}</ref> Despite the newly adopted Každailis' variant of ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'', the Lithuanian litas coins featured Zikaras' design until they were replaced by the euro in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |title=Litas coins |url=https://www.lb.lt/en/litas-coins-1 |website=Lb.lt |publisher=Bank of Lithuania |access-date=8 May 2021 |archive-date=3 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503072459/https://www.lb.lt/en/litas-coins-1 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="EuroCoinsLB"/>

The coats of arms of Lithuania are widely used by the Lithuanian Armed Forces on uniforms, badges, and flags.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Katilius |first1=Artūras |last2=Tininis |first2=Vytautas |title=Lietuvos kariuomenės karių uniformos, ženklai ir vėliavos |date=2014 |publisher=General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania |location=Vilnius |isbn=978-609-8074-178 |pages=7–390 |url=https://biblioteka.lka.lt/data/PDF-leidiniai/2011-2015/2014-Katilius-lt%20kariu%20uniformos.pdf |access-date=26 March 2023}}</ref>

thumb|upright|The historical state flag of Lithuania with ''Vytis'' In 2004, Lithuania's Seimas confirmed a new variant of the ''Vytis'' on the historical flag of Lithuania, the final design was approved on 17 June 2010.<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lrs.lt/sip/portal.show?p_r=15431&p_k=1&p_t=99420|title=Seimas patvirtino Lietuvos valstybės istorinės vėliavos projektą ir etaloną|website=Seimas|language=lt|date=17 June 2010|access-date=7 October 2022}}</ref> It is depicted on a rectangular red fabric, recalling the old battle flags of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP"/> The flag does not replace the yellow-green-red tri-color national flag of Lithuania and it is used on special occasions, anniversaries, and buildings of historical significance (e.g. Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, Trakai Island Castle, Medininkai Castle).<ref name="HistoricalFlagLRP"/>

It is currently proposed that a greater version of the coat of arms be adopted. It would feature a line from "''Tautiška giesmė''", the national anthem of Lithuania, "{{lang|lt|Vienybė težydi|italic=no}}" ("May unity blossom"). The Seimas already uses a larger version of the coat of arms with this phrase as its motto, along with two supporters: the dexter one a griffin argent beaked and membered or, langued gules, and the sinister one a unicorn argent, armed and unguled or, langued gules, and the ducal hat on top of the shield.

thumb|150px|Presidential coat of arms of Lithuania with ''Vytis'' from a presidential document form, 2020 The President of Lithuania uses the circular seal and document forms with the coat of arms of Lithuania, the seal has a text "{{lang|lt|Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas|italic=no}}".<ref>{{cite web |title=Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidento įstatymas |url=https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/TAIS.5913/asr |website=Seimas |access-date=5 March 2023 |language=lt |quote=Respublikos Prezidentas naudojasi apskrituoju antspaudu ir dokumentų blankais su Lietuvos valstybės herbu. Antspaude yra įrašyta "Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas".}}</ref>

Lithuania joined the Eurozone by adopting the euro on 1 January 2015.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lithuania joins the euro area |url=https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2015/html/pr150101.en.html |website=ecb.europa.eu |date=January 2015 |publisher=European Central Bank |access-date=3 April 2021}}</ref> The designs of Lithuanian euro coins share a similar national side for all denominations, featuring the ''Vytis'' and the country's name in Lithuanian – ''Lietuva''.<ref name="EuroCoinsLB">{{cite web |title=Euro coins |url=https://www.lb.lt/en/euro-coins-1 |website=Lb.lt |publisher=Bank of Lithuania |access-date=2021-05-08 |archive-date=2020-05-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503174021/https://www.lb.lt/en/euro-coins-1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The design was announced on 11 November 2004 following a public opinion poll conducted by the Bank of Lithuania.<ref>{{cite web |title=Third report on the practical preparations for the future enlargement of the euro area (EUR-Lex: 52006DC0322) |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52006DC0322&from=IT |website=eur-lex.europa.eu |access-date=8 May 2021}}</ref> The horse is again leaping forward, as in more traditional versions.<ref name="EuroCoinsLB"/>

The Kaunas Castle unveiled the Freedom Warrior monument on 14 July 2018, which features a graphical representation of ''Vytis''. It was created by Lithuanian artist Arūnas Sakalauskas and Ukrainian artists Boris Krylov and Olesius Sidoruk in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Gintautas Genys released a three-tomes historical adventure novel book ''{{lang|lt|Pagaunės medžioklė}}'' ({{langx|en|The Hunt for Pagaunė}}), which analyzes different periods of the history of Lithuania: the first tome, released in 2012, is about the last decade of the 18th century (close to the Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth),<ref>{{cite book |title=Pagaunės medžioklė |url=https://www.knygos.lt/lt/knygos/pagaunes-medziokle/ |website=knygos.lt |access-date=10 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> the second tome, released in 2014, presents the vision of the restoration of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the sticky web of intrigues and conflicts of the monarchs of France, Russia, and Prussia,<ref>{{cite web |title=Pagaunės medžioklė II – Panevėžio rajono savivaldybės viešoji biblioteka |url=https://www.panrbiblioteka.lt/lt/naujienos/nauji-leidiniai/3119-pagaunes-medziokle-ii |website=panrbiblioteka.lt |access-date=10 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> while the third tome, released in 2019, presents the course of the history of Russia, Poland, and Lithuania from the 1810s to 1860s, consistently and vividly reveals the terrible drama of mutual relations between them.<ref>{{cite book |title=Pagaunės medžioklė. III tomas |url=https://www.knygos.lt/lt/knygos/pagaunes-medziokle---t--3/ |website=knygos.lt |access-date=10 April 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>

