Coat of arms of the Komi Republic (Russian: ; gerb Respubliki Komi; Komi: ; Komi respublikalön kanpas), SHRRF #153), designed by A. Neverov, was instituted by the law ? XII-20/1 on June 6, 1994 and reflects the mythic beliefs of the Komi peoples. The blazon has a gules field, featuring an or bird of prey with the face below corresponding with goddess Zarni An, and six unhorned elk heads. On December 17, 1997 the Republican State Council passed the law, which changed the official coat of arms definition in order to agree with the rules of heraldry. A bird of prey in the traditional interpretation embodies the sun, authority and the upper world, while elk is associated with power, generosity and beauty. The combination of gules and or symbolizes sun, maternity and birth in the Komi folklore.-----------------------A northernmost portion of European Russia, Komi was an unspoiled land throughout most of history, dwelt in only by nomadic native peoples. The territory of the republic was most intensely settled in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. The Komi-Zyryan Autonomous Oblast was established on August 22, 1929, and on December 5 of the same year it was reorganized into an Komi-Zyryan ASSR. Many of the "settlers" who came in the early 20th century were prisoners of the Gulag who were sent by the hundreds of thousands to perform forced labor in the Arctic regions of the USSR. Towns sprang up around labor-camp sites, which were initially carved out of the untouched tundra and taiga by gangs of prisoners. The Komi Republic in its modern form was established on May 26, 1992.