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Bulawa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hetman Chodkiewicz of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, holding a buława
Buława of Polish Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły

The bulava or buława (Polish spelling: buława; Russian spelling: булава [bula'va]) is a ceremonial mace or baton or sceptre.

Poland, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

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Historically the buława was an attribute of a hetman, an officer of the highest military rank (after the monarch) in the 15th- to 18th-century Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Hetmans typically added an image of a buława to their coats of arms.

Today the buława appears in the rank insignia of a Marshal of Poland.

Ukraine

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In the Ukrainian language, a булава (bulava) is a mace or club, in both the military and ceremonial senses. The bulava was one of the Ukrainian Cossack kleinody (клейноди - "jewels"): Bohdan Khmelnytsky bore a bulava as Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host (in office: 1648 to 1657).[1]

Historically the bulava was an attribute of a hetman, an officer of the highest military rank, and of the Hetman or the military head of a Cossack state (Cossack Hetmanate).

The Ukrainian People's Republic of 1917-1920 referred to the General Staff of the Ukrainian People's Army as the "General Bulava".[2]

A ceremonial bulava is now an official emblem of the president of Ukraine, and is housed in Ukraine's Vernadsky National Library.

Ukrainian military heraldry often features bulava-images, particularly as a part of rank insignia for generals and admirals, as well as an element of the insignia of the Ministry of Defence and of the NSDC.

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ (in Ukrainian) Definition of kleinody in the Handbook of the History of Ukraine Archived 2013-03-16 at the Wayback Machine - "[...] Б. Хмельницький вже з 1648 носив срібну позолочену булаву, прикрашену перлами та ін. дорогоцінним камінням. Булава була й ознакою влади кошового отамана Запорізької Січі."
  2. ^ ГЕНЕРАЛЬНА БУЛАВА - в період українських національно-визвольних змагань 1917-21 - одна з назв Генерального штабу Армії Української Народної Республіки.