In 2023, Lithuanian vehicle registration plates design was modified to include ''Vytis''.<ref>{{cite web |title="Regitra" pristato naujovę – transporto priemonių numerio ženklus su Vyčiu |url=https://www.regitra.lt/lt/naujienos/regitra-pristato-naujove-transporto-priemoniu-numerio-zenklus-su-vyciu |website=Regitra.lt |language=lt}}</ref>

<gallery mode="nolines" class="small" heights="150" widths="125" caption="Coats of arms of the Republic of Lithuania in the Post-Cold War era"> File:Protest 1988 in Vilnius (2).jpg|An anti-nuclear rally in Cathedral Square in 1988. A banner with ''Vytis'' was presented. File:KlpUniversitetasVlns90-10-5.jpg|Vytautas Landsbergis near the primary doors of the Seimas Palace with the recently added ''Vytis'' above them, in 1990. File:2009 m. Respublikos Prezidento inauguracija.jpg|The presidential version of the coat of arms, as depicted on the Presidential Palace, and the flag of the president of Lithuania File:Großfürstliches Schloss (Vilnius) Eingangsportal 20220630.jpg|Main gates of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania with the front portal featuring ''Vytis'' in Vilnius File:Lithuanian coats of arms flag (Trakai, Lithuania, 2016).jpg|Modern Lithuanian state flag flying at Trakai File:Rittermonument Kaunas.jpg|Freedom Warrior statue in Kaunas File:Pasas2008.gif|The current passport of the Republic of Lithuania design File:LT-2008-50litų-Šv. Kazimieras-a.png|Litas commemorative coin featuring a historical ''Vytis'' File:500 litai (2000).jpg|A banknote of 500 Lithuanian litas with ''Vytis'', 2000 File:N22978 1 eur Lietuva 2015.jpg|A coin of 1 Lithuanian Euro with ''Vytis'', used since 1 January 2015 File:Lithuanian Armed Forces Battle flag (obverse).png|Flag of the Lithuanian Armed Forces with ''Vytis'' File:Battle of Grunwald 2010 (06).jpg|The Lithuanian soldiers with ''Vytis'' and the Columns of Gediminas banners during the Battle of Grunwald reconstruction File:IFV Vilkas.jpg|An armoured fighting vehicle ''Vilkas'' (Lithuanian variant of Boxer) with the Columns of the Gediminids File:Eurocopter AS365 + LET L-410.jpg|Lithuanian Air Forces aircraft with the Double Cross of the Jagiellonians in 2016 File:N42 Jotvingis NOCO2014 07 bow flag.JPG|Jotvingis (N42) of the Lithuanian Naval Force flying the state flag at jackstaff File:Boundary marker of Lithuania.svg|Boundary marker of the Lithuanian Republic File:LT judge pendant by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg|Lithuanian judges pendants with the Columns of Gediminas and ''Vytis'' File:YPT and ARAS exercise 2024 01.jpg|Soldier of the Lithuanian Special Operations Forces with insignia featuring the Columns of Gediminas </gallery>

== Related and similar coats of arms == ===Lithuania=== {{see also|National symbols of Lithuania}} Recently adopted coats of arms of Vilnius and Panevėžys counties use different color schemes and add additional details to the basic image of the knight.<ref>{{cite web |title=Official website of the Vilnius district municipality |url=https://www.vrsa.lt/go.php/lit/t |website=Vilnius district municipality |access-date=16 May 2021}}</ref> Several towns in Lithuania use motifs similar to Vytis. For example, the coat of arms of Liudvinavas is parted per pale. One half depicts the Vytis and the other, Lady Justice.<ref>{{cite web |title=Liudinavo herbas |url=https://www.marijampole.lt/seniunijos/liudvinavo-seniunija/atributika/1557 |website=Marijampolė Municipality |access-date=16 May 2021 |language=lt}}</ref>

<gallery mode="nolines" class="small" heights="125" widths="150" caption="Coats of arms of the Lithuanian counties, cities, and towns and other which features a horseman"> File:Coat of arms of Aukštaitija.svg|Ethnographic region Aukštaitija coat of arms File:Vilnius University Coat of arms.JPG|Vilnius University coat of arms File:LTU Vilniaus apskritis COA.svg|Vilnius County coat of arms File:Liudvinavas.gif|Liudvinavas coat of arms File:LTU Panevėžio apskritis COA.svg|Panevėžys County coat of arms File:VeivirzenaiCOA.gif|Veiviržėnai coat of arms File:Josvainiai COA.png|Josvainiai coat of arms File:Marijampole COA.svg|Marijampolė coat of arms File:Coat of arms of Daugailiai.svg|Daugailiai coat of arms File:AdutiskisCOA.png|Adutiškis coat of arms </gallery>

