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Gulripsh (Municipality, Georgia)

გულრიფში

Last modified: 2021-09-25 by ivan sache
Keywords: gulripsh | azhara |
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Azhara

[Flag]         [Arms]

Flag and arms of Azhara - Images by The State Council of Heraldry at the Parliament of Georgia, 8 May 2021

Azhara is located in Upper Abkhazia, to the north-east of the regional capital Gulripsh in the mountain belt, in the upper Kodori Valley. Azhara was the only municipality in the territory of Abkhazia fully controlled by the Georgian side until the Battle of the Kodori Valley (August 2008) during the South Ossetian War.
Azhara was in fact the capital and the only municipality mentioned in the Constitution of Georgia's Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia.

The flag of Adzhara is vertically divided red-blue, charged in the center with a white shield inscribing a red cross patty.
It is derived from the coat of arms of Adzhara, "Per fess serrated, 1a. Gules an escutcheon argent a cross patty gules, 1b. Azure two Dioscuri hats surmounted by two eight-pointed stars argent, 2. Argent a bear sable. The shield surmounted by a three-towered mural crown argent fimbriated sable. Under the shield a scroll argent fimbriated sable charged with the name of the town in Georgian capital letters sable."
[State Council of Heraldry at the Parliament of Georgia]

The Dioscuri hats refer to Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia, which was founded in the 8th century BC by Milesian Greek colonists, as Dioscurias. Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri twins, were members of Jason's expedition to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece.
A silver coin minted in 2016 by the National Bank of the Republic of Abkhazia to commemorate the 2,500 anniversary of Sukhumi features on the reverse the Dioscuri hats surmounted by two white eight-pointed stars - exactly as on the arms of Azhara. The emblem is said to be "the symbols of an Abkhazian reigning house".
[The National Bank of the Republic of Abkhazia]

Jens Pattke & Ivan Sache, 8 May 2021