Rietavas

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RIETAVAS

County : Telšiai
Villages in Rietavas: Medingėnai

Official blazon

Origin/meaning

Rietavas received city rights and its own arms on March 20, 1792.

The arms showed a lion holding a sword in its beak and the inscription Za Narod Króla y Wolnošč, meaning For Country, King and Freedom. Rietavas was on the border with Prussia and the arms thus showed a lion ready to defend itself against invaders. Only a few months later the city rights and arms were abolished as the Lithuanian State ceased to exist.

In 1970 the arms were recreated in a very stylised way, but again soon after banned. Finally the arms were properly restored and granted on September 18, 1996.