Цветосимволика в блазонировании национальной геральдики (лингвокультурные аспекты)

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study the semantics and role of color symbols in the verbal description of national heraldry, and its relevance is due to the current trend towards an increase in the number of independent states with their own national symbols. The objectives of the research include determining the semiotic specificity of the color symbol, establishing the object prototypes motivating this symbol and identifying new concepts and ideals symbolized in modern national heraldry with the help of color. The study was carried out on the material of the state emblems of countries united by a common language of blazoning, using the technique of analyzing color images. It has been established that in color symbolism there are two types of semiotic units: symbols in which the image refers to some natural standard of color that motivates color, and symbols in which the connection between the expression and the content planes of the semiotic formation turns out to be conventional and conditioned exclusively by cultural tradition. In most cases, the appearance in national heraldry of a particular color or shade of the latter is determined by the taste preferences of the compiler of the coat of arms, but sometimes the symbolic meaning of the color in the blazon is explicitly stated. The content plane of color symbols, which receive an explicit interpretation in state heraldry, is represented both by specific objects, which act here as prototypes motivating the symbol, and by concepts of one or another level of abstraction, and the connection of these concepts with color is not figuratively motivated in any way and is determined exclusively by cultural traditions. The medieval list of secular and Christian virtues, to which the main heraldic colors refer, is supplemented by modern concepts and ideals in the state heraldry of today. At the same time, the black color as a symbol of sadness and mourning does not appear in state heraldry, and there is no purple color in the studied national heraldry. The results of the study lead to the conclusion that the color symbolism reflects the national, cultural and linguistic specificity of the countries that own the state emblem.