Until the 16th century, Odessa was called Kotsyubiyiv, and until 1795 - Hadjibey, which from the Ottoman - the one who visited Mecca. At the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th centuries, the north-western Black Sea coast came under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which is connected with the name of the Polish nobleman Kochuba Yakushynsky. The exact date of the settlement is unknown, and the names differ at different times and in different sources, for example: Kochubiyiv, Kachubiyiv, Kachubiy, Kachibey, Hadzhibey, Hajibey, Ajibey , etc. The first written mention of the port of Kaczubyeiow (in portu] Kaczubyeiow) of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia, dates from 1415.
The name Odessa first appeared on January 10 (21), 1795. The name may be associated with the ancient Greek colony of Odessos (now it is established that the colony is on the site of Varna). At the end of the XVIII century it was fashionable to call cities by Greek names (for example, Olviopol, Sevastopol, Simferopol, Tiraspol, etc.). There is also another version that the name "Odessa" came from the Sanskrit Godesha (or Godesa).
The city has many "folk names". "Odessa-mama" is widespread, which is related to the criminal world. From time to time such comparisons, names and phrases are used as "Pearl of the Black Sea", "South Palmyra" (in comparison with Palmyra - a city of amazing beauty; "North Palmyra" - St. Petersburg), "Southern Capital", "Capital of Humor", etc.
Officially approved symbols of Odessa are the coat of arms, large coat of arms, flag and anthem, the description and procedure of which are determined by the regulations of the city council "On city symbols". The coat of arms of the city is a Spanish shield in red with an image in the middle of a white anchor with four paws. The shield, on a large coat of arms, is framed by a decorative gold cartouche and crowned with a silver city crown in the form of three towers. Under the tower is the image of the Golden Star of the hero city, faceted with gold and diamonds.
The flag consists of a rectangular banner divided into three vertical stripes - red, white and yellow. In the central, white, strip in the middle is the coat of arms of the city. The last change of the flag and coat of arms was approved on April 29, 2011. On August 25 of the same year, the "Charter of the Territorial Community of the City of Odessa" was approved. According to him, the official anthem of the city is "Song of Odessa" from Isaac Dunaevsky's operetta "White Acacia. A fragment of the melody is played by chimes on the city hall building on Primorsky Boulevard. In addition, as of June 5, 2012, the city has its own tourist logo.
