Bulava

Bulava. A type of mace 50–80 cm in length consisting of a handle and head in the shape of a sphere or octahedron. The bulava was known among Eastern peoples and came into widespread use in Ukraine in the 13th century, first as a weapon and then as a symbol of authority. In the 16th–18th century Cossack officers bestowed the bulava on the elected hetman. The Russian tsar also endowed hetmans with the bulava. A smaller type of bulava, known as pernach or shestoper, was carried by Cossack colonels.