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The history of the Russian coat of arms is brief. Brief history of the coat of arms of Russia

Acceptance date: 30.11.1993, 25.12.2000

In a scarlet field there is a golden double-headed eagle, crowned with two golden imperial crowns and above them the same imperial crown with infulas, holding a golden scepter in his right paw, a golden orb in his left, having a shield on his chest, in the scarlet field of which a facing riding silver rider in azure cloak, striking with a silver spear a turned, overturned and trampled by a horse black dragon.

Official description in constitutional law:
The state emblem of the Russian Federation is a quadrangular red heraldic shield with rounded lower corners, pointed at the tip, with a golden double-headed eagle raising its spreading wings upward. The eagle is crowned with two small crowns and - above them - one large crown, connected by a ribbon. In the eagle's right paw is a scepter, in the left is an orb. On the eagle’s chest, in a red shield, is a silver rider in a blue cloak on a silver horse, striking with a silver spear a black dragon, overturned on its back and trampled by its horse.

Reproduction of the State Emblem of the Russian Federation is allowed without a heraldic shield (in the form of the main figure - a double-headed eagle with all attributes).

Since 2000, the saddle under the rider is usually depicted in red, although this is not specified in the description (but exactly this image is given in Appendix 1 to the Federal Constitutional Law “On the State Emblem of the Russian Federation”). Before this, the saddle was usually depicted in white.

Approved Decree of the President of the Russian Federation (#2050) “On the State Emblem of the Russian Federation” dated November 30, 1993; Federal Constitutional Law (#2-FKZ) “On the State Emblem of the Russian Federation”, adopted on December 8, 2000 by resolution (#899-III) of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, approved on December 20, 2000 by the Federation Council and signed by the President of the Russian Federation on December 25, 2000 year.

Rationale for symbolism:
The coat of arms of the Russian Federation is based on the historical coat of arms of the Russian Empire. The golden double-headed eagle on a red field preserves historical continuity in the colors of the coats of arms of the late 15th - 17th centuries. The eagle design goes back to images on monuments from the era of Peter the Great. Above the heads of the eagle are three historical crowns of Peter the Great, symbolizing in the new conditions the sovereignty of both the entire Russian Federation and its parts, the subjects of the Federation; in the paws there is a scepter and an orb, personifying state power and a unified state; on the chest is an image of a horseman slaying a dragon with a spear. This is one of the ancient symbols of the struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, and the defense of the Fatherland. The restoration of the double-headed eagle as the State Emblem of Russia personifies the continuity and continuity of Russian history. Today's coat of arms of Russia is a new coat of arms, but its components are deeply traditional; it reflects different stages of Russian history and continues them on the eve of the third millennium.

Coats of arms appeared in Russia a long time ago, but these were only drawings that did not obey heraldic rules. Due to the lack of knighthood in Rus', coats of arms were not very common. At its very beginning (until the 16th century), Russia was a disunited state, so there could be no talk of a state emblem of Russia. However, despite the fact that the 16th century is considered the final date for the unification of Rus', the state emblem in Russia appears already under Ivan III (1462-1505). It is he who is credited with the establishment of the state emblem, as such. At that time, his seal acted as a coat of arms. On its front side there is a picture of a horseman piercing a serpent with a spear, on the back side there is a double-headed eagle.

The origins of the double-headed eagle go back a long way. The first images of him known to us date back to the 13th century BC. This is a rock carving of a double-headed eagle grabbing two birds with one stone. It served as the coat of arms of the Hittite kings.

Then the double-headed eagle is discovered in the Median kingdom - an ancient power spread over the territory of Western Asia - during the reign of the Median king Cyaxares (625-585 BC). Centuries passed. And now we already see the double-headed eagle on the emblems of Rome. Here he appeared under Constantine the Great. In 326, he chose the double-headed eagle as his emblem. After the founding of the new capital - Constantinople - in 330, the double-headed eagle became the state emblem of the Roman Empire. In Rus', the double-headed eagle appeared after the marriage of John III Vasilyevich and Sophia Paleologus, the niece of the last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XII Paleologus. The history of relations between Rus' and Byzantium is very deep and interesting and is a topic for a separate work. However, let us briefly address this issue. The first historical mentions of relations between Russia and Byzantium date back to 957 - the year when Princess Olga traveled to Constantinople and converted to Christianity. But then relations with Byzantium in Rus' deteriorated. So in 969-972 a war broke out between them for Bulgaria, which was conquered by Svyatoslav.