===Poland=== {{main|Coat of arms of Poland}} {{see also|National symbols of Poland|Polish heraldry}} {{For-text|details of architecture and the usage of Vytis|the articles linked in the images captions}} As Lithuania and Poland were closely related for centuries, especially during the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth period, the Lithuanian coat of arms was also depicted in Poland.{{sfn|Skoczek|2016|p=66–73, 88–99}}

<gallery mode="nolines" class="small" heights="150" widths="125" caption="Usage of ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' (''{{lang|pl|Pogonia}}'') in Poland"> File:Malbork zamek 26.jpg|Malbork Castle, Malbork, 1590s File:Sobieski Crown.PNG|John III Sobieski's coat of arms crowning the Royal Chapel in Gdańsk with ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' (''{{lang|pl|Pogonia}}'') File:CollegiumNovum-HerbWielkiegoKsięstwaLitewskiego(Pogoń)-POL, Kraków.jpg|''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' (''{{lang|pl|Pogonia}}'') as depicted on the façade of the ''Collegium Novum'' of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków File:Jan olbracht (1492–1501).jpg|Illustration with coat of arms of John I Albert (after 1492) File:Wawel Arras - Above-door Hanging - Arms of Lithuania with Hyena and Monkey.jpg|Above-door tapestry with the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on the background of a landscape with a hyena and a monkey, circa 1560, Wawel Castle File:Choir balcony with arms of Sigismund III Vasa, featuring Polish Eagle and Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas), in the St. John's Archcathedral in Warsaw.jpg|Choir balcony with arms of Sigismund III Vasa in the St. John's Archcathedral in Warsaw File:Herb Rzeczypospolitej za Stanisława Augusta RB1.jpg|Guardhouse, Poznań, 1780s File:Piaseczno, church (Pomerania) (12).JPG|Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Piaseczno File:POL województwo podlaskie COA.svg|Podlaskie Voivodeship coat of arms File:POL Brańsk COA.svg|Brańsk coat of arms File:POL powiat bialski COA.svg|Biała County (Lublin Voivodeship) coat of arms File:POL powiat siemiatycki COA.svg|Siemiatycze County coat of arms File:POL powiat puławski COA 1.svg|Puławy County coat of arms File:POL Białystok formal COA.svg|Byalistok coat of arms File:Herb Siedlce.svg|Siedlce coat of arms (also see: MKP Pogoń Siedlce logo) </gallery>

===Belarus=== The Belarusian lands had been part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the Middle Ages, so the Lithuanian coat of arms grew into the local heraldic tradition and was used in the coats of arms of Belarusian towns and administrative districts, even during Russian rule.{{Sfn|Kotljarchuk|2004|p=60-61}} Thus, Belarusian nationalists who claimed that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was part of a Belarusian statehood tradition adopted Lithuania's coat of arms as the Belarusian national emblem during the period of national revival in 1918.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Abdelal |first=Rawi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ubX9NdqScJsC&q=Pahonia |title=National Purpose in the World Economy: Post-Soviet States in Comparative Perspective |date=2005 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-8977-8 |pages=135 |quote=Moreover, Belarusian nationalists claimed an even longer tradition of statehood: the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. (...) As a result of this historical claim, in 1918 the Belarusian Democratic Republic adopted as its state emblem the state symbol of the Grand Duchy (...)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cheesman |first1=Clive |url=https://archive.org/details/rebelspretenders0000chee/page/168/mode/2up?q=%22The+problem+for+Belarusian+nationalists%22 |title=Rebels Pretenders and Imposters |last2=Williams |first2=Jonathan |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-312-23866-5 |location=New York |pages=169–170 |author-link=Clive Cheesman}}</ref> Pahonia (''Пагоня'', ultimately from ''Pogonia'') is the Belarusian version of the coat of arms of Lithuania, also depicting an armed white horseman on a red background.{{sfn|Rudling|2014|p=87}} However, in the Belarusian version, the two-barred cross depicted on the horseman's shield has uneven bars, the saddle blanket is in the Renaissance style, the horse's tail points down instead of up, and azure is absent from it altogether.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vytis (the Pursuer) |url=http://www.lituanicaonstamps.com/en/rinkiniai_vytis.php |access-date=16 May 2021 |website=LituanicaOnStamps.com}}</ref>

Pahonia was chosen by the founders of the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic as the state emblem.{{Sfn|Rudling|2014|p=86-89}} During 1918 to 1923, it was used by the military units of the Belarusian People's Republic, as well as those formed within the Lithuanian and Polish armies. Subsequently, it was used in this role by Belarusians residing in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and other countries in the interwar period.

