Lithuania has one of the oldest coats of arms in Europe. ‘Vytis’, the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania featuring a silver armoured knight on a red shield dates back to the 14th century. In medieval Lithuania, this symbol was used on the military flags of the Grand Duchy. Lithuania was annexed by Russia in the 18th century. The country regained its independence after World War One and Vytis was used as the Lithuanian coat of arms in the interwar period before the Soviet Union occupied the Baltic States in 1940.

When the Sajudis opposition movement began in 1988, one of its first demands was the restoration of national symbols prohibited by the Soviet authorities: the national flag, the anthem and the coat of arms. One of the communist government’s first concessions was to permit these symbols to be used in public. Demonstrations, protests and political meetings were organised in Lithuania almost daily at this time. Participants sang the national anthem and carried flags and images bearing the coats of arms. There was a great demand for such symbols and, while it was easy to sew a nation flag at home, not everybody could draw a knight. People therefore began sending letters to Sajudis asking it to publish posters of the coat of arms.

One of the most active members of the Sajudis Initiative Group, Arvydas Juozaitis, and photographer Zinas Kazenas set about producing such a poster. In inter-war Lithuania many versions of the state coat of arms had been used, but the one designed by artist Antanas Žmuidzinavicius was among the most popular. Zinas Kazenas found a copy of this design that had been hidden in someone’s house throughout the Soviet occupation. He photographed it and the publishing house Mintis issued it in a large edition.