"Hraparak": Colorful cloths instead of a flag. Mekhakyan was afraid that Pashinyan would not like the flag

The “Hraparak” newspaper writes: “On the occasion of the Etchmiadzin holiday, the acting mayor of Vagharshapat, Argishti Mekhakyan, decorated the entrance to the city and the central street with flag-colored pieces. Mekhakyan, perhaps, refrained from presenting the Etchmiadzin flag in its full form and content, fearing that Nikol Pashinyan would not like it.

And on the flag is the coat of arms of Etchmiadzin, with its more than 2,000-year history, the path it has taken, and Christian symbols. The author of the coat of arms, of happy memory, based his creation on the spiritual and historical events of the city where the throne is located.

The fortress wall is presented as a symbol of the Armenian nation's devotion to the Christian faith and its refusal to submit to foreign religious impositions, and the crosses are symbols of Christianity. In the center of the coat of arms is the letter "E" expressing the meaning of "Etchmiadzin", "Essence", surrounded by four cherubs, angels.

The only thing that the community leadership has kept from the flag are the purple and yellow, with which they have tried to create an impression that they respect the history and residents of the spiritual city. The flag of Etchmiadzin was first flown over the city in 2007, and since then, almost every year on state holidays and the anniversary of Etchmiadzin, the flag of Etchmiadzin has also been flown in the central districts of the city, side by side with the flags of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh.

The ancient city has never celebrated its anniversary so gloomily and meagerly as it does today. The feast of Etchmiadzin is celebrated today, October 8.