During the Second World War, under German occupation Belarusians displayed Pahonia, it was used by collaborationist organisation, such as Belarusian People's Self-Help (BNS). They were also used by the Belarusian Central Council.{{Sfn|Grzybowski|2021|p=92-94}} During the Soviet period, the Pahonia coat of arms was banned and its possession was punishable by imprisonment. Soviet propaganda defamed Belarusian national symbols as being used by "Nazi collaborators". However, the coat of arms was used freely by Belarusian organisations in the West.{{Sfn|Grzybowski|2021|p=94}}

The white–red–white flag and Pahonia were yet again adopted upon proclaiming of Belarus' independence in 1991.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Istrate |first1=Dominik |date=1 June 2019 |title=The two flags of Belarus |url=https://emerging-europe.com/after-hours/the-two-flags-of-belarus/ |access-date=16 May 2021 |website=Emerging-Europe.com}}</ref> Soon after the 1994 Belarusian presidential election, the Belarusians voted for the introduction of a modified version of the Soviet flag and emblem in a 1995 referendum, initiated by President Alexander Lukashenko, and abolished ''Pahonia'' as an official symbol.<ref name="Yakouchyk">{{cite book |last1=Yakouchyk |first1=Katsiaryna |url=https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-uni-passau/files/602/Working+Paper+Yakouchyk.pdf |title=Belarusian State Ideology: A Strategy of Flexible Adaptation |publisher=Jean Monnet Chair for European Politics, University of Passau, Germany |page=6 |access-date=16 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="EmergingNation">{{cite journal |last1=Buhr |first1=Renee L. |last2=Shadurski |first2=Victor |last3=Hoffman |first3=Steven |date=20 November 2018 |title=Belarus: an emerging civic nation? |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/article/abs/belarus-an-emerging-civic-nation/8F5B8F416E27FD30D4FA01E895BD81B0 |journal=Nationalities Papers |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=425–440 |doi=10.1080/00905992.2011.565319 |access-date=16 May 2021 |s2cid=144082697|issn=0090-5992|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, Lukashenko still signed decrees to incorporate similar symbols into several reginal flags and coats of arms as in Gomel Region and Vitsebsk Region, and the previous national symbols continued to be used by the Belarusian opposition and gained exceptional popularity among the Belarusians during the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Walker |first1=Shaun |date=22 August 2020 |title=How the two flags of Belarus became symbols of confrontation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/22/how-the-two-flags-of-belarus-became-symbols-of-confrontation |access-date=16 May 2021 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>

<gallery mode="nolines" class="small" heights="150" widths="125" caption="Usage of ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' (''{{lang|be-Latn|Pahonia}}'') in Belarus"> File:Герб БНР 1918.svg|alt=The Vytis (Pahonia) as used in the Belarusian People's Republic in 1918|The Pahonia as used in the Belarusian People's Republic in 1918 File:Pahonia, BNR. Пагоня, БНР (1918-20).jpg|Passport of the Belarusian People's Republic, 1918–1919 File:Seal of Belarusian Central Council.svg|Seal of the Byelorussian Central Council in 1943–1944 (during the period of the Nazi occupation) File:BKA-Weapons general h.svg|Marshal's insignia of the Byelorussian Home Defence, 1944–1945 File:Coat of arms of Belarus (1991–1995).svg|Coat of arms of Belarus from 1991 to 1995 File:Coat of Arms of Vitsebsk Voblasts.svg|Coat of arms of Vitsebsk Region File:Coat of Arms of Lepiel, Belarus.svg|Coat of arms of Lyepyel File:Coat of Arms of Vierchniadzvinsk, Belarus.svg|Coat of arms of Vierchniadzvinsk File:Coat of Arms of Rečyca, Belarus.svg|Coat of arms of Rechytsa File:Coat of Arms of Mahiloŭ (faded).svg|Coat of arms of Mahilyow File:BIA Lipniszki COA.png|Coat of arms of {{interlanguage link|Lipnishki|be|Ліпнішкі}} File:Demonstration against Alexander Lukashenko in front of the Belarus Embassy in Moscow. (2020-08-23) 18.jpg|alt=Belarusian opposition supporters holding flags with Vytis (Pahonia) during the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests|Belarusian opposition supporters holding flags with Pahonia during the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests File:Быдгашч. Акцыя салідарнасці з Украінай (2022-03-05) 1.jpg|alt=Belarusian opposition supporters holding Vytis (Pahonia) signs during the Protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine|Belarusian opposition supporters holding Pahonia signs during the protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine </gallery>

===Ukraine=== {{main|Coat of arms of Ukraine}} {{see also|National symbols of Ukraine}} The horseman was featured on the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, on the Seal of King Yuri II Boleslav with the Ruthenian lion on the coat of arms, on the Mykhailo Hrushevsky's proposal of the coat of arms of the Ukrainian People's Republic, and other Ukrainian coats of arms.

