Official symbols
On 18th of November 2003 Tomsk City Duma passed Decision № 503 approving the Regulation about the coat of arms and flag of the city of Tomsk and the procedure of using them, and on 28th of November Decision № 518 made the appropriate changes to Article 9 of the charter of the city.
According to the Decision of Duma, number 503 (Art. 3): "The coat of arms of Tomsk is a heraldic shield, with a silver prancing horse set in a green field. The shield is topped with a golden crown in which there are five visible teeth on the tower. The motto "labour and knowledge" is inscribed on the gold ribbon in silver letters.
On both of the coats of arms – the region and the centre - a silver horse, galloping to the right side, is depicted. The difference between the two coats of arms is the position of the tail on the horses - on the first coat of arms the horse's tail hangs down, and on the second it is raised up.
Flag of Tomsk
According to the Decision of Duma № 503 (Art. 9): "The flag of the city of Tomsk should be a rectangular white and green cloth with an aspect ratio of 2:3. A white stripe with a width of 1/3 of the cloth is to be placed in the heraldic right corner of the flag. In the centre of the flag a silver horse prancing to the right is depicted."
In May of 1729 Emperor Peter II approved the first symbol of Tomsk. The description was: "On a silver shield a man in grey clothes is working in a mine in a yellow field. "Picturing a miner on the coat of arms of Tomsk is connected with the opening of the ore deposits on the territory of the Tomsk district at the beginning of the XVIII century.
In 1782 Tomsk became a part of Tobolsk Vicegerency, and in 1785 got a new coat of arms: "At the top of the shield was the coat of arms of Tobolsk. At the bottom was a silver horse on a green field which depicted the superiority of the local horses". So, it was the first time when a silver instead of white horse had appeared on the coat of arms of Tomsk.
In 1804 Tomsk became the centre of the province, and in March of the same year a new emblem of the city was approved, "on the shield there was a white horse running towards the right displayed on a green field”. In July 17th 1878, the coat of arms of Tomsk (as the provincial centre) was topped with a golden five-turret crown and framed by oak leaves with the ribbon of St. Andrew. In 1917 Russia became a republic and the crown was removed from the coat of arms.
