Unofficial Symbols
As in any other country, there are a number of other objects in Estonia which have symbolic value without any official decree. Oak, for example, has long been regarded as a sacred tree. Estonia lies in the northernmost zone of its occurrence. Mixed forests with oak have given the country its most fertile humus soil.
Oaks are part of pre-Christian beliefs of Estonians. Ancient Estonians planted oaks in their holy places. The supreme god was Taara. He was celebrated in sacred oak forests around Tartu.
Various buildings and their details are regarded as of national value. Among them are the Old Thomas weathervain on the spire of Tallinn's Town Hall; Toompea Castle, together with its mighty watchtower Pikk Hermann and the Hermann Castle on the western bank of the Narva river, which has long constituted a border between the East and the West.
Many of the above-mentioned symbols were represented on coins and banknotes of the Estonian currency. All coins carried the three lions of the coat of arms. The one kroon note bore the image of Toompea Castle. The two kroon note depicted Tartu University. The five kroon note presented Hermann Castle facing the Russian Ivangorod castle on the eastern side of the Narva river. Estonia's mightiest oak was pictured on the ten kroon note and so on. The highest denomination, the five hundred kroon note, carried an image of the barn swallow in full flight.
The symbol of Estonian fight for freedom is the core of the Cross of Liberty, that is widely associated with Estonian War of Independence and World War II.
Read more about this topic: National Symbols Of Estonia
Famous quotes containing the word symbols:
“There are those who would keep us slipping back into the darkness of division, into the snake pit of racial hatred, of racial antagonism and of support for symbols of the struggle to keep African-Americans in bondage.”
—Carol Moseley-Braun (b. 1947)