State emblem from Ivan III to the first Romanovs.

The coat of arms is one of the symbols of the state, along with the flag and anthem. If the meaning of the tricolor is known to most, then why there is a double-headed eagle on the coat of arms remains a mystery to many. It was adopted in 1993 by decree of the first President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin. But, of course, such an image was not chosen by chance and has its own history.

Description of the coat of arms and symbolic meaning

The coat of arms of Russia is depicted in the form of a red heraldic shield, on which is a golden double-headed eagle with its wings spread. Above each eagle head is a crown, with another one between them, and they are all connected by a gold ribbon. The eagle has a scepter in its right paw, and an orb in its left. A red shield is painted on the bird’s chest, on which a horseman is depicted slaying a dragon with his silver spear.

All images located on the coat of arms have special meaning. The image of a double-headed eagle comes from the Byzantine Empire. The placement of this bird by the rulers on the Russian coat of arms showed the political connection between Russia and Byzantium, the exchange of cultures and the adoption of Christianity.

Three crowns symbolize independence Russian state. Initially, they had a different meaning - they symbolized the three khanates that the Moscow princes were able to subjugate. The scepter and orb symbolize state power. The horseman depicted on the small shield is none other than St. George the Victorious, who triumphs over evil. He is considered the personification of the defender of Russia, patronizes Moscow and is depicted on its coat of arms.

The symbol of this two-headed bird was first noted under Ivan III in 1497. Its image was on the royal seal. The reasons why the king decided to use the eagle are still unknown.

Around the same time, a horseman was added to the symbols of the state, who would later be called St. George the Victorious. The first time the image of a double-headed eagle appeared was when the king affixed his seal to a charter granting the right to own plots of land. Also during the reign of Ivan III, an image of this bird appeared on the walls of the Faceted Chamber of the Kremlin.

Despite the fact that experts are still debating why the choice fell on the eagle and why it began to be used Russian monarchs. The most popular version is the following: the wife of Ivan III was the niece of the last emperor of Byzantium, Sophia Paleologus. This assumption was voiced by Karamzin. But she has several reasons that cast doubt on the veracity of this theory:

1. The birthplace of Sophia was a city that was not close to Constantinople.
2. The double-headed eagle was placed on the coat of arms a long time after the conclusion of the alliance between Sophia and Ivan.
3. Ivan III never laid claim to the Byzantine throne.

Historians still do not know for sure why exactly this symbolism was chosen for the Russian coat of arms. Another interesting fact is that the eagle image was used on the coins of Novgorod.

The double-headed eagle is recognized as a state symbol at the official level under Ivan the Terrible. At the very beginning, a unicorn was added to the eagle, later it was replaced by a horseman who uses a spear to defeat the dragon. At first, the horseman was personified with the monarch himself, but already under Ivan the Terrible they began to call him George the Victorious. Under Peter the Great, this interpretation was officially approved.

When Boris Godunov begins to reign, three crowns are added to the image of the eagle and the rider, which are placed above the eagle heads. They personified the capture of the Tatar khanates by the Moscow princes: Siberian, Kazan and Astrakhan. From the middle of the 16th century, they began to depict the two-headed bird as “aggressive”, ready to attack: an open beak, a protruding tongue. This can be seen as the influence of European trends.

At the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries. Between the two heads a Calvary cross was placed, which symbolized the independence of the church in Russia. Sometimes an image of an eagle and two crowns was used, between which there was an eight-pointed Christian cross. During the Time of Troubles, all False Dmitrys used royal seals, which bore the image of the Russian coat of arms. When the Time of Troubles ended and a monarch from the Romanov family ascended the throne, minor changes took place in the coat of arms. The double-headed eagle has spread out wings.

Coat of arms during the reign of the Romanovs and the post-revolutionary period

The signs of royal power, the scepter and the orb, are first depicted together with the eagle in Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov. At the same time, the first official sketches about the coat of arms appeared. During the reign of Peter I, the crowns over the eagle heads acquired an “imperial” design, and at the same time a color design was made for the coat of arms. Black was chosen for the eagle's body, and gold for the head, beak, paws and tongue. The dragon is also made in black, and the rider is in silver.

