Official Confirmation That the Great Emblem of Ukraine Is Not Legally Adopted
Received: 06.06.2025
In the official reply issued by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, issued under the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information” No. 2939-VI of January 13, 2011, explicitly states that no law establishing the Great State Emblem of Ukraine has been adopted. This means that, at the legislative level, neither its official status nor the procedure for its use has been legally defined.
At the same time, Article 20 of the Constitution of Ukraine clearly stipulates that the Great State Emblem of Ukraine must be established by a law adopted by no less than two-thirds of the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada.
Such a law has never been enacted.
The only currently valid regulatory act concerning the state symbols of Ukraine remains the Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine “On the State Emblem of Ukraine” No. 2137-XII dated February 19, 1992, which approved only the Small State Emblem — a golden trident on a blue shield.
Although this resolution does not have the force of law, it continues to be applied and has not been repealed or replaced by another act.
Thus, the trident is a legitimate symbol of Ukrainian state authority, as it is used based on an official act of the Verkhovna Rada. However, its legal status remains outside the framework of formal law, since a law on state symbols has not yet been adopted.
The Great State Emblem, in turn, does not legally exist, as the law required to establish it has never been passed, despite the direct constitutional requirement.
Any visual variations presented as the “Great Emblem” have no legal status and are arbitrary illustrations lacking normative foundation.
An attempt to establish the Great State Emblem was made in 2021 through Draft Law No. 5712 “On the Great State Emblem of Ukraine,” but it was only adopted as a basis and was never passed as a law.
Therefore, the current use of the so-called Great State Emblem of Ukraine lacks any legal foundation. No government authority is legally authorized to display or apply this emblem on facades, in presentations, on documents, seals, or any other official medium. This constitutes a direct violation of the Constitution of Ukraine and of the principle of the rule of law enshrined in Article 8 of the Constitution.
In effect, this amounts to a systematic substitution of legal concepts, where a symbol that does not legally exist is being used in official state practice, creating a legal fiction. Moreover, the dissemination and display of this emblem in government institutions may be interpreted as an abuse of authority and a violation of the proper use of state symbols, for which legal responsibility is provided.
The constitutional provision requires a law — and such a law does not exist. Therefore, any “official” use of the Great Emblem at present is unlawful and legally void.
Formally, the Small State Emblem of Ukraine (the trident), according to Resolution No. 2137-XII of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine dated 19 February 1992, is recognized as the principal element of the Great State Emblem. However, by itself, it cannot replace the full heraldic composition required under Article 20 of the Constitution of Ukraine.
As a result, Ukraine de jure remains without a fully adopted and legally enacted State Coat of Arms. This means that one of the three official national symbols—the Coat of Arms, the Flag, and the Anthem—has not been formalized in compliance with constitutional standards.
Such a situation creates a legal vacuum that may be interpreted as a symbolic deficiency in state legitimacy or formal sovereignty at the level of constitutional heraldry and public representation.