Later, in 988, Vladimir the Holy baptized Rus'.

“The adoption of Christianity from Byzantium by Russia widely opened the door to the influence of Byzantine culture, Byzantine ideas and institutions. This influence had a significant impact in the political sphere. Together with Christianity, a stream of new political concepts and relations began to penetrate into Rus'. The visiting clergy transferred the Byzantine concept of a sovereign appointed by God not only for the external defense of the country, but also for the establishment and maintenance of internal social order...”

However, there is no further historical evidence of relations between Rus' and Byzantium until 1469, when Pope Paul II proposed the daughter of Thomas Palaiologos Sophia as a wife to the Russian sovereign John III Vasilvich, whose wedding took place in 1472. This marriage did not lead Moscow to a religious union with Rome, but had important consequences for the rise of monarchical power in Moscow. As the husband of the last Byzantine princess, the Grand Duke of Moscow becomes, as it were, the successor of the Byzantine emperor, who was considered the head of the entire Orthodox East. At the request and on the advice of Sofia, a magnificent, complex and strict ceremony began to take place in the Moscow Kremlin at the court of the Grand Duke, following the models of the Byzantine court. From the end of the 15th century, the previously dominant simplicity of relations and direct treatment of the sovereign with his subjects gradually ceased, and he rose above them to an unattainable height. Instead of the former simple and “household” title “Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich,” Ivan III takes on the magnificent title: “John, by the grace of God, Sovereign of All Rus' and Grand Duke of Vladimir and Moscow and Novgorod and Pskov and Tver and Ugra and Perm and Bulgaria and others.”

In relations with small neighboring lands, the title of Tsar of All Rus' appears. Another title adopted by the Muscovite sovereigns, “autocrat” is a translation of the Byzantine imperial title autocrator; This title originally meant an independent sovereign, not subordinate to any external authority, but Ivan the Terrible gave it the meaning of the absolute, unlimited power of the monarch over his subjects. Since the end of the 15th century, the Byzantine coat of arms - a double-headed eagle (which is combined with the former Moscow coat of arms - the image of St. George the Victorious) appears on the seals of the Moscow sovereign. This is how Rus' designated its continuity from Byzantium, which is the first reflection of its development on the coat of arms...

The formation of the Russian coat of arms from Ivan III to Peter I

Already at the very beginning of the development of the Russian coat of arms, we see its intertwining with the history of Rus'. An interesting fact is that the eagle on the seals of John III was depicted with a closed beak and looked more like an eaglet than an eagle. If you look at Russia of that period, you can see that it is a young state that is just beginning to take shape as a centralized one. The first reliable evidence of the use of the double-headed eagle as a state emblem is the seal of John III Vasilyevich on the exchange document of 1497 with his nephews, princes Fyodor and Ivan Borisovich Volotsky.

During the reign of Vasily III Ioannovich (1505-1533), the double-headed eagle is depicted with open beaks, from which tongues protrude. This, for example, is evidenced by the seal attached in 1523 to the record of the sovereign and Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich when he departed with the army for Kazan. In short, if we approach it from a purely artistic point of view, we can say that the eagle is starting to get angry. At the same time, having examined Russia at that time, we note that it was strengthening its position and becoming a new center of Orthodoxy. This fact was embodied in the theory of the monk Philotheus “Moscow - the Third Rome”, known from the monk’s letter to Vasily III.

During the reign of John IV Vasilievich (1533-1584), Rus' won decisive victories over the Kazan and Astrakhan kingdoms and annexed Siberia. The growth of the power of the Russian state was also reflected in its coat of arms. The double-headed eagle on the state seal is topped with a single crown with an eight-pointed Orthodox cross above it. On the obverse of the seal on the chest of the eagle there is a shield of a carved, or “Germanic” shape, with a unicorn - the personal sign of the king. The fact is that all the symbols used in the personal symbolism of John IV are taken from the Psalter, which indicates the rooting of Christianity in Rus'. On the reverse side of the seal on the eagle's chest is a shield with the image of St. George beating a serpent. Subsequently, this side of the seal will play an important role in the formation of the Russian coat of arms. The image of the Moscow coat of arms on the chest of an eagle becomes traditional. However, in accordance with the ancient Russian icon-painting tradition, St. George is facing the right side of the viewer, which contradicts the heraldic rules.

