During the reign of Emperor Alexander II in 1855-1857. a serious heraldic reform was carried out in Russia. By his order, the Heraldry Department of the Senate was established specifically to work on the coats of arms in the Heraldry Department of the Senate, which was headed by Baron Boris Kene. He developed a whole system of Russian state emblems - Big, Medium and Small. Kene in his work was guided by the generally recognized norms of European monarchical heraldry. The state emblem was brought in line with international heraldry rules. Also, the drawing of the eagle and St. George was slightly changed.
On April 11, 1857, Tsar Alexander II approved a modified coat of arms of the Russian state - a two-headed eagle. Under Alexander Nikolaevich, the entire set of state emblems was approved - Big, Medium and Small, which were supposed to symbolize the unity and power of the Russian Empire. These symbols, without any significant changes, existed until 1917. It should be noted that the coat of arms of the Russian state was modified under many rulers, some changes were made to it under Ivan Vasilievich, Mikhail Fedorovich, Peter I, Paul I Petrovich, Alexander I, Nicholas I and Alexander III.
Small State Emblem, 1857.
Double-headed eagle - the legacy of ancestors
The coat of arms and color of a nation must always and invariably remain intact, as they carry symbolic and historical significance. It must be remembered that state symbols (a figurative expression of statehood, nation, its ideology) occupy an extremely important place in the life of the people, although this is usually imperceptible in everyday life.
One of the historical emblems of Russia-Russia is the double-headed eagle. In its antiquity and depth of meaning, it is inferior only to the rider slaying the dragon-serpent, who in a later, already Christian understanding, is known as St. George the Victorious. The rider symbolizes the thunderer (Perun, Indra, Torah, etc.), who hits the snake (universal evil), this is one of the most important myths of the Indo-European language family.
The two-headed eagle (bird) has been noted in a wide variety of cultures. In particular, in Sumerian and Indian mythologies. But it predominates in Indo-European cultures. I must say that the multi-headedness of various animals, mythical creatures is one of the features of Slavic mythology.
The double-headed eagle is especially common in ancient times in Asia Minor and on the Balkan Peninsula. In Asia Minor, it has been found since the time of the powerful state of the 2nd millennium BC. NS. - Hittite kingdom. Its founders were Indo-Europeans, whose ancestral home was supposedly the Balkan Peninsula. The Hittite Empire successfully competed with Egypt. The Hittites were among the first to master the secret smelting of iron, to control the whole of Asia Minor and the straits from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. The Hittite emblem was a two-headed eagle, which has survived not only on standards, stone bas-reliefs, but also on seals.
The symbol of the Hittite kingdom is a two-headed eagle. Reconstruction from reliefs from Hattusa.
Russian heraldists noted that the image of a two-headed eagle was known in ancient Pteria (a city in Media). It belonged to the period at the turn of the 7th-6th centuries. BC NS. According to Xenophon's testimony, the eagle served as a symbol of supreme power among the Persians at about the same time. The double-headed eagle symbol was used by the Persian shahs of the Sassanid dynasty. In ancient times, the eagle and lion were considered a symbol of royalty. In ancient Rome, Roman generals had images of an eagle on their wands, it was a symbol of supremacy over the troops. Later, the eagle became an exclusively imperial sign, symbolizing the supreme power. Western heraldists of the 17th century told the legend how the two-headed eagle became the state emblem of Rome. At the entrance of Julius Caesar to Rome, an eagle hovered over him in the air, which attacked two kites, killed them and threw them at the feet of the great commander. Surprised Julius considered this a sign that predicts his victory and ordered to perpetuate him by adding a second head to the Roman eagle.
However, most likely, the appearance of the second head should be attributed to a later time, when the empire was divided into two parts - eastern and western. The eagle's body was one, which meant common interests and origins, but with two heads facing west and east. Such an eagle was adopted as the emblem of the empire by Constantine the Great (c. 272 - 337), or under other sources, by Justinian I (483 - 565). Apparently, much later the same symbolic meaning was attached to the two-headed eagle of Austria-Hungary.