During the reign of Paul I, changes were made to the coat of arms of the Russian state due to the seizure of Malta by the British (which was patronized by the emperor). To the symbols Russian Empire a Maltese cross was added, which denoted Russia's claims to Maltese territory.

After the February Revolution, it was decided to leave the two-headed bird on the coat of arms without the imperial crowns and St. George the Victorious. The coat of arms, created by the Bolsheviks, was adopted in 1920 and was used until 1992. The modern coat of arms is criticized by some for the fact that it depicts a large number of symbols of autocracy, which are not intended for a presidential republic. In 2000, a law was adopted that approved the exact description of the coat of arms and described the procedure for its use. Although it is unknown why the double-headed eagle is on the coat of arms of Russia, nevertheless, since the times of the Moscow State, it has been a state symbol.

The invention and use of all kinds of signs and symbols is characteristic of man. The custom of choosing a special distinctive sign for oneself or for one’s clan and tribe has very deep roots and is widespread throughout the world. It comes from the tribal system and a special worldview characteristic of all peoples in the primitive period of their history.

Ancestral signs and symbols are called totems; they are the closest relatives of coats of arms. The term "totem" comes from North America, and in the Ojibwe Indian language the word "ototem" means the concept of "its kind." The custom of totemism consists in the election by a clan or tribe of any animal or plant as the progenitor and patron from whom all members of the tribe trace their origin. This custom existed among ancient peoples, but is also accepted today among tribes leading a primitive lifestyle. The ancient Slavs also had totems - sacred animals, trees, plants - from the names of which some modern Russian surnames are supposed to originate. Among the Asian peoples of Turkic and Mongolian origin, there is a similar custom of “tamga”. Tamga is a sign of tribal affiliation, an image of an animal, bird or weapon, adopted by each tribe as a symbol, which is depicted on banners, emblems, burned on the skin of animals, and even applied to the body. The Kyrgyz have a legend that tamgas were assigned to individual clans by Genghis Khan himself, along with “urans” - battle cries (which were also used European knights, which is why they later appeared on coats of arms in the form of mottos).

Prototypes of coats of arms - various symbolic images placed on military armor, banners, rings and personal belongings - were used in ancient times. In the works of Homer, Virgil, Pliny and other ancient authors there is evidence of the use of such signs. Both legendary heroes and real historical figures, such as kings and generals, often had personal emblems. Thus, the helmet of Alexander the Great was decorated with a sea horse (hippocampus), the helmet of Achilles with an eagle, the helmet of the King of Numibia Masinissa with a dog, the helmet of the Roman Emperor Caracalla with an eagle. The shields were also decorated with various emblems, for example, the image of the severed head of Medusa the Gorgon. But these signs were used as decoration, were arbitrarily changed by owners, were not inherited and were not subject to any rules. Only a few emblems of islands and cities of the ancient world were used constantly - on coins, medals and seals. The emblem of Athens was an owl, Corinth - Pegasus, Samos - a peacock, the island of Rhodes - a rose. In this one can already see the beginnings of state heraldry. Most ancient civilizations had some elements of heraldry in their culture, for example, a system of seals or stamps, which would later be inextricably linked with heraldry. In Assyria, the Babylonian Empire and ancient Egypt seals were used in the same way as in medieval Europe- for certification of documents. These signs were squeezed into clay, carved into stone and imprinted on papyrus. Already in the third millennium BC, there was a “coat of arms” of the Sumerian states - an eagle with a lion’s head. The emblem of Egypt was a snake, Armenia - a crowned lion, Persia - an eagle. Subsequently, the eagle will become the coat of arms of Rome. The “coat of arms” of Byzantium was actually a double-headed eagle, which was later borrowed by some European states, including Russia.