On February 21, 1613, the Zemsky Sobor elected Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the throne. This put an end to the Troubles, which, in the period between the death of Ivan the Terrible and the accession to the throne of Mikhail Romanov, undermined the spirit of the Russian people and almost eradicated Russian statehood. Russia was on the path to prosperity and greatness. During this period, the eagle on the coat of arms “started up” and spread its wings for the first time, which could mean the “awakening” of Russia after a long sleep, and the beginning of a new era in the history of the state. By this period, Russia had completely completed its unification and had already managed to become a single and fairly strong state. And this fact is symbolically reflected in the state emblem. Above the eagle, instead of an eight-pointed cross, a third crown appeared, which meant the Holy Trinity, but was interpreted by many as a symbol of the unity of Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians.

Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov (1645-1676) managed to end the Russian-Polish conflict by establishing the Truce of Andrusovo with Poland (1667), under which Russia was able to “show itself” to all of Europe. The Russian state occupies a fairly significant place next to European states. During the reign of Alexei Romanov, the appearance of a new image of the coat of arms was also noted. This is due to the fact that, at the request of the tsar, the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I sent his king of arms Lavrentiy Khurelevich to Moscow, who in 1673 wrote an essay “On the genealogy of Russian great princes and sovereigns, showing the kinship between Russia and Russia through marriages.” eight European powers, that is, Caesar of Rome, the kings of England, Denmark, Spain, Poland, Portugal and Sweden, and with the image of these royal coats of arms, and in the middle of them the Grand Duke St. Vladimir, at the end of the portrait of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.”

It was the starting point for the development of Russian heraldry. The state eagle of Alexei Mikhailovich was the prototype of subsequent official images of the Russian armorial eagle. The eagle’s wings are raised high and fully open, which symbolized the complete establishment of Russia as a solid and powerful state; Its heads are crowned with three royal crowns, a shield with the Moscow coat of arms is placed on its chest, and a scepter and orb in its paws. An interesting fact is that before the attributes of monarchical power appeared in the eagle’s paws, the eagle’s claws, starting from the eagle on the marble slab of the Xiropotamian monastery in Athos (Byzantium, 451-453), gradually unclenched, as if in the hope of grabbing something, until they took orb and scepter, thereby symbolizing the establishment of an absolute monarchy in Rus'.

In 1667, with the help of Lavrentiy Khurelevich, an official explanation of the Russian coat of arms was given for the first time: “The double-headed eagle is the sovereign coat of arms of the Great Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of All Great and Lesser and White Russia, the autocrat, His Royal Majesty of the Russian Empire, on which three crowns are depicted , signifying the three great Kazan, Astrakhan, Siberian glorious kingdoms, submitting to the God-protected and highest power of His Royal Majesty, the Most Gracious Sovereign... on the Persians is the image of the heir; in the box there is a scepter and an apple, and they reveal the most merciful Sovereign, His Royal Majesty the Autocrat and Possessor.” As you can see, the description gives a new interpretation of the elements of the coat of arms. It is dictated by diplomatic considerations and should testify to the greatness of Russia.

"From Ancient Rus' to the Russian Empire." Shishkin Sergey Petrovich, Ufa.

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The coat of arms of Russia is one of the main state symbols of Russia, along with the flag and anthem. The modern coat of arms of Russia is a golden two-headed eagle on a red background. Three crowns are depicted above the eagle’s heads, now symbolizing the sovereignty of both the entire Russian Federation and its parts, the subjects of the Federation; in the paws there is a scepter and an orb, personifying state power and a unified state; on the chest is an image of a horseman slaying a dragon with a spear. This is one of the ancient symbols of the struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, and the defense of the Fatherland.

