Arms of Isidore Popowych

Blazon

Azure a lion rampant holding in its dexter paw a Bulava mace, on a chief Or a Latin cross treflé between two tryzubs Azure;

Symbolism

The arms relate to national and family heritage. The shield is divided in the Ukrainian colours of blue and gold, representing the sky and the wheat of Ukraine. With a mysterious origin 2500 years ago, the trident (tryzub) is the thousand-year old national symbol of Ukraine and is drawn from the coat of arms of Volodymyr the Great (979-1015), the Grand Prince of Kiev. The trident was probably a mark of authority and a mystic symbol of the Scythians, one of the first known tribes of Ancient Ukraine. The two blue tridents honour the country from which the parents of both Isidore Popowych and his wife Dania Anne Krisa came to Canada. The cross treflé, with the triple clover petals on each arm, illustrates the Holy Trinity and is a popular symbol of Christianity in Western Ukraine, his ancestral homeland. The cross also alludes to the meaning of his name “Popowych” which is “Son of the Priest”, his faith, and the arms of his birthplace Tempelhof, in Berlin, Germany. The gold lion symbolises the medieval Principality of Galicia and the current Province of Lviv in Western Ukraine, the areas of origin of his forefathers, and it represents valour and the power to defend one’s homeland against invaders. The Bulava is the Cossack mace and is a symbol of the authority of the Hetman, the Commander-in-Chief of the Cossacks. Here, it alludes to the ceremonial bulava presented to Isidore Popowych, Brigadier-General, by the Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for his services as a Canadian military advisor. It also alludes to the Popowych Regiment in the Order of Battle of the Zaporizhian Cossacks in the 17th century.