The ancient Germans painted their shields in different colors. Roman legionnaires had emblems on their shields, which could be used to determine their belonging to a particular cohort. Roman banners were decorated with special images - vexilla (hence the name of the science of flags - vexillology). To distinguish legions and cohorts, the troops also used badges - signa - in the form of various animals - an eagle, a boar, a lion, a minotaur, a horse, a she-wolf and others, which were worn in front of the troops on long shafts. Military units were sometimes named after these figures, often relating to the history of the city of Rome.

So, various systems insignia and emblems have always existed everywhere, but heraldry itself, as a special form of symbolism, arose during the development of the feudal system in Western Europe.

The bright and colorful art of heraldry developed during the dark times of cultural and economic decline that occurred in Europe with the death of the Roman Empire and the establishment of the Christian religion, when feudalism arose and a system of hereditary aristocracy emerged. Several factors contributed to the emergence of coats of arms. First of all, feudalism and the Crusades, but they were born from the destroying and life-giving fire of war. It is believed that the coats of arms appeared in the 10th century, but it is difficult to find out the exact date. The first coats of arms depicted on seals attached to documents date back to the 11th century. The oldest armorial seals are placed on the marriage contract of the year 1000, concluded by Sancho, Infante of Castile, with Wilhelmina, daughter of Gaston II, Viscount of Béarn. It should be borne in mind that in an era of widespread illiteracy, the use of a coat of arms for a signature and to designate property was for many the only way to certify a document with their name. Such an identification mark was understandable even to an illiterate person (it is quite possible that coats of arms appeared first on seals, and only then on weapons and clothing).

Undoubted evidence of the existence of heraldry appears only after crusades. The earliest such evidence is a French enamel drawing from the tomb of Geoffrey Plantagenet (died 1151), Count of Anjou and Maine, depicting Geoffrey himself with a coat of arms, where on an azure field there are supposedly four rearing golden lions ( exact number lions are difficult to identify due to the position in which the shield is drawn). The Earl was the son-in-law of Henry I, King of England, who reigned from 1100 to 1135, who, according to the chronicle, granted him this coat of arms.

First English king who had a personal coat of arms was Richard I the Lionheart (1157-1199). His three golden leopards have since been used by all the royal dynasties of England.

"WHO WHO IS SORRY AND POOR HERE WILL BE RICH THERE!"

The Crusades, which lasted from 1096 to 1291, constituted an entire era in European history. The beginning of this two-hundred-year war was provoked by the Turks, who had established themselves in Palestine - fanatical Muslims, who, armed with their irreconcilable religion, began to desecrate the shrines of Christianity and create obstacles for Christians who wanted to make a pilgrimage to Palestine and Jerusalem. But the true reasons lay deeper and lay in the centuries-old confrontation between Europe and Asia, which continues to this day. Asian tribes, united under the banner of Islam, began a grandiose expansion, as a result of which they conquered Syria, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa, Spain, threatened Constantinople and were already approaching the very heart of Europe. In 711, an Arab army of 7,000 men led by Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to the European continent. Thus began the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (the rock on the Spanish coast has since been called Mount Tariq, or in Arabic - Jabal Tariq, which in Spanish pronunciation became Gibraltar). By 715, almost the entire Iberian Peninsula was in Muslim hands. In 721, the Umayyad forces, who ruled a vast caliphate from 661-750, crossed the Pyrenees, captured Spain and began the conquest of southern France. They captured the cities of Narbonne and Carcassone. Thus, new strongholds arose for attacks on Aquitaine and Burgundy. The ruler of the Franks, Charles of the Carolingian family (689-741), defeated the Arabs when they reached the Loire. This happened in 732 at the Battle of Poitiers. The victory earned him the nickname Martel - "hammer" - because he stopped the Muslim advance across Western Europe. But the Arabs held power in Provence for several more decades. The military expansion of the Muslim conquerors contributed to the penetration of Arab art and philosophy into Europe during their brief heyday. Arab culture gave impetus to the development of medicine and natural sciences in Western Europe. In Byzantium, Muslims were crushed by Emperor Leo III the Isaurian. The further spread of Islam was stopped by the beginning of the political disintegration of the Muslim world, until then strong and terrible in its unity. The caliphate was fragmented into parts that were at war with each other. But in the 11th century, the Seljuk Turks began a new offensive towards the West, stopping just under the walls of Constantinople.