<gallery mode="nolines" class="small" heights="150" widths="125" caption="Coats of arms in Ukraine which features a horseman"> File:Герб Волинсько Галицької землі 1313.jpg|Coats of arms of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, 1313 File:Alex K Yuri Boleslav seal 2.png|Seal of King Yuri II Boleslav denoting a horseman with lion on the coat of arms (14th century) File:Coins of Boleslaw-Yuri II of Galicia.png|King Yuri II Boleslav's coin of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia (14th century) File:Pahonia. Пагоня (1440).jpg|Coat of arms of Švitrigaila, circa 1440, who at the time ruled Ruthenian territories in Ukraine, a variation of {{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}} <ref name="Hubert">{{cite web |title=Lietuva Royal Emblems |url=http://www.hubert-herald.nl/LietuvaRoyalEmblems.htm |website=Hubert-herald.nl |access-date=5 March 2023}}</ref> File:Coat of arms of Iziaslav.png|Coat of arms of Iziaslav, Ukraine, since 1754<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dymmel |first=Piotr |title=Ludzie i herby w dawnej Polsce |year=1995 |isbn=8390478706 |location=Lublin |language=pl}}</ref> File:Вежа Вітовта з висоти 2.jpg|Watch tower of Vytautas the Great in Kherson Oblast with the historical state flag of Lithuania File:Czernelyca kosciol DSC 9576 26-216-0053.JPG|The coat of arms of Dukes Czartoryski with ''Vytis'' above the portal of the former Dominican Church in Chernelytsia File:Adam Mickiewicz Monument in Lviv (1).jpg|Adam Mickiewicz Monument, Lviv, 1904 File:UNR coa projects Hrushevskyy.svg|Mykhailo Hrushevskyi's proposal for the coat of arms of the Ukrainian People's Republic File:POL Kołki COA.png|Coat of arms of Kolky under Polish rule File:Coat of Arms of Zhytomyr Oblast.svg|Coat of arms of Zhytomyr Oblast File:Coat of Arms of Staryi Chortoryisk.gif|Coat of arms of Staryi Chortoryisk File:Coat of arms of Nemenka (Vinnytsia Raion).svg|Coat of arms of {{interlanguage link|Nemenka|uk|Неменка}} File:Lytovezh gerb.png|Coat of arms of Lytovezh File:COA of Lubar.png|Coat of arms of Liubar File:Gorodnytska otg gerb.png|Coat of arms of Horodnytsia File:Coat of Arms of Starokostiantynivskiy Raion in Khmelnytsky Oblast.png|Coat of arms of Starokostiantyniv Raion in 2004–2020 File:Coat of Arms of Vitovka raion.png|Coat of arms of Vitovka Raion in 2017–2020 File:Volodymyr Zelensky 2019 presidential inauguration 11 (cropped).jpg|Collar of the president of Ukraine, one of whose medallions contains ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' (''{{transliteration|uk|Pohonia}}'') </gallery>

===Russia=== Due to historical connections with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (and later Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), some Russian regions adopted Lithuanian coat of arms from the Russian Empire period. After the dissolution of the USSR, such coats of arms were restored. <gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" widths="125" caption="Usage of ''{{lang|lt|Vytis}}'' (''{{transliteration|ru|Pogonya}}'') in Russia"> File:Coat of Arms of Sebezh.png|Coat of arms of Sebezh File:Coat of Arms of Nevel (Pskov oblast).png|Coat of arms of Nevel File:Coat of arms of Velizh 1781.svg|Coat of arms of Velizh File:Smolensk Historical Museum - 0296.jpg|The Lithuanian coat of arms on display at the Smolensk Historical museum </gallery>

