page_title: Pahonia
section_title: 19th Century
hierarchical_section_title: Pahonia / History / 19th Century
context_page_description: The Pahonia is the historical coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, one variation of which is the current coat of arms of Lithuania. It was also the official emblem of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918 and of the Republic of Belarus from 1991 to 1995.
  On May 14, 2007 the Pahonia was declared cultural heritage of Belarus.
context_section_description: Following the partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, most of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was absorbed by the Russian Empire and the Pahonia was incorporated into the imperial state emblem. After the first partition of Poland and Lithuania, Catherine the Great gave the Pahonia coat of arms to several towns in the newly acquired ethnic Belarusian and Latgallian territories, including Daugavpils, Ludza, Sebezh, Polacak, Nevel, Haradok, Viciebsk, Surazh, Velizh. The motive for this was that this territory once belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. 
  The Pahonia was the coat of arms of the Vilna Governorate following the incorporation of Vilnius and surrounding lands into the Russian Empire. Pahonia statues placed on white columns greeted visitors at the entrances to the city from 1818 until 1840, when the statues were replaced with two-headed eagles – the state symbol of the Russian Empire.
  Uprisings to restore the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth like the 1830–31 November Uprising and 1863–64 January Uprising saw the Pahonia used as a symbol of rebellion against the Russian Empire.
  During the 19th century Lithuanian National Revival, Simonas Daukantas introduced the term wytis in reference to the Pahonia for the first time in an historical work on Lithuanian culture called Budą Senowęs Lietuwiû kalneniu ir Żemaitiû (1846). The etymology of this particular name is not universally accepted; it is either a direct translation of the Polish Pogoń, a common noun constructed from the Lithuanian verb vyti ("to chase") or, less likely, a derivative from the East Slavic title of the knight, vytiaz'. The earliest known Lithuanian name for the symbol is a 17th-century translation of Pogonia by Konstantinas Sirvydas as Waikimas ("Vaikymas", according to contemporary Lithuanian spelling), which was used until the 19th century together with Pagaunia (in Lithuanian, "pagauti" means "to catch").
caption: The Pahonia as used in the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918