South Ossetia is a region in the North Caucasus that is under the effective control of the self-declared Republic of South Ossetia but recognized by most of the international community as part of Georgia. The Government of Georgia has established an Administration of South Ossetia which it considers to be the legal government of South Ossetia.
Both entities have adopted emblems to represent themselves which are of a similar design. The emblems consist of a red disc featuring a Caucasian leopard with seven white mountains in the background.[1][2] The blazon is "disc gules, a leopard passantor spotted sable on a ground or with a background of seven mountains argent." The mountains symbolize the Ossetian landscape, while the leopard is an iconic inhabitant of the Caucasus mountains.
Disc gules, a leopard passantor spotted sable on a ground or with a background of seven mountains argent
Other elements
Республикӕ Хуссар Ирыстон, Республика Южная Осетия
The coat of arms of the Republic of South Ossetia were adopted on 19 May 1999 by the Parliament of South Ossetia. The design is based on Vakhushti Bagrationi's "Banner of Ossetia" which dates from 1735. Around the shield, the name of the country is written in Ossetian (Республикӕ Хуссар Ирыстон) above and in Russian (Республика Южная Осетия) below.
Administration of South Ossetia
Coat of arms of the Administration of South Ossetia
Disc gules, a leopard passantor spotted sable on a ground or with a background of seven mountains argent
The Administration of South Ossetia was established by the Government of Georgia April in 2007.[3] It uses an emblem depicting a Caucasian leopard and mountainous landscape without a surrounding legend.[4][5][6] This emblem is identical to the emblem used by the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania in Russia.
Prior to the adoption of the current coat of arms in 1995, Lyudvig Chibirov used a design featuring an eagle embazoned with a Triskelion in the South Ossetian national colors, with a Wasamonga cup, a pole-axe, an oak branch, hop and ears of wheat, the gifts God gave to Narts in Assianism tradition.[7]