By that time, the lands of Western Europe were divided between secular and church feudal lords. The feudal system strengthened, replacing the communal one with its military democracy. The oppression and impoverishment of the people intensified - there were practically no free cultivators left, the peasants were enslaved and subject to tribute. The feudal lords came up with more and more taxes, competing in extortions with the church - the largest feudal owner, whose greed knew no bounds. Life became unbearable, which is why the population of Europe, impatiently awaiting the end of their torment in connection with the end of the world promised by the church and the advent of paradise on Earth, was in a state of religious exaltation, expressed in the desire for all kinds of spiritual achievements and readiness for Christian self-sacrifice. The flow of pilgrims increased. If the Arabs in former times treated them tolerantly, now the Turks began to attack pilgrims and destroy Christian churches. The Roman Catholic Church, which had plans for world domination, decided to take advantage of this, which first of all required subjugating the breakaway eastern - Byzantine - church and increasing its income through the acquisition of new feudal possessions - dioceses. In the latter, the interests of the church and the feudal lords completely coincided, since there were no more free lands and peasants sitting on them, and according to the rule of “majority,” the land was inherited from the father only to the eldest son. So the call of Pope Urban II to protect the Holy Sepulcher fell on fertile ground: the painful socio-economic conditions in Europe led to the emergence of many desperate people who had nothing to lose and who were ready to go on a risky journey to the ends of the world in search of adventure and wealth and the glory of the “soldiers of Christ.” In addition to the large feudal lords driven by aggressive motives, the idea of ​​going to the East was accepted by numerous small feudal knights (younger members of feudal families who could not count on receiving an inheritance), as well as merchants of many trading cities, hoping to destroy their main competitor in trade with the rich East - Byzantium . But the greatest enthusiasm was, of course, experienced by ordinary people, driven to despair by poverty and deprivation. Huge masses of people were inspired by the speech of Pope Urban in Clermont on November 24, 1095 and vowed to go to war against the infidels for the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher and the Holy Land. They sewed crosses cut from fabric (often taken from the attire of the priests themselves, who called on the masses to heroism) onto their clothes, which is why they received the name “crusaders.” To the shouts of “God wants it this way!” many set off straight from the Clermont Plain, following the pope’s propaganda call: “The land that you inhabit has become crowded with your large numbers. Hence it happens that you bite each other and fight with each other... Now your hatred, enmity will cease and civil strife will fall asleep. Take the path to the holy tomb, wrest that land from the wicked people and subjugate it to yourself...Whoever is sorrowful and poor here will become rich there!”

The first crusade took place in 1096, but coats of arms could well have appeared a little earlier. The problem is that the first documentary evidence of coats of arms appeared at least two hundred years after their origin. Perhaps the close connection of the Crusades with the birth of heraldry is explained by the fact that it was during this period that the use of coats of arms became widespread. This required the creation of an ordered system of symbolic images as a means of communication, since the coat of arms served as an identification mark that carried some information about the owner and was clearly visible from a distance.

Since the 12th century, armor has become more and more complex, the helmet covers the entire face of the knight, and he himself dresses in armor entirely, from head to toe. In addition, with some differences, all the armor was of the same type, so it became impossible to identify the knight not only from afar, but also up close. This situation gave impetus to the massive use of the coat of arms as an identification mark. In addition to the coat of arms depicted on the shield, additional coat of arms gradually appeared, which were designed to help knights recognize each other from a distance and in the heat of battle: the pommel (cleinod) - a decoration made of animal horns and bird feathers fixed on the top of the helmet (this element received development during knightly tournaments), as well as heraldic pennants and standards. The combination of two types of generic signs - a shield and a pommel - later formed the material basis of the coat of arms.

