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Ashkelon (Israel)

Iriyat Ashkelon, Municipality of Ashkelon

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image by Dov Gutterman
Coat-of-arms adopted 16th April 1959

♦ photo

(source)

Description
Variants
Coat of Arms

See also:

Description

The municipality of Ashkelon is situated in the southern shore plain about 55 km south of Tel Aviv. It is a very old city known from the biblical era, first mentioned in ancient Egyptian scrolls dating from 1900 BC. Ashkelon is also mentioned in the famous David's grief on Jonathan. It was re-established in 1948 and has 98'000 inh. (July 1997).
The city has an official emblem and and unofficial flag, the emblem on an orange field.
Source: letter from Mrs. D. Tzuriel, Events and Tourism Department, Municipality of Ashkelon.
Dov Gutterman, 15 August 2001

The municipal emblem was published in the official gazette (Rashumot), YP 663, 16 April 1959.
Dov Gutterman, 4 September 2001

Ashkelon, as many other municipalities in Israel, doesn't use a specific color for its flag, but uses many backgrounds to its emblems. In a photo at www.ashkelon.muni.il [retrieved], one can see flags in white, orange, yellow, blue and purple.
The official website [2005 version not archived; newer version see below] also gives an explanation to the emblem: "The emblem of the City of Ashkelon express the vision of its founders: The new city which combines tourism and industry and looks forward to the future. In the emblem there are five stars which are the five neighborhoods of the city; a marble column with capitol – symbol to Ashkelon antiquity; a cogwheel – the industrial plants in the city; see waves are its magnificent beaches and the film represents the plan of Ashkelon as Israel's movie city [plan that was never realized, D.G]. All of that on the background of Ashkelon's sea blue and sky light blue, finds its expression in the city emblem."
Dov Gutterman, 8 April 2005

♦ History of Ashkelon (ashkelon.muni.il, Hebrew [retrieved] | English translation)

Variants

image by Dov Gutterman

♦ photo ^source

Coat of Arms

1951–2021

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♦ photo (2011) ^source
♦ photo (2017)

From the municipal website (in Hebrew):

The coat of arms of Ashkelon embodies the vision of its founders – a new city that combines tourism and industry and looks to the future.
The coat of arms was designed by Ashkelon-based artists Mordechai Krubitsky and Shmuel Tepler, new immigrants and art teachers who lived in Migdal. The coat of arms was approved in 1951.
Elements of the coat of arms:
Five stars – symbolising the city's five neighbourhoods
A marble column with a capital – symbolising Ashkelon's antiquities
A cogwheel – representing the city's industrial enterprises
Waves – representing its spectacular beaches
The film reel – symbolising Ashkelon's designation as Israel's "City of Film".
All these elements, set against the backdrop of Ashkelon's clear blue sea and sky, are reflected in the city's coat of arms.
(Translated with DeepL.com)

Since 2021

(source)

From Hebrew Wikipedia:

In 2021, as part of the city's rebranding process, a new emblem was designed which, alongside the old emblem, featured colourful geometric shapes flowing like ocean waves. The shapes were designed to resemble computer pixels and create silhouettes symbolising the city's development. The colour scheme, together with the wave-like shapes, expresses the human and multicultural mosaic of the developing city and symbolises a promising, youthful and diverse future.
(Translated with DeepL.com)