Senator Calls to Review Uzbekistan State Emblem Design

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan and Senator Kudratilla Rafikov has proposed revising the country’s state coat of arms, stating the need to remove symbols of cotton and wheat, which he described as reflecting Soviet ideological heritage.

He outlined his position in an article published in the newspaper “Ishonch,” which is dedicated to the history of Samarkand, socio-political changes, and the development of Uzbekistan over recent decades.

According to Rafikov, even after independence, part of society remained under the influence of previous ideological frameworks, and elements of the Soviet period were preserved in state symbolism.

In the publication, he questions the role of agricultural crops in shaping national identity, stating: “Should these agricultural crops define our social and spiritual identity?”

The author also writes that in the early years of independence the country sought to avoid abrupt changes and preserved elements of the former system, which, in his assessment, influenced the formation of state symbolism.

The article claims that Uzbekistan was long perceived primarily as an agrarian country, and agriculture was considered part of an ideological model inherited from the Soviet period.

Rafikov also notes that society has gone through stages of transformation from “Soviet Uzbekistan” and “post-communist Uzbekistan” to the concept of “New Uzbekistan.”