The state coat of arms of Ukraine, officially referred to as the Sign of the Princely State of Volodymyr the Great[1] (Constitution of Ukraine, Article 20) or commonly the Tryzub (Ukrainian: Тризуб, "trident"), is the national coat of arms of Ukraine, featuring the same colors found on the Ukrainian flag; a blue shield with a gold trident. It appears on the Presidential Standard of Ukraine. Blue-coloured tridents are considered to be irregular representation by the Ukrainian Heraldry Society.
The small coat of arms was officially adopted on 19 February 1992, while constitutional provisions exist for establishing the great coat of arms, which is not yet officially adopted. The small coat of arms was designed by Andriy Grechylo, Olexiy Kokhan and Ivan Turetskyi. It is a representation of the seal-trident of Volodymyr the Great. The Great coat of arms which has not been adopted consists of the small coat of arms and the coat of arms of Zaporizhian Host (Constitution of Ukraine, Article 20).
The trident was not thought of as a national symbol until 1917, when one of the most prominent Ukrainian historians, Mykhailo Hrushevsky, proposed to adopt it as a national symbol (alongside other variants, including an arbalest, a bow or a cossack carrying a musket, i.e. images that carried considerable historical and cultural and heraldic significance for Ukraine). On 25 February 1918, the Central Rada (parliament) adopted it as the coat of arms of the short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic.
During the Soviet period of 1919–1991 and independence between 1991–1992 the state symbols were consistent with the Russian SFSR and the Soviet Union – a hammer and sickle over the rising sun.