Coat of arms of the Soviet Union

The coat of arms of the Soviet Union is the symbol of the Soviet Union. It was accepted in 1923 and was used until the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

The coat of arms from 1956 to 1991

Design

The coat of arms has a hammer and sickle, a red star over the Earth, and two ears of wheat covered by red ribbons. Each ribbon has a different language on it, showing the motto of the Soviet Union.

History

On 6 July 1923, the Central Executive Committee (CIK) started a project to create the coat of arms. It was finished on 22 September 1923. The constitution of the Soviet Union confirmed the new coat of arms officially in 1924. At first it had six red ribbons on the ears of wheat. The motto "Workers of the World, Unite!" was written on each ribbon, each in a different language. The first six languages were Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Georgian, Armenian, and Turko-Tatar.

Over the next several years, many more languages were added. In 1937 there were 11 languages, and in 1946, there were 16. In 1956 the Finnish text from the coat of arms was removed, and up to the end of the Soviet Union there were 15 languages on the coat of arms.