History of changes to the coat of arms

The first reliable evidence of the use of the double-headed eagle as a state emblem is the seal of John III Vasilyevich on the exchange document of 1497. During its existence, the image of the double-headed eagle has undergone many changes. In 1917, the eagle ceased to be the coat of arms of Russia. Its symbolism seemed to the Bolsheviks a symbol of autocracy; they did not take into account the fact that the double-headed eagle was a symbol of Russian statehood. On November 30, 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed the Decree on the State Emblem. Now the double-headed eagle, as before, symbolizes the power and unity of the Russian state.

15th century
The reign of Grand Duke Ivan III (1462-1505) was the most important stage in the formation of a unified Russian state. Ivan III managed to finally eliminate dependence on the Golden Horde, repelling the campaign of Khan Akhmat against Moscow in 1480. The Grand Duchy of Moscow included Yaroslavl, Novgorod, Tver, and Perm lands. The country began to actively develop ties with other European countries, and its foreign policy position strengthened. In 1497, the first all-Russian Code of Law was adopted - a unified set of laws of the country.
It was at this time - the time of successful construction of Russian statehood - that the double-headed eagle became the coat of arms of Russia, personifying supreme power, independence, what was called “autocracy” in Rus'. The very first surviving evidence of the use of the image of a double-headed eagle as a symbol of Russia is the grand-ducal seal of Ivan III, which in 1497 sealed his “exchange and allotment” charter for the land holdings of appanage princes. At the same time, images of a gilded double-headed eagle on a red field appeared on the walls of the Garnet Chamber in the Kremlin.

Mid-16th century
Beginning in 1539, the type of eagle on the seal of the Grand Duke of Moscow changed. In the era of Ivan the Terrible, on the golden bull (state seal) of 1562, in the center of the double-headed eagle, an image of a horseman (“rider”) appeared - one of the oldest symbols of princely power in “Rus”. The “rider” is placed in a shield on the chest of a double-headed eagle, crowned with one or two crowns topped with a cross.

End of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century
During the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, between the crowned heads of the double-headed eagle, the sign of the passion of Christ appears: the so-called Calvary cross. The cross on the state seal was a symbol of Orthodoxy, giving a religious connotation to the state emblem. The appearance of the “Golgotha cross” in the coat of arms of Russia coincides with the establishment of the patriarchate and ecclesiastical independence of Russia in 1589.

In the 17th century, the Orthodox cross was often depicted on Russian banners. The banners of foreign regiments that were part of the Russian army had their own emblems and inscriptions; however, an Orthodox cross was also placed on them, which indicated that the regiment fighting under this banner served the Orthodox sovereign. Until the mid-17th century, a seal was widely used, in which a double-headed eagle with a rider on its chest is crowned with two crowns, and an Orthodox eight-pointed cross rises between the eagle’s heads.

30-60s of the 18th century
By decree of Empress Catherine I of March 11, 1726, the description of the coat of arms was fixed: “A black eagle with outstretched wings, in a yellow field, on it is a rider in a red field.”

But if in this Decree the rider on the coat of arms was still called a rider, then among the drawings of coats of arms presented in May 1729 by Count Minich to the Military Collegium and which received the highest approval, the double-headed eagle is described as follows: “The State Coat of Arms in the old way: double-headed eagle, black , on the heads of the crown, and at the top in the middle is a large Imperial crown in gold; in the middle of that eagle, George on a white horse, defeating the serpent; the cap and spear are yellow, the crown is yellow, the snake is black; the field is white all around, and red in the middle.” In 1736, Empress Anna Ioannovna invited the Swiss engraver Gedlinger, who by 1740 engraved the State Seal. The central part of the matrix of this seal with the image of a double-headed eagle was used until 1856. Thus, the type of double-headed eagle on the State Seal remained unchanged for more than a hundred years.

Turn of the 18th-19th centuries
Emperor Paul I, by decree of April 5, 1797, allowed members of the imperial family to use the image of a double-headed eagle as their coat of arms.
During the short reign of Emperor Paul I (1796-1801), Russia pursued an active foreign policy, faced with a new enemy - Napoleonic France. After French troops occupied the Mediterranean island of Malta, Paul I took the Order of Malta under his protection, becoming the Grand Master of the Order. On August 10, 1799, Paul I signed a Decree on the inclusion of the Maltese cross and crown in the state emblem. On the eagle’s chest, under the Maltese crown, was a shield with St. George (Paul interpreted it as the “indigenous coat of arms of Russia”), superimposed on the Maltese cross.