===Noble families=== {{Infobox coat of arms|name=Pogoń Litewska|color=#de251a|battle_cry=|alternative_names=Pogoń Litewska Książęca|families={{hidden begin|title=57 names|toggle=left}} Aczkiewicz, Algiminowicz, Algminowicz, Alkimowicz, Biciutek, Byciutek, Boremlski, Boremski, Chowanski, Czartoryski, Dowmont, Dulski, Hurko, Gediminids, Izasławski, Izopolski, Klajowski, Kobryński, Konierewicz, Kopylski, Korecki, Korjatowicz, Koryatowicz, Koszerski, Koszyrski, Kowelski, Kurakins, Krzywicki, Krzywiecki, Krzywięcki, Lingwieniewicz, Litwinowicz, Łukomlski, Mackiewicz, Morski, Możarowski – Możajski, Mścisławski, Niedzielski, Nowosielski, Olelkowicz, Olgierd, Plusko, Pluszkow, Pokłoński, Postawka, Radzikiewicz, Rybicki, Sakalauskas, Sanguszko, Słucki, Sudwoj, Świderski, Trubecki, Wandza, Worotyniec, Zasławski {{hidden end}}|cities=Puławy|divisions_type=Divisions|divisions=Puławy County}}The Lithuanian coat of arms with some modifications was adopted by several Gediminid Lithuanian, Polish and Russian noble families, namely Czartoryski,<ref>{{cite web |title=Čartoriskiai |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/cartoriskiai/ |website=Vle.lt |language=lt}}</ref> Sanguszko,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Petrauskas |first1=Rimvydas |author-link1=Rimvydas Petrauskas |title=Sanguškos |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/sanguskos/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=10 August 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> Chowanski,<ref>{{cite web |title=Narimantaičiai |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/narimantaiciai/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=10 August 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> Trubetskoy<ref>{{cite web |title=Trubeckojai |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/trubeckojai/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=10 August 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> and Golitsyn.<ref>{{cite web |title=Golicynai |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/golicynai/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=10 August 2021 |language=lt}}</ref> In Polish heraldry, those coat of arms are called ''Pogoń Litewska''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gajl|first=Tadeusz|title=Herbarz polski od średniowiecza do XX wieku : ponad 4500 herbów szlacheckich 37 tysięcy nazwisk 55 tysięcy rodów|year=2007|isbn=978-83-60597-10-1|author-link=Tadeusz Gajl}}</ref> <gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" heights="150"> File:POL COA Sanguszko.svg|Sanguszko coat of arms File:RU COA Sangushko.png|Sangushko coat of arms, 1906 File:Čartaryjski, Pahonia. Чартарыйскі, Пагоня (1785).jpg|Czartoryski coat of arms, 1785 File:Sapieha, Pahonia. Сапега, Пагоня (1786).jpg|Coat of arms of the House of Sapieha, 1786 File:Pavał Halšanski, Pahonia. Павал Гальшанскі, Пагоня (1555) (2).jpg|Coat of arms of Paweł Holszański circa 1555 File:Golitsyn, Pahonia. Галіцын, Пагоня (1872-89).jpg|Coat of arms of the House of Golitsyn, 19th century File:POL COA Pogoń Litewska.svg|Simple version File:POL COA Beyzym.svg|Beyzym, a variation </gallery>

===Other locations=== ====Austria==== {{Hatnote|For the details of architecture and the usage of Vytis, see the articles linked in the images captions.}} <gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" heights="125" caption="Vytis in Austria"> File:Albertina Vienna June 2006 606.jpg|Albertina, Vienna, 18th century File:Wien Augustinerkirche Kenotaph Maria Christina 6.jpg|Coat of arms on the Cenotaph of Maria Christina in Vienna </gallery>

====France==== {{Hatnote|For the details of architecture and the usage of Vytis, see the articles linked in the images captions.}} <gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" heights="125" caption="Vytis in France"> File:Coat of arms of Lithuania Vytis (Waykimas) with the Double Cross of the Jagiellonian dynasty, 1601-1700.jpg|''Vytis'' from ''Armorial universel, avec blasons peints'', 17th century File:Bonsecours Nancy.JPG|Catholic church, Nancy, 18th century File:Fronton hôtel de ville Nancy.JPG|Pediment of the Nancy Town Hall File:Paris Conciergerie 775.jpg| Vytis on top of Palais de la Cité's ''Tour de l'Horloge'' clock, Paris, since 1585 File:Lunéville, Église Saint-Jacques PM 49744.jpg|''Vytis'' in the Saint Jacques Church in Lunéville (coat of arms of Stanisław Leszczyński) File:Musée lorrain MB chenet aux armes du roi Stanislas.jpg|''Vytis'' in the Lorraine Museum coat of arms of Stanisław Leszczyński) File:Collège Stanislas blason 1905.jpg|Coat of arms of the Collège Stanislas de Paris with ''Vytis'' (1905 version; a similar coat of arm is still in use) File:Dragons de la Reine 06062.jpg|Guidon of the Reine Dragons Regiment with ''Vytis'' File:TakenplatteRoscheiderhof HE48 FrankreichLothringenH1a.jpg|Wedding coat of arms of Louis XV and Marie Leszczyńska in Zinswiller, first half of the 18th century File:GrabMaria Leszczynska.jpg|Grave of Marie Leszczyńska in Saint-Denis </gallery>

====Latvia==== <gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" heights="125" caption="Vytis in Latvia"> File:Lithuanian-Livonian double-Denar with monogram of Steponas Batoras, coat of arms of Gotthard Kettler and Lithuanian Vytis (Waykimas), 1578.jpg|Double-Denar of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia with monogram of Stephen Báthory, coat of arms of Gotthard Kettler, and ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'', 1578 File:Coin of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia with portrait of Ernst Johann von Biron, Vytis (Waykimas) and the Polish Eagle, 1764.jpg|Coin of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia with portrait of Ernst Johann von Biron, ''{{lang|lt|Vytis (Waykimas)}}'', and the Polish Eagle, 1764 </gallery>

====Sweden==== <gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="150" heights="125" caption="Vytis in Sweden"> File:Sigismund III's banner (1601-1605, Army myseum, Stockholm) 01 by shakko.jpg|Banner of Sigismund III Vasa in the Swedish Army Museum, Stockholm </gallery>

