When the multinational Soviet state was established in 1922, it needed a national emblem common for all the republics. To resolve this issue, the authorities established a commission for developing national state symbols in cooperation with Goznak (National Administration for printing bank notes). In 1923, the commission held several tenders, where Moscow artists and some employees of Goznak presented various drafts of the national emblem, but none of them was ever approved.
After that, Vladimir Adrianov, one of the top managers of Goznak, started working on the national emblem. Vsevolod Korzun assisted him with the drawings. They created several sketches based on Adrianov’s ideas, where they depicted the globe with the hammer and the sickle on top of it. One particular drawing was special for its clear-cut details and austere expression, so it received preliminary approval. However, the artists still needed to place the slogan Workers of the World, Unite! — in the national languages of all the republics which at that time were members of the union.
To create this part of the sketch, they invited Ivan Dubasov, because according the artist’s memoirs, he was famous for his ability to work very quickly. After examining the draft, Dubasov proposed to place the slogan on the ribbon winding around the wheat heads bundles in a spiral way, these bundles being on both sides of the globe. The design of the ribbon allowed for easy change of the number of its volutes in future.
After that, the draft emblem was sent back for further improvement. One of the drafts stipulated for putting the word USSR above between the wheat heads, but the commission decided to replace it with a red five-point star. The archives hold a note from Avel Enukidze, the Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee, with his instructions: A five-pointed red star with yellow contour will be on the top.
The Soviet government finally approved the new national emblem in the fall of 1923. The number of volutes of the ribbon symbolizing the republics — members of the Soviet Union grew with time. By 1956, there were 15 of them. The Soviet Constitution fixed the sequence of their location on the emblem (based on the size of population).
However, on the national emblem presented at this exhibition (previously mounted on the top of the Supreme Soviet building) the sequence of slogans in Ukrainian and Belorussian languages was violated.
After that, Vladimir Adrianov, one of the top managers of Goznak, started working on the national emblem. Vsevolod Korzun assisted him with the drawings. They created several sketches based on Adrianov’s ideas, where they depicted the globe with the hammer and the sickle on top of it. One particular drawing was special for its clear-cut details and austere expression, so it received preliminary approval. However, the artists still needed to place the slogan Workers of the World, Unite! — in the national languages of all the republics which at that time were members of the union.
To create this part of the sketch, they invited Ivan Dubasov, because according the artist’s memoirs, he was famous for his ability to work very quickly. After examining the draft, Dubasov proposed to place the slogan on the ribbon winding around the wheat heads bundles in a spiral way, these bundles being on both sides of the globe. The design of the ribbon allowed for easy change of the number of its volutes in future.
After that, the draft emblem was sent back for further improvement. One of the drafts stipulated for putting the word USSR above between the wheat heads, but the commission decided to replace it with a red five-point star. The archives hold a note from Avel Enukidze, the Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee, with his instructions: A five-pointed red star with yellow contour will be on the top.
The Soviet government finally approved the new national emblem in the fall of 1923. The number of volutes of the ribbon symbolizing the republics — members of the Soviet Union grew with time. By 1956, there were 15 of them. The Soviet Constitution fixed the sequence of their location on the emblem (based on the size of population).
However, on the national emblem presented at this exhibition (previously mounted on the top of the Supreme Soviet building) the sequence of slogans in Ukrainian and Belorussian languages was violated.
