The oldest symbol of Ukraine, that of the land of Prince Volodymyr the Great and his dynasty, is the trident, which was used as early as the 10th century. One hundred years ago, in early 1918, the trident and blue-and-yellow flag were officially adopted as state emblems of the Ukrainian National Republic by the Central Rada. These symbols have a long tradition and complex history. Banned during the Soviet era, they were restored in 1992 as the state emblems of a new independent Ukraine.
Dr. Andriy Grechylo is the president of the Ukrainian Heraldry Society and chief scholar of the Lviv branch of the Institute of Ukrainian Archeography and Source Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Grechylo headed the group whose design was adopted in 1992 by the Verkhovna Rada as the Minor State Emblem of Ukraine. He is also an associate member of the Académie Internationale d'Héraldique.