The Coat of Arms

The first known coat of arms (1560) of Debrecen refers to the reformation: its main figure is a lamb holding a flag in its right leg while turning back to glance at the flag. The coat of arms from 1693 continues this tradition, but the main figure received a rich heraldic complement. The flag hanging from the golden pole is the symbol of Calvinism, the two books on which the lamb stands represent the Old and New Testament and also refer to the culture of the ‘town of books’. The palm tree in the middle is a Tree-of-Life motif but also represents the stability and resistance shown throughout history: in the devastating wars the town stood like an oasis in a desert. The phoenix is the allegory of a life of vicissitudes. As the wonderful bird is reborn from her ashes so is the town reborn after devastating fires to become even more glorious. The Sun is the symbol of immortality and power.

Due to the strong links between the town and the reformed church this coat of arms became the unified emblem of the Hungarian Reformed Church in the years before the Reformed World Federation came into being in 1877. The biblical byword of the Reformation was placed on it as an amendment: “If God is with us, who is against us?”

Forrás: www.debrecen.hu