At the bottom of the escutcheon is a golden pall, whose three beams symbolise the unity of three East Slavic countries: Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine.

The wreath is entwined with ribbons belonging to two state decorations awarded to the oblast, dating from the Soviet era: the Order of Lenin and the Partisan of the Patriotic War Medal.

Likewise, the arms' crest is the Soviet hammer and sickle: outside of its usual proletarian symbolism, it represents the fact that the oblast in its current state was formed in the USSR.

The coat of arms of Bryansk Oblast did not pass the examination of the Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation.

Among the many reasons, it is said that the emblem "fancifully combines elements of imperial and socialist symbols", and the fact that the hammer and sickle, even if they are allowed to be used, are not in place (should not be in the crown), and that the use of the wreath frame contradicts the status of the Bryansk region as a full-fledged subject of the Russian Federation, and the fact that the coat of arms of Bryansk is illegally placed ("usurped") into the coat of arms of the region.