But let's return to the Crusades. Much in heraldry indicates that it developed during the conquest of the East by the Crusaders. These are the signs. The term enamel, which denotes heraldic colors, is of Eastern origin. The word comes from the Persian "mina", meaning the blue color of the sky (the first enamels were blue). The unique technique of enamel painting came to Europe from Persia, Arabia and Byzantium. It was in this way - by applying enamel - that steel armor, shields and special coat of arms were painted, which heralds exhibited at tournaments. The blue color or azure - "azur" - was brought to Europe from the East - its very modern name ultramarine (overseas blue) reminds of this. The heraldic name "azur" comes from the Persian "azurk" - blue. This is also where the name lapis lazuli (lapis lazuli), a stone found mainly in Afghanistan, comes from, from which this paint is obtained. The name of the red color - "gueulez" - comes from the purple-dyed furs with which the crusaders trimmed their marching clothes around the neck and sleeves (in the section "Rules of Heraldry" it will be discussed that heraldic figures were often made from pieces of fur stuffed on the shield). The name comes from the word "gul" - red, which in Persian means the color of a rose. The origin of the green color "vert", also called "sinople", probably comes from dyes produced in the East. The color orange, more commonly found in English heraldry, is called "tenne" - from the Arabic "henne". This was the name of the vegetable yellow-red dye, known to us as henna. Asian and Arab chiefs have an ancient custom of dyeing the mane, tail and belly of their war horses, and the right hand holding a weapon with henna. In general, Easterners dye their hair and nails with henna. Of eastern origin, it is called a shield with a special semicircular cutout on one or both edges into which a spear is inserted. This shield is called "tarch" - just like its Arabic prototype.

Two important details of the heraldic design owe their origin to the Crusades - the mantle and the burlet. During the First Crusade, dozens of knights died daily from the heat as their steel armor became hot in the sun. The Crusaders had to borrow from the Arabs a method used by the desert inhabitants to this day: in order to escape from the hot sun and prevent the helmet from heating up, Arab and Persian warriors used a piece of cloth thrown over the head and shoulders and secured on the head with a hoop made of woven camel hair intertwined with silk. threads. The so-called kufiyya is still an integral part of the Arab costume. From it comes the mantle or lambrequin ("lambrequin", from the Latin "lambellum" - a scrap or piece of matter), as well as burlet (from the French "burrelet" - wreath). The mantle is an obligatory part of the coat of arms, and is depicted in the form of a cape with fluttering ends, attached to the helmet with a burlet or crown. The mantle can be either whole, with an ornamentally carved edge (especially in early coats of arms) or excised, with long, intricately intertwined flaps (probably, the mantle cut by saber blows indicated the courage of the owner of the coat of arms - a participant in the hottest battles).

During the Crusades, European feudal lords, who were well known to everyone in their homeland, joined a huge international army and, against the general background, lost their usually pronounced external individuality, which is why they felt the need to somehow distinguish themselves from the mass of the same knights , demonstrate their national, tribal and military affiliation. The conquests of the Crusaders were always accompanied by terrible robbery and robbery, so a rule was established according to which the knight who was the first to break into any house of the captured city was declared the owner of everything that was in it. The knights had to somehow mark the loot in order to protect it from the encroachments of their comrades. With the advent of coats of arms, this problem was solved by nailing a shield with the coat of arms of its new owner to the door of the house. This need was felt not only by individual crusaders, but also by major military leaders: the inhabitants of the houses and neighborhoods taken by their troops hung the banners of these troops so as not to be robbed by other feudal lords. It should be noted here that conflicts over the division of booty, skirmishes and disputes over the honor of taking a particular city arose constantly among the crusaders. You can also add that all the crusades were very poorly organized. There was complete confusion in the preparation of military operations, and during the battles there was a general chaos. The secular and ecclesiastical feudal lords brought all their discord, greed, deceit and cruelty, from which Europe groaned, with them to the East. Later, this (like the traditionally treacherous policy of Byzantium) will lead to the collapse of the crusading movement and the expulsion of Europeans from the occupied territories, but for now there is a need to somehow streamline the situation. An example was before our eyes: Arab warriors used shield emblems, usually consisting of inscriptions or drawings of flowers and fruits. This custom, like many others, was borrowed by the crusaders and became one of the foundation stones of the emerging heraldry.

