On the picture: The blazon of the Bulgarian Exarchate.

The Bulgarian Exarchate (Bulgarian: Българска екзархия - Bâlgarska ekzarkhia) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953.

The Exarchate (a de facto autocephaly) was unilaterally (without the blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarch) promulgated in May 1872, in the Bulgarian church in Constantinople in pursuance of the 1870 decree of Sultan Abdülaziz.

The foundation of the Exarchate was the direct result of the struggle of the Bulgarian Orthodox against the domination of the Greek Patriarchate of Constantinople in the 1850s and 1860s. In 1872, the Patriarchate accused the Exarchate that it introduced ethno-national characteristics in the religious organization of the Orthodox Church, and the secession from the Patriarchate was officially condemned by the Council in Constantinople in September 1872 as schismatic. Nevertheless, Bulgarian religious leaders continued to extend the borders of the Exarchate in the Ottoman Empire by conducting plebiscites in areas contested by both Churches.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Source: Wikipedia.