OCTOBER 11, 2025 — Lithuania has introduced two newly designed flags for Bezdonys and Kurtuvėnai, along with their official coats of arms and seals.
In Bezdonys, the new flag prominently features lilac blooms, a visual element never before used in Lithuanian heraldry, according to a Facebook post by the Lithuanian Heraldry Commission. These flowers reference a local legend of tragic love between a young nobleman and a village maiden. Lilac shrubs were later planted in the maiden’s memory, and “bez,” a local term for lilac, became intertwined with the village’s name. The flag’s design also carries the meaning of the settlement’s name from the Slavic word for the deep, “bottomless” Bezdonė River.
Quarters on the coat of arms show the lilac blooms and their reflection, with azure signifying divine wisdom, loyalty, and the town’s Jesuit heritage, while argent represents the flowing river, purity, and prosperity. A distinctive embattled line evokes the Bezdonys Manor, tying place and story to the flag’s identity.
Kurtuvėnai’s new flag draws from its position at a historic crossroads, symbolized in its coat of arms by two intersecting routes. The imagery includes a church key, representing the 18th-century St. James’ Church, and a barn key recalling the storied manor and its influential owners, the Nagurskis. The barn key is adorned with an arrowhead motif taken from the coat of arms of Jokūbas Nagurskis, linking the present to the manor’s history. An unusual feature in Lithuanian civic heraldry, the inescutcheon appears prominently.
Both flags are the work of Lithuanian heraldic artists, Jonas Kutka and Dalia Jonkutė-Vileitienė for Bezdonys, and Rolandas Rimkūnas for Kurtuvėnai.
Image: Lithuanian Heraldry Commission via Facebook