The consequence of the Crusades was the extinction of many noble families of Europe, all of whose male representatives died during the campaigns. Noble families, whose roots went back to the era of the conquest of Rome by barbarian tribes, simply disappeared. As a result, European monarchs for the first time were forced to grant grants to the nobility, creating a new aristocracy. Coats of arms played a crucial role in this, since often the only basis for claiming nobility and documentary evidence of noble origin was the coat of arms brought from the Holy Land.

So, the accumulation in one place of many feudal lords from different countries(an unusual situation for Europe), the international character of the crusader army, the need to recognize each other and (in conditions of illiteracy and language barriers) to assert their own name, as well as the features of weapons, the method of warfare and the borrowing of many inventions of Eastern civilization - all this became the reason for the emergence and design of heraldry.

The coat of arms owes no less to knightly tournaments than to the crusades. Tournaments appeared before the Crusades. In any case, there is a mention of military games that took place in 842 in Strasbourg during negotiations between Charles the Bald and Louis the German. Probably, tournaments took shape in France in the middle of the 12th century and then spread to England and Germany. In some chronicles, the French Baron G. de Prelli is called the inventor of tournaments, but most likely he only developed the first rules for tournaments.

Tournaments have long become an integral part of Western European life. Only knights with an impeccable reputation were allowed to participate in them. Violation of the chivalric code threatened terrible shame. Around 1292 new, more safe rules for tournaments - "Statutum Armorum". You could only use blunt weapons. Each knight was allowed to have only three squires. In duels, special spears were now used that easily broke upon impact. It was forbidden to fight out of turn, to wound the enemy’s horse, to strike other than in the face or chest, to continue the fight after the enemy raised his visor, to act as a group against one. Violators were deprived of weapons, horses and imprisoned for up to three years. Special tournament armor appeared, so massive that the knight and his horse could hardly bear their weight. The horses themselves also wore armor from the 13th century. Just like the shields of knights, horse blankets had heraldic coloring. Two more important details should be mentioned. The knight should have been clearly visible from above, from the stands, especially during a general fight. That is why the already mentioned pommels appeared (or at least spread widely) - figures mounted on the top of the helmet, made of light wood, leather and even papier-mâché (later - from more expensive materials). The famous 14th-century German knight-errant Ulrich von Liechtenstein, who took part in several tournaments dressed as the legendary King Arthur, introduced the fashion for complex pommels: he wore a helmet decorated with a figure of Venus holding a torch in one hand and an arrow in the other. The tents or tents in which knights prepared for competitions, stored weapons and rested between battles (the same tents were used by the crusaders on campaigns) will also later be reflected in the art of heraldry - they will turn into a heraldic mantle and a “canopy” tent.

From wild, bloody carnage, tournaments evolved into colorful theatrical performances, where formalities became increasingly important, and the actual fight became less important and more conventional. For example, in the “Tournament of Peace,” held in Windsor Park in England in 1278, swords made of whalebone covered with parchment and silver-plated, helmets made of boiled leather and shields of light wood were used. For certain achievements in the competition, the knight received points (for example, bonus points were awarded for knocking down a pommel). The winner was determined by crowned heads, senior knights or specially appointed judges (often heralds); sometimes the question of the winner was decided by the ladies in whose honor the knights fought. Tournaments were traditionally imbued with an emphatically reverent attitude towards women, which formed almost the basis of the knightly code. The winner of the tournament received the reward from the hands of the lady. The knights performed decorated with some badge received from their ladies. Sometimes ladies brought their knights tied with a chain - the chain was considered a symbol of special honor and was given only to a select few. In each competition, the last blow was struck in honor of the lady, and here the knights especially tried to distinguish themselves. After the tournament, the ladies led the winner to the palace, where he was disarmed and a feast was held in his honor, where the hero occupied the most honorable place. The names of the winners were included in special lists, and their exploits were passed down to descendants in minstrel songs. Victory in the tournament also brought material benefits: sometimes the victor took the enemy’s horse and weapons, took him prisoner and demanded a ransom. For many poor knights this was the only way to earn a living.

