FOCUS ON PHILATELY: The trident in Ukraine (02/02/03)

FOCUS ON PHILATELY

by Ingert Kuzych

The trident in Ukraine

by Alexander Malycky

There are various theories about the origins and meaning of the trident. As a symbol, it has been found in various countries, including Ukraine, and used in a number of ways: as a religious and military emblem, as a heraldic device, as a state emblem, as a monogram and simply as a decorative design.

At present, the trident - "tryzub" in Ukrainian - is the official coat of arms of Ukraine. The oldest examples of the trident discovered by archeologists on Ukrainian territory date back to the first century AD.

As a state emblem, the trident dates back to the medieval empire of Kyivan Rus', when it was the coat of arms of several members of the ruling dynasty. At that time, the trident was stamped on gold and silver coins issued by Prince Volodymyr the Great, who might have inherited the bident of his father Sviatoslav the Conqueror as a dynastic coat of arms and modified it to a trident. The latter was also used on silver coins of Volodymyr's son Yaroslav (later called the Wise), probably during the period when he was governor of the city of Novgorod the Great, or Novgorod Velikii. Several other contemporary and later princes reverted to using the bident again as their coat of arms.

The trident appeared not only on coins but also on bricks of the Church of the Tithes in Kyiv, on tiles of the Dormition Cathedral in Volodymyr-Volynskyi (one of the major towns of that period), and on stones of other churches, castles and palaces. It continued to be used until the 15th century - often in some modified form - as a dynastic coat of arms of some of the ruling families in countries that emerged from Kyivan Rus'.

Additionally, the trident was also used as a religious symbol in Ukrainian folklore and church heraldry, or as a decorative element on ceramics, weapons, rings, medallions, seals and manuscripts. The wide use of the trident in Kyivan Rus' resulted in its evolving in many directions without losing its basic structure. Some of these variations were its forerunner, the bident; the trident with a cross on one of the prongs, or at the side; and the trident with a crescent moon.

In modern times, upon the recommendation of historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Ukraine's first president, Grand Prince Volodymyr's trident was adopted as the coat of arms of the Ukrainian National Republic (UNR) in 1918. By that act, the UNR leaders linked their modern Ukrainian state with the medieval empire of Kyivan Rus'. The trident, which also appeared on Ukraine's bank notes (Figure 1), was further retained as the official coat of arms by subsequent Ukrainian governments, i.e., the Hetman Government (Hetmante) and the Directory Government.

A trident with a crossed central prong was also confirmed in 1918 as the emblem of the Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet. In 1939, the Diet of Carpatho-Ukraine, the short-lived independent Ukrainian state that emerged from Czecho-Slovakia, adopted the trident with a cross as its official coat of arms. Finally, in 1992, following the restoration of Ukraine's independence the previous year, Ukraine's Parliament adopted the trident as the chief element in its coat of arms. The trident is today shown on Ukraine's monetary emissions (coins as well as some bank notes or their watermarks; see Figure 2) and on its postage stamps.

The trident on postal issues
of independent Ukraine, 1917-1920

As a main design element, the trident appeared on the postal issues (postage stamps, postal stationery and various postal forms) of several Ukrainian governments. The first was that of the Ukrainian Central Rada (Council), which proclaimed the creation the Ukrainian National Republic (UNR); on November 20, 1917, and full independence from Russia on January 22, 1918. Subsequent governments were those of the Hetmanate, which created the Ukrainian State (April 29, 1918-December 19, 1918) and the Directory, which restored the UNR (December 19, 1918-November 21, 1920).

Ukrainians in territories that seceded from the Austro-Hungarian Empire formed the Western Ukrainian National Republic (WUNR), which lasted from November 1, 1918 to July 18, 1919. After January 22, 1919, the WUNR united with the UNR and became known as the Western District of the UNR. (The merger, however, was more symbolic than real and the two governments continued to conduct their affairs independently.)