Paul I made an attempt to introduce the full coat of arms of the Russian Empire. On December 16, 1800, he signed the Manifesto, which described this complex project. Forty-three coats of arms were placed in the multi-field shield and on nine small shields. In the center was the above-described coat of arms in the form of a double-headed eagle with a Maltese cross, larger than the others. The shield with coats of arms is superimposed on the Maltese cross, and under it the sign of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called again appears. The shield holders, the archangels Michael and Gabriel, support the imperial crown over the knight's helmet and mantle (cloak). The entire composition is placed against the background of a canopy with a dome - a heraldic symbol of sovereignty. From behind the shield with coats of arms emerge two standards with a double-headed and a single-headed eagles. This project has not been finalized.

Soon after ascending the throne, Emperor Alexander I, by Decree of April 26, 1801, removed the Maltese cross and crown from the coat of arms of Russia.

1st half of the 19th century
Images of the double-headed eagle at this time were very diverse: it could have one or three crowns; in the paws are not only the already traditional scepter and orb, but also a wreath, lightning bolts (peruns), and a torch. The wings of an eagle were depicted in different ways - raised, lowered, straightened. To a certain extent, the image of the eagle was influenced by the then European fashion, common to the Empire era.
Under Emperor Nicholas I, the simultaneous existence of two types of state eagle was officially established.
The first type is an eagle with spread wings, under one crown, with the image of St. George on the chest and with a scepter and orb in its paws. The second type was an eagle with raised wings, on which the titular coats of arms were depicted: on the right - Kazan, Astrakhan, Siberian, on the left - Polish, Tauride, Finland. For some time, another version was in circulation - with the coats of arms of the three “main” Old Russian Grand Duchies (Kyiv, Vladimir and Novgorod lands) and three kingdoms - Kazan, Astrakhan and Siberian. An eagle under three crowns, with St. George (as the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Moscow) in a shield on the chest, with a chain of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, with a scepter and an orb in its paws.

Mid-19th century
In 1855-1857, during the heraldic reform, which was carried out under the leadership of Baron B. Kene, the type of state eagle was changed under the influence of German designs. At the same time, St. George on the eagle’s chest, in accordance with the rules of Western European heraldry, began to look to the left. The drawing of the Small Coat of Arms of Russia, executed by Alexander Fadeev, was approved by the highest on December 8, 1856. This version of the coat of arms differed from the previous ones not only in the image of an eagle, but also in the number of “title” coats of arms on the wings. On the right were shields with the coats of arms of Kazan, Poland, Tauride Chersonese and the combined coat of arms of the Grand Duchies (Kyiv, Vladimir, Novgorod), on the left were shields with the coats of arms of Astrakhan, Siberia, Georgia, Finland.

On April 11, 1857, the Supreme approval of the entire set of state emblems followed. It included: Big, Middle and Small, coats of arms of members of the imperial family, as well as “titular” coats of arms. At the same time, drawings of the Large, Middle and Small state seals, arks (cases) for seals, as well as seals of the main and lower official places and persons were approved. In total, one hundred and ten drawings lithographed by A. Beggrov were approved in one act. On May 31, 1857, the Senate published a Decree describing the new coats of arms and the rules for their use.

Large State Emblem, 1882
On July 24, 1882, Emperor Alexander III in Peterhof approved the drawing of the Great Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire, on which the composition was preserved, but the details were changed, in particular the figures of the archangels. In addition, imperial crowns began to be depicted like real diamond crowns used at coronations.
The design of the Great Coat of Arms of the Empire was finally approved on November 3, 1882, when the coat of arms of Turkestan was added to the title coats of arms.

Small State Emblem, 1883-1917.
On February 23, 1883, the Middle and two versions of the Small coat of arms were approved. On the wings of the double-headed eagle (Small Coat of Arms) were placed eight coats of arms of the full title of the Emperor of Russia: the coat of arms of the kingdom of Kazan; coat of arms of the Kingdom of Poland; coat of arms of the kingdom of Chersonese Tauride; combined coat of arms of the Kyiv, Vladimir and Novgorod great principalities; coat of arms of the kingdom of Astrakhan, coat of arms of the kingdom of Siberia, coat of arms of the kingdom of Georgia, coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Finland. In January 1895, the highest order was given to leave unchanged the drawing of the state eagle made by academician A. Charlemagne.