====Germany==== {{Hatnote|For the details of architecture and the usage of Vytis, see the articles linked in the images captions.}} <gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="125" heights="150" caption="Vytis in Germany"> File:Freiberg katedra mpazdziora.JPG|Freiberg Cathedral in Freiberg, Saxony, 18th century File:Coat of arms Moritzburg Castle.jpg|Coat of arms on the Moritzburg Castle in Moritzburg, Saxony File:Dresden Zwinger Wappen 3.jpg|Zwinger, Dresden, 18th century File:UebigauHerkules.jpg|Coat of arms on the Palace Übigau with Hercules, Dresden File:Kartouwe with the Coat of arms of August II, Polish Eagle, and Lithuanian Vytis (Waikymas) in the Königstein Fortress.jpg|Coat of arms on a cannon in Königstein Fortress, Dresden File:Löbau-Rathaus-Wappen-4.jpg|Coat of arms on the Löbau Town Hall File:Grimma Poeppelmannbruecke Saechsisches Wappen.jpg|Bridge over Mulde, Grimma, 18th century File:20050116190DR Wilsdruff Rathaus Wappen.jpg|Town hall, Wilsdruff, 18th century File:Theatinerkirche, München, Deutschland09.jpg|Coats of arms on the Theatine Church in Munich, 18th century File:Grimma, Leipziger Straße, Postmeilensäule-001.jpg|Coats of arms on the Saxon milepost in Grimma, Saxony state File:20090501100DR Wurzen Kursächsische Posthalterei Wappen.jpg|Portal of a post office in Wurzen, Leipzig district, 1734 File:Allianzwappen am Georgstor.jpg|''Vytis'' in Bavaria File:Wappen-Fürstenzug29.jpg|''Vytis'' on the Fürstenzug in Dresden File:Standarte Sachsen Kadetten-Korps 1747-1865.JPG|Banner of the Royal Saxon Army, 1747–1865 </gallery>

====United States==== <gallery mode="nolines" class="small" widths="125" heights="150" caption="Vytis in the United States"> File:Waterbury Lithuanian school.jpg|Saint Joseph's School, Waterbury, Connecticut Our Lady of Šiluva chapel in Washington mosaic.jpg|''Our Lady of Šiluva'' Chapel at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. File:Badge of the Convention of the Lithuanian Americans (SLA), 1914.jpg|Badge of the Convention of the Lithuanian Americans (SLA), 1914. File:Lithuanian Hall in Baltimore 16.jpg|Lithuanian Hall on Hollins Street in Hollins Market, Baltimore. File:Opening festivities of the Consulate of Lithuania in Chicago, 1924.jpg|Opening festivities of the Consulate of Lithuania in Chicago in 1924. The Coat of arms of Lithuania Vytis (Waykimas) is seen in the background. File:Opening festivities of the Consulate General of Lithuania in New York City, 1930.jpg|Opening festivities of the Consulate General of Lithuania in New York City, 1930. The Coat of arms of Lithuania Vytis (Waykimas) is hanging on a wall. Lithuanian Hall, South Side, Pittsburgh, entrance decoration, 2021-08-19.jpg|The former Lithuanian Hall in Pittsburgh </gallery>

== See also == {{portal|Lithuania|Heraldry}} {{commons category|National coat of arms of Lithuania}} * Emblem of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic * Armorial of Lithuania * Coat of arms of Belarus {{clear}}

== References == {{Reflist}} <references responsive="1"></references>

== Bibliography == * [http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter/w3_viewer.ViewDoc?p_int_tekst_id=49325&p_int_tv_id=0 The Coat of Arms of Lithuania], Seimas * Gimtoji istorija, Nuo 7 iki 12 klasės (Lietuvos istorijos vadovėlis), CD, 2002, {{ISBN|9986-9216-7-8}} * Simas Sužiedėlis and Antanas Vasaitis (ed.), Encyclopedia Lithuanica, Boston: 1978, Vol. VI, pages 223–225. * Gintaras Beresnevičius, Lietuvių religija ir mitologija, ''Tyto alba'', Vilnius: 2004. Pages 66–69. {{ISBN|9986-16-389-7}}