The trident first appeared April 18, 1918, on perforated, stamp-like Ukrainian money-tokens. Four of the five issues show the trident somewhere in their design; all show a trident on the reverse as part of an inscription that states that these tokens circulated in lieu of coins. On July 18, 1918, these same designs were used for Ukraine's first true postage stamps (Figure 3). In January of 1919, the trident appeared on a high-value 20-hryvni issue (Figure 4).

Additionally, tridents also appeared beginning in August of 1918 on overprinted postage stamps of Tsarist Russia (Figures 4, 5 and 6). Some 800 basic provisional postage stamps were created, about 700 of them in the postal districts of Katerynoslav, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Podillia and Poltava (using 32 basic overprint types) and some 100 stamps overprinted locally in close to 20 localities. All this does not take into account a wealth of overprint varieties, errors and issues whose status has, to date, not been confirmed and/or clarified, and which are known only from a few specimens. If added, these scarce items would bring the total to over 1,600 stamps.

The Western Ukrainian National Republic issued 19 postage stamps with trident overprints on May 8 and 13, 1919. Few of these, however, were put into circulation (Figures 7 and 8). During the time of Western Ukraine's independence, the trident also appeared on the cancellations of some post offices.

Postal stationery with trident overprints was issued in all six of the above-mentioned postal districts of Ukraine. Twenty-seven overprint types were applied to 137 pre-stamped items of tsarist and post-tsarist Russia. Included were 78 postal cards (Figure 9), already in use from July 16, 1918; 30 envelopes; 13 letter cards; 15 periodical wrappers; and one parcel card form.

Four trident-bearing postcards without imprinted stamps (Figure 10) and two parcel card forms (Figure 11) were also issued. Additionally, three stampless field postcards were prepared for use by the Ukrainian Galician Army while still in Galicia, or Halychyna, and later in the right-bank (central) Ukraine (Figure 12).

The printing of a number of postage stamps and pieces of postal stationery displaying tridents was commissioned abroad, but these items remained postally unused, due to the collapse of Ukraine as an independent country. They included one stamp of Ukraine (Figure 7), four stamps of Western Ukraine (Figure 7), as well as four Western Ukrainian postal cards (Figure 13), one C.O.D. postal form and one letter card.

The trident on a World War II
postal issue (under foreign occupation)

World War II saw the appearance of a local trident-surcharged Soviet postal card issued in Kolomyia while this town was still under Hungarian occupation; it was later used as a postal form for a short time under the German occupation (Figure 14).

The trident on postal issues
of independent Ukraine, post-1991

From 1992 onward, rapid inflation played havoc with the postal rates of newly independent Ukraine. Most of the Soviet-era postage stamps and postal stationery, which continued to be valid for postal usage, and also the early postal issues of Ukraine, were either quickly used up, or became practically useless due to their low denominations. As a result, between 1992 and early 1995, the Post of Ukraine was unable to supply adequate quantities of its own postage stamps and postal stationery with the then valid rates.

So, between 1992 and 1994, the central postal authorities were forced to allow locally applied surcharges, mostly on old Soviet postal stationery, but later also on Ukrainian stationery. This situation resulted in some 50 different trident types, some even encountered in the heavily Russified sections of the country (Figures 15 and 16). Local postage stamps were also created, many of which showed the trident (Figures 17 and 18).

After 1995, sufficient stamps and stationery became available and the need for these provisional issues became unnecessary.

Throughout the entire period of Ukraine's present independence, the trident has appeared quite often on national postage stamps (Figure 19) and on postal stationery issues (Figure 20). Additionally, in Lviv only, the trident was also carried for a few years on calendar cancels used with slogan-type meter cancellations (Figure 21).

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The author is indebted to Ivan Bobyn, the late Ivan Bulat, Borys Fessak and Dr. Andriy Zhuk for supplying him with some of the materials and/or illustrations reproduced in this article.

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