Tokmak - An Interesting Town to Visit
No time spent traveling the Zaporizhzhya Oblast in Ukraine will be wasted. For anyone with an interest in Ukrainian history and culture, the Zaporizhzhya region 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 Cossack establishment 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. It is quite easy to get the three cities confused since their names are spelt exactly the same. However, one should remember that all three are very different from each other.
Tokmak in Ukraine is quite a large town by Ukrainian standards. Situated in the southern parts of central Ukraine, the city serves as the administrative center of what is commonly known as the Tokmatskyi Raion (district). If you are looking for Tokmak on a map, you will find it by looking up the geographical coordinates of 47°15'5"N, 35°42'21"E. The town has roughly 46 000 inhabitants and today is often viewed as being a bustling metropolis. If you have the time to walk the streets of Tokmak and make your way to the city hall, you my find yourself staring at the city’s coat of arms. The city's current coat of arms and flag was only adopted recently in 2003. Nevertheless, it is quite interesting to look at. It takes the form of a round-ended shield which is divided up into three sections which come together just above the center of the shield. The largest section is at the bottom and it 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’ which is most likely the founding date of the city.
The city’s flag 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. If the coat of arms is anything to go by, the town of Tokmak most probably has an interesting history just waiting to be discovered. However, the only way you will probably ever discover it is to visit Tokmak for yourself.