But the double-headed eagle was not the official symbol of the Byzantine Empire, as many believe. It was the emblem of the Palaeologus dynasty, which ruled from 1261 to 1453, and not the entire Byzantine state. After the start of the Crusades, the double-headed eagle appears in Western European heraldry. So, it is marked on the coins of Ludwig of Bavaria and the coats of arms of the burgraves of Würzburg and the counts of Savoy. The German king and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (1122 - 1190) was the first to use a black two-headed eagle in his coat of arms. Frederick saw this symbol in Byzantium. Until 1180, the two-headed eagle was not marked on state seals, coins and regalia, as well as on the personal belongings of the emperor. Earlier, the single-headed eagle was the symbol of the German rulers, but starting with the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, both symbols began to be depicted on the coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire. Only from the 15th century, the double-headed eagle became the state emblem of the Holy Roman Empire. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the double-headed eagle was the coat of arms of Austria-Hungary. In addition, in Serbia, the double-headed eagle became the coat of arms of the Nemanich family. This was the ruling dynasty in the 12-14th centuries.
Palaeologus emblem.
In Russia, the two-headed eagle was noted in the 13th century in the Chernigov principality, and in the 15th century in the Tver and Moscow principalities. The double-headed eagle also had some circulation in the Golden Horde. Some researchers even claim that the double-headed eagle was the state emblem of the Horde. But most historians do not support this version.
The seal of Ivan III Vasilyevich, which came from Vasily II Vasilyevich, depicted a lion who was tormenting a snake (the lion was a symbol of the Vladimir principality). At the end of the 15th century, two new symbols appeared: the rider (rider), which was used even in the Old Russian state, and the two-headed eagle. The formal reason for using this symbol was the fact that the wife of Ivan III was Sophia Palaeologus, for whom the eagle was a generic sign. The Palaeologus emblem was a black silhouette woven in black silk on a gold field. It was devoid of plasticity and internal design, being in fact a flat ornamental emblem.
According to another version, the two-headed eagle was known in Russia even before the arrival of the Byzantine princess. For example, Ulrich von Richsenthal's Chronicle of the Cathedral of Constance from 1416 contains the emblem of Russia with the image of a two-headed eagle. The double-headed eagle was not a symbol of the Byzantine Empire and the great Russian princes adopted it to emphasize their equality with Western European monarchs, to be equal to the German emperor.
Tsar Ivan III took the appearance of this emblem in the Russian kingdom very seriously. For the contemporaries of the Grand Duke, the kinship of the Byzantine imperial dynasty with the house of Rurik was an act of great importance. In fact, Russia disputed the rights of the strongest state in Western Europe - the Holy Roman Empire for this symbol. The Moscow grand dukes began to rely on the successors of the Roman and Byzantine emperors. From the first half of the 16th century, Elder Philotheus will formulate the concept "Moscow - the third Rome". Ivan III the Great adopted this coat of arms not only as a dynastic sign of his wife, but as a heraldic symbol of the Russian state in the future. The first reliable use of the two-headed eagle as a state symbol of the emblem dates back to 1497, when the grand duke's charter on the land holdings of specific princes was sealed with a seal on red wax. The obverse and reverse sides of the seal bore images of a two-headed eagle and a rider slaying a snake. At the same time, images of a gilded double-headed eagle on a red field appeared on the walls of the Faceted Chamber in the Kremlin.
Seal of Ivan III, 1497.
The Byzantine eagle acquired new features on Russian soil, “Russified”. In Russia, a previously simplified, lifeless graphic silhouette is filled with flesh, comes to life, ready to fly. This is a powerful, formidable bird. The eagle's chest is covered by the most ancient, primordial Russian symbol - the Heavenly Warrior, the Conqueror of evil. The eagle was depicted in gold on a red field.
During the reign of Ivan IV, the two-headed eagle finally became the emblem of Russia. First, the coat of arms of the Russian kingdom was supplemented by a unicorn, and then by a rider-snake-fighter. Before the reign of Mikhail Romanov, there were two crowns over the heads of the eagle. Between them, a Russian eight-pointed cross was depicted - a symbol of Orthodoxy. Only in the big seal of Boris Godunov, the eagle first appears three crowns, they denoted the Kazan, Astrakhan and Siberian kingdoms. Finally, the third crown appeared in 1625, it was introduced instead of the cross. Three crowns from that time meant the Holy Trinity, at a later time, from the end of the 19th century, they began to be considered a symbol of the trinity of the Eastern Slavs - Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians. Since the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, the Russian eagle almost always holds a scepter and orb in its hands.
From the 15th to the middle of the 17th century, the Russian eagle was always depicted with lowered wings, which was determined by the eastern heraldic tradition. Only on some seals of False Dmitry, apparently under Western influence, the wings of the eagle are raised. In addition, on one of the seals of False Dmitry I, the rider-serpent fighter was turned to the right according to the Western European heraldic tradition.
Coat of arms with the seal of Alexei Mikhailovich (1667).
During the reign of Tsar Peter Alekseevich, with the approval of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, the Moscow coat of arms is almost always surrounded by the chain of the order. The two-headed eagle itself. Under the influence of Western traditions, it turns black. The horseman was officially called Saint George in 1727. Under Empress Anna Ioannovna, a specially invited engraver IK Gedlinger prepared the State Seal by 1740, which, with minor changes, will last until 1856.
Emperor Pavel Petrovich, who became the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, in 1799 will introduce into the Russian coat of arms the Maltese cross on his chest, on which the Moscow coat of arms will be placed. Under him, an attempt will be made to develop and introduce the full coat of arms of the Russian Empire. By 1800, a complex coat of arms will be prepared, on which there will be 43 coats of arms. But before the death of Paul, this coat of arms will not have time to be adopted.
Coat of arms approved by Paul I (1799-1801).
It must be said that before the reign of Alexander III, the prescription of the Russian two-headed eagle had never been precisely established by law. Therefore, the form, details, attributes and character changed in different reigns quite easily and often significantly. So on coins of the 18th century, apparently under the influence of Peter's antipathy to Moscow, the eagle was depicted without the coat of arms of the old capital. The scepter and orb were sometimes replaced by a laurel branch, sword, and other emblems. By the end of the reign of Alexander I, the eagle was given not a heraldic, but a completely arbitrary form, which was borrowed in France. It was first placed on silverware made in France for the imperial house. This two-headed eagle had wide spread wings and held in its paws thunder arrows intertwined with ribbons, a rod and a torch (in the right), a laurel crown (in the left). The dynastic St. Andrew's chain disappeared, a heart-shaped shield with the Moscow emblem appeared on the eagle's chest.
Under Nicholas I, there were two types of coat of arms. The simplified coat of arms had only basic elements. On the second, the title coats of arms appeared on the wings: Kazan, Astrakhan, Siberian (on the right), Polish, Tauride and Finland (on the left). The coat of arms itself is extremely monumental, harmoniously included in the new architectural style, known as the "Nikolaev Empire". The wings are as if spread over Russia, as if protecting it. The heads are formidable and powerful.
Under Tsar Alexander II, a heraldic reform was carried out, its main author was Baron Köhne. A crown appears over the Moscow coat of arms, with St. George is depicted as a medieval knight in silver armor. The eagle's shape is emphatically heraldic. On the small state emblem also appeared shields with the emblems of the territories within the Russian state. On April 11, 1857, a whole set of coats of arms was adopted - Big, Medium and Small state coats of arms and others, only one hundred and ten drawings.
In 1892, during the reign of Alexander III, an accurate description of the state emblem appeared in the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire. The St. Andrew's chain will return to the eagle's chest. Black feathers will be thickly strewn across the chest, necks and wide-spread wings. The paws carry the scepter and orb. The beaks of the eagles are menacingly opened and their tongues are extended. The stern gaze of the fiery eyes is directed to the east and west. The sight of the eagle was solemn, imposing and formidable. Coats of arms were placed on the wings. On the right: the Kazan, Polish, Chersonesos of the Tauride kingdoms, the combined coat of arms of the Kiev, Vladimir and Novgorod principalities. On the left wing: the Astrakhan, Siberian, Georgian kingdoms, the Grand Duchy of Finland.
As a national symbol of the Russian people and Russian statehood, the two-headed eagle passed through three dynasties of Russian autocrats - the Rurikovichs, Godunovs and Romanovs, without losing the value of the supreme state emblem. The two-headed eagle has also survived during the period of the Provisional Government, when the swastika, a sign of the sun and a symbol of eternity, competed with it. In 1993, the two-headed eagle returned to the coat of arms of the Russian state. Nowadays, the double-headed eagle is a symbol of the eternity of the Russian statehood, its continuity with the great empires of antiquity. The two heads of the eagle remind of the historical necessity for Russia-Russia to defend the borders in the West and East. Three crowns over their heads, fastened with a single ribbon, symbolize the unity of the three parts of Russia (Russian civilization) - Great Russia, Little Russia and White Russia. The scepter and orb signify the inviolability of the state foundations of our Motherland. The eagle's chest, protected by a shield with the image of a rider-snake-fighter, indicates the historical mission of the Russian people on Earth - the fight against evil in all its manifestations. Departure from this program leads to confusion and collapse of the Russian statehood. Russia-Russia is the defender of Truth on Earth.
The modern coat of arms of Russia.
