Tokmak – An Interesting Town to Visit
For travelers with an interest in Ukrainian history and culture, the Zaporizhia oblast was the place where the Cossack heritage all started. Many local Cossack bands were known as Zaporizhians instead of Cossacks and even the coat of arms for the region bears a Cossack on its shield. Almost every city and town in the region has spent at least some time as a host to Cossack settlements and enjoys a rich history and strong sense of tradition. One of the many cities in this oblast is Tokmak – a city with namesakes in both Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Tokmak is situated in the southern part of central Ukraine and serves as the administrative center of the Tokmatskyi Raion (district), with a population of approximately 46,000. If you take the time to stroll along the streets of Tokmak and make your way to the city hall, you’ll note the city’s coat of arms prominently displayed. Both the city’s current coat of arms and its flag were adopted in 2003. The coat of arms takes the form of a round-ended shield which is divided up into three sections coming together just above the center of the shield. The largest section at the bottom, is colored green and bears the image of a horn filled with wheat. No doubt, the image and the color are a reference to early farming activities that once played an important role in the city’s growth. The top half of the shield is divided into two halves. The right side is colored red and bears the image of a cog – presumably symbolizing industry – while the left side is colored blue and also bears an image. The shield is set against a plant-like support which is topped by both a building and a stone wall. At the bottom of the coat of arms is the date ‘1784’, the founding date of the city.
The flag for the city of Tokmak is much simpler, being a square also divided into three areas of color. The top horizontal stripe is red, while the bottom right block is blue and the bottom left block is green. All three areas of color are separated by a thin yellow line and the flag bears no imagery.