Ylakiai
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Historical data: The town of Ylakiai (Skuodas district) is located about 18 km. east of Skuodas. The name of the town is made up of the personal name “Ylakys”, “Ylakis” plural, characteristic of the Samogitians. This surname is mentioned in the documents at the end of the 16th century. From the early 19th century until 1950 Ylakiai was - center of the (small rural) district.Ylakiai was first mentioned in 1568 in the inventory list of Grūstė. It is believed that Ylakiai grew into a town in the middle of the 17th century, when the town of Bareikiai, founded by J. Chodkevičius died. The growth of the town was also influenced by the change of its dependence. The Sapiega property was confiscated for their participation in the 1814 year uprising and was received by the tsarist administration. Since then, Ylakiai has been called an "official town". In 1874, a fire occurred in Ylakiai, where the synagogue and 41 residential houses were burnt down. 1917 Ylakiai was burned again - only one third of the homes remained.
After Lithuania regained its independence, the town gradually recovered.
Ylakiai never had a historical coat of arms. When discussing the ideas of a new coat of arms in the commission, together with the representatives of the local eldership, it was decided to depict the first letter of the town - the capital letter Y, which is also a heraldic figure, called forks. Ylakiai is the only Lithuanian town having the name with this initial letter.
Green shield colour in heraldry means freedom, beauty, joy, hope and health.
The golden colour symbolizes nobility, morality, and mind.
The artist Arvydas Každailis prepared the sketchof Ylakiai coat of arms. It was approved by the Heraldry Commission on 4 of April, 2002.
Description of the coat of arms. In the green field of the herbic shield a golden heraldic figure - forks (an allusion to the letter Y) is portrayed.