From Friday to Sunday, when tournaments were permitted by the church, there were fights every day, and in the evenings there were dances and celebrations. There were several types of competitions: horse riding, when a knight had to knock the enemy out of the saddle with a blow of a spear; sword fight; throwing spears and arrows; siege of wooden castles built specifically for tournaments. Another way to show courage, besides the tournament, was to "defend the passes." A group of knights announced that in honor of their ladies they would defend a place from everyone. So, in 1434, at Orbigo, in Spain, ten knights defended the bridge from sixty-eight rivals for a month, having fought more than seven hundred duels. In the 16th century, foot fights with short spears, maces and axes became popular. In Europe, only persons of noble birth were allowed to participate in tournaments. In Germany, the requirements were more liberal: sometimes, in order to obtain permission, it was enough to refer to an ancestor who took part in a knightly tournament. We can say that the main pass to the tournament was the coat of arms, proving the high origin of the owner and his position in the family hierarchy. For experts, such as heralds, the presented coat of arms contained all the necessary information. That is why the most important part of tournament etiquette were coats of arms, of which there were so many that it was time to restore order in this area.

The heralds systematized knowledge about coats of arms, developed general principles and rules for their compilation and recognition, and ultimately created the science of “arms of arms” or “heraldry”
There are two options for the origin of the terms “heraldry” and “herald”: from the late Latin heraldica (from heraldus - herald), or from the German Herald - spoiled Heeralt - veteran, as people were called in Germany in the Middle Ages who had a reputation for valiant and brave warriors who were invited as guests of honor and judges at various celebrations, and, in particular, at tournaments. These veterans had to preserve the customs of chivalry, develop the rules of tournaments, and also monitor their observance.
The predecessors of heralds were representatives of several related professions, whose duties were combined and clarified, which led to the emergence of heralds in the classical sense of the word - heralds, courtiers and traveling minstrels, as well as the veterans mentioned above.
Heralds or parliamentarians were used in ancient armies, as they are still used today - for negotiations with the enemy, for announcing decrees and various kinds of announcements.

Minstrels (French menestrel, from the medieval Latin ministerialis) are medieval singers and poets. In any case, this term acquired this meaning in France and England at the end of the Middle Ages. Initially, in all feudal states, ministerials were people who were in the service of the lord and performed some special duty (ministerium) under him. Among them were poets-singers, who, unlike their wandering brothers in the craft, were constantly at court or at a high-ranking official. In France in the 12th century, minstrels sometimes referred to the king's servants in general, and sometimes to his court poets and singers. The function of court minstrels was to sing and glorify the exploits of their feudal lords. And from here it’s not far to the function of managers of court ceremonies and, in particular, knightly tournaments. It is likely that the traveling minstrels, whose art was in demand at the courts of European feudal lords, gained experience in recognizing the coats of arms that constantly surrounded them. The oldest known poet-herald was Conrad of Würzburg, who lived in the 13th century. The functions of veterans, who by the nature of their activities were directly related to coats of arms, have already been mentioned.

It is possible that representatives of all three professions were called at a certain historical moment by one common term - heralds. One way or another, the spread of knightly tournaments contributed to the emergence of special officials who were supposed to announce the opening of the tournament, develop and observe the ceremony of its holding, as well as announce all fights and the names of their participants. This required special knowledge - the herald had to be well aware of the genealogy of the noble families whose representatives took part in the battles, and be able to recognize the coats of arms of the knights who gathered for the tournament. Thus, the profession of heralds gradually acquires a purely heraldic character, and heraldry itself is born at tournaments.

The French name for heraldry - "blason" - comes from the German "blasen" - "to blow a horn" and is explained by the fact that when a knight rode up to the barrier enclosing the tournament site, he would blow a horn to announce his arrival. Then the herald came out and, at the request of the tournament judges, described aloud the knight’s coat of arms as proof of his right to take part in the tournament. From the word "blasen" comes