===Articles=== *{{Cite journal |last=Bednarczuk |first=Leszek |date=1986 |title=Pogoń i wici (w 600-lecie chrztu Litwy) |journal=Język Polski |volume=66 |issue=3–4 |pages=165–170}} *{{cite journal|last1=Daujotytė|first1=Viktorija|date=2018|title=Vidiniai lietuviškumo matmenys|url=http://www.lnkc.lt/get_file.php?file=bVoxcG5XekV4Y2ZKWDhxZWFaWEhvR2VYWjhmTW5wV2VrOFpocHBoaVp0cVlsMmFnbmMzRnljYWp5V0Jsek1lY2xhUnB4cDVybUdxVWsyUm9aR0ZtMDhhVmFaMXFuSnF3bFh1ZWtKV1l5Mk5rYVptWm5aU1RZNWVQYWFOamw1WEpsV3liY3A0JTNE|journal=Liaudies kultūra|publisher=Lithuanian National Culture Centre|volume=1|access-date=21 March 2021}} * {{Cite journal|last=Gumowski|first=Marian|title=Pieczęcie Książąt Litewskich|url=http://pbc.biaman.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=14106|journal=Ateneum Wileńskie|volume=7|issue=3–4|date=1930}} * {{Cite journal|title=l-as gudų pulkas Gardine ir kaip jis tapo lenkų nuginkluotas (1918. XI. I–1919. VIII. 17)|last=Uspenskis|first=Aleksandras|journal=Karo Archyvas|volume=1|pages=171–172|language=lt|url=https://www.epaveldas.lt/preview?id=LNB02B2088B_11925|date=1925}} * {{cite journal |last1=Rogulski |first1=Jakub |title=Titles, Seals and Coats of Arms as Symbols of Power and Importance of Lithuanian Dukes Before the Union of Lublin |journal=Zapiski Historyczne |volume=LXXXII |issue=1 |date=2017 |publisher=Jagiellonian University |location=Kraków |doi=10.15762/ZH.2017.06 |s2cid=54787145 |url=https://www.zapiskihistoryczne.pl/files/issues/27f72d0340c21b2e2e9f309d4d35b2ed_ZH_2017_1_Rogulski_N.pdf |access-date=23 April 2021}}

===Books===

*{{Cite book |last=Grzybowski |first=Jerzy |title=Białoruski ruch niepodległościowy w czasie II wojny światowej |year=2021 |location=Warsaw}} * {{Cite journal |last=Kotljarchuk |first=Andrej |date=2004 |title=The Tradition of Belarusian Statehood: Conflicts About the Past of Belarus |url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:539257/FULLTEXT01.pdf |journal=Baltic and East European Studies}} * {{Cite book|last=Piech|first=Zenon|title=Monety, pieczęcie i herby w systemie symboli władzy Jagiellonów|date=2003|publisher=Wydawn. DiG|isbn=83-7181-310-4|location=Warszawa|oclc=57125015}} * {{Cite book |last=Rudling |first=Per Anders |title=The Rise and Fall of Belarusian Nationalism, 1906–1931 |year=2014 |location=Pittsburgh}} *{{cite book |last=Rimša |first=Edmundas |author-link=Edmundas Rimša |title=Heraldika. Iš praeities į dabartį |year=2004 |publisher=Versus aureus |location=Vilnius |language=lt |isbn=9955-601-07-8}} *{{cite book|last=Rowell|first=Stephen Christopher|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i4hpVJ51y4oC&pg=PA52|title=Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295–1345|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1994|isbn=978-0-521-45011-9|series=Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series|author-link=Stephen Christopher Rowell|access-date=2 May 2021}} *{{cite book |last1=Rowell |first1=Stephen Christopher |author-link=Stephen Christopher Rowell |title=Chartularium Lithuaniae res gestas magni ducis Gedeminne illustrans |date=2003 |publisher={{ill|Vaga (publisher)|lt=Vaga|lt|Vaga (leidykla)}} |location=Vilnius |isbn=5-415-01700-3 |url=https://www.epaveldas.lt/recordText/LNB/C1B0002960629/Gedimino_+laiskai.pdf?exId=315462&seqNr=2 |access-date=18 April 2021 |language=la, lt}} *{{cite book|last1=Rowell|first1=Stephen Christopher|url=https://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/fedora/objects/LT-LDB-0001:B.03~2015~1467038656538/datastreams/DS.001.1.01.BOOK/content|title=The conversion of Lithuania: from pagan barbarians to late medieval Christians|last2=Baronas|first2=Darius|date=2015|publisher=Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore|isbn=9786094251528|location=Vilnius|author-link1=Stephen Christopher Rowell|access-date=6 June 2021}} *{{cite book |last1=Skoczek |first1=Tadeusz |title=Together with the White Eagle through the Ages: A Symbol of Rulers, the State, and the Nation |date=2016 |publisher=Muzeum Niepodległości w Warszawie (Museum of Independence) |location=Warsaw |isbn=978-83-62235-79-7 |url=http://mbc.cyfrowemazowsze.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=39035 |access-date=10 April 2021 |language=en, pl}} *{{cite book |last1=Surgailis |first1=Gintautas |url=https://kam.lt/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/LK-gudu-kariniai-daliniai-1918-1923-m..pdf |title=Lietuvos kariuomenės gudų kariniai daliniai 1918–1923 m. |date=2020 |publisher=General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania |isbn=978-609-8277-00-5 |location=Vilnius |language=lt}} * {{Cite journal |last=Uspenskis |first=Aleksandras |date=1925 |title=l-as gudų pulkas Gardine ir kaip jis tapo lenkų nuginkluotas (1918. XI. I–1919. VIII. 17) |url=https://www.epaveldas.lt/preview?id=LNB02B2088B_11925 |journal=Karo Archyvas |language=lt |volume=1 |pages=171–172}} {{Navboxes |list = {{Flags and coats of arms of Lithuania}} {{Coats of arms of Europe}} }}

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