The latest act - “Basic provisions of the state structure of the Russian Empire” of 1906 - confirmed all previous legal provisions relating to the State Emblem.

Coat of arms of Russia, 1917
After the February Revolution of 1917, on the initiative of Maxim Gorky, a Special Meeting on Arts was organized. In March of the same year, it included a commission under the executive committee of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, which, in particular, was preparing a new version of the coat of arms of Russia. The commission included famous artists and art historians A. N. Benois and N. K. Roerich, I. Ya. Bilibin, and heraldist V. K. Lukomsky. It was decided to use images of a double-headed eagle on the seal of the Provisional Government. The design of this seal was entrusted to I. Ya. Bilibin, who took as a basis the image of the double-headed eagle, deprived of almost all symbols of power, on the seal of Ivan III. This image continued to be used after the October Revolution, until the adoption of the new Soviet coat of arms on July 24, 1918.

State emblem of the RSFSR, 1918-1993.
In the summer of 1918, the Soviet government finally decided to break with the historical symbols of Russia, and the new Constitution adopted on July 10, 1918 proclaimed in the state emblem not land, but political, party symbols: the double-headed eagle was replaced by a red shield, which depicted a crossed hammer and sickle and an ascending the sun as a sign of change. Since 1920, the abbreviated name of the state - the RSFSR - was placed at the top of the shield. The shield was bordered by ears of wheat, secured with a red ribbon with the inscription “Workers of all countries, unite.” Later, this image of the coat of arms was approved in the Constitution of the RSFSR.

Even earlier (April 16, 1918), the sign of the Red Army was legalized: a five-pointed Red Star, a symbol of the ancient god of war, Mars. 60 years later, in the spring of 1978, the military star, which by that time had become part of the coat of arms of the USSR and most republics, was included in the coat of arms of the RSFSR.

In 1992, the last change to the coat of arms came into force: the abbreviation above the hammer and sickle was replaced by the inscription “Russian Federation”. But this decision was almost never carried out, because the Soviet coat of arms with its party symbols no longer corresponded to the political structure of Russia after the collapse of the one-party system of government, the ideology of which it embodied.

State emblem of the Russian Federation, 1993
On November 5, 1990, the Government of the RSFSR adopted a resolution on the creation of the State Emblem and State Flag of the RSFSR. A Government Commission was created to organize this work. After a comprehensive discussion, the commission proposed to recommend to the Government a white-blue-red flag and a coat of arms - a golden double-headed eagle on a red field. The final restoration of these symbols occurred in 1993, when by Decrees of President B. Yeltsin they were approved as the state flag and coat of arms.

On December 8, 2000, the State Duma adopted the Federal Constitutional Law “On the State Emblem of the Russian Federation.” Which was approved by the Federation Council and signed by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on December 20, 2000.

The golden double-headed eagle on a red field preserves historical continuity in the colors of the coats of arms of the late 15th - 17th centuries. The eagle design goes back to images on monuments from the era of Peter the Great.

The restoration of the double-headed eagle as the State Emblem of Russia personifies the continuity and continuity of Russian history. Today's coat of arms of Russia is a new coat of arms, but its components are deeply traditional; it reflects different stages of Russian history and continues them on the eve of the third millennium.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

Almost every country in the world has its own coat of arms. Depending on the basis on which the state arose, its history can be either centuries old or completely absent, and the symbol of the state itself can only be a more or less modern creation that takes into account the current political situation in the country and the peculiarities of its emergence. The eagle on the coat of arms of Russia appeared a very long time ago, and although such a symbol was not used for a long time during the existence of the Soviet Union, now the situation has changed, and it has returned to its rightful place.

History of the coat of arms

In fact, the eagle appeared on the coats of arms of many princes long before it became the official symbol of the state. It is officially believed that in a version that is as similar as possible to the modern one, the coat of arms first began to appear around the time of Ivan the Terrible. Before this, the same symbol was present in the Byzantine Empire, which was considered the Second Rome. The double-headed eagle on the coat of arms of Russia is intended to show that it is the direct successor of Byzantium and the Third Rome. In different periods, right up to the appearance of the large coat of arms of the Russian Empire, this symbol was constantly modified and acquired various elements. The result was the most complex coat of arms in the world, which existed until 1917. Historically, the Russian flag with a coat of arms was used in many situations, from the personal standard of the sovereign to the designation of state campaigns.

The meaning of the coat of arms

The main element is a double-headed eagle, which is intended to symbolize Russia's orientation to both the West and the East, while it is understood that the country itself is neither West nor East and combines their best qualities. The rider on a horse, killing a snake, located in the middle of the coat of arms, has a fairly ancient history. Almost all ancient princes in Rus' used similar images on their symbols. It was understood that the rider himself was the prince. Only later, already in the time of Peter the Great, it was decided that the horseman was St. George the Victorious.

An interesting fact is that on some of the coats of arms of the ancient princes images of foot soldiers were also used, and the direction in which the rider was located also changed. For example, on the coat of arms of False Dmitry the horseman is turned to the right, which is more consistent with the traditional symbolism of the West, while previously he was turned to the left. The three crowns that are located on top of the coat of arms did not appear immediately. At different periods of time there were from one to three crowns, and only the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was the first to give an explanation - the crowns symbolized three kingdoms: Siberian, Astrakhan and Kazan. Later, crowns were recognized as symbols of the state's independence. There is a sad and interesting moment associated with this. In 1917, by decree of the provisional government, the coat of arms of Russia was once again changed. The crowns, which were considered symbols of tsarism, were removed from it, but from the point of view of the science of heraldry, the state independently renounced its own independence.

The orb and scepter that the double-headed eagle holds in its paws traditionally symbolize a unified empire and state power (and these were also removed in 1917). Despite the fact that traditionally the eagle was depicted in gold on a red background, during the time of the Russian Empire, without thinking twice, they took the colors traditional not for our state, but for Germany, so the eagle turned out to be black and on a yellow background. Eagle gold symbolizes wealth, prosperity, grace and so on. The red color of the background symbolized in ancient times the color of sacrificial love, in a more modern interpretation - the color of courage, bravery, love and blood that was shed during the battles for the homeland. The Russian flag with its coat of arms is also sometimes used.

Coats of arms of Russian cities

In most cases, coats of arms exist not for cities, but for constituent entities of the Russian Federation. However, there are some exceptions, for example: Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sevastopol. They bear little resemblance to the official coat of arms of Russia. All of them are considered cities of federal significance and have the right to their own coat of arms. In Moscow, this is a rider on a horse stabbing a snake, similar to the one located on state symbols, but still somewhat different. The currently existing image is as close as possible to the one that existed among Moscow and its princes back in the days of Ancient Rus'.

St. Petersburg's coat of arms is much more complex. It was approved back in 1730 and relatively recently returned to exactly the state in which it was originally adopted. The prototype of this symbol was the coat of arms of the Vatican. The scepter with the state eagle and the crown symbolize the fact that this city was the capital of the Russian Empire for a long time. Two crossed anchors indicate that St. Petersburg is both a sea and river port, and the red background symbolizes the blood shed during the war with Sweden.

USSR coat of arms

After the emergence of the USSR, the standard version of the coat of arms with a double-headed eagle was rejected, and from 1918 to 1993 a different symbol was used, which was gradually refined and modified. At the same time, many coats of arms of Russian cities were significantly altered or even completely changed. The main colors are red and gold, traditions in this regard were respected, but everything else changed dramatically. In the center, against the background of the sun's rays, there is a crossed hammer and sickle, and at the top there is a red star (it was not in the first variations of the coat of arms). On the sides there are ears of wheat, and below the symbol on a red background in black letters it says “Workers of all countries, unite!” In this version, the coat of arms of Russia, or rather the Soviet Union, was used for a very long time, right up to its collapse, and is still used in one form or another by various communist parties.

Modern coat of arms of the Russian Federation

In the version in which the coat of arms of Russia currently exists, it was adopted in 1993. The symbolism and general meaning remained approximately the same as long before the emergence of the USSR, the only thing being that the blood shed during the wars was added to the interpretation of the color red.

Results

In general, the coat of arms of Russia has a very long history, and specific reasons for using this particular symbolism were invented rather after the fact of its use. The reasons why they were chosen by a certain ancient ruler are unlikely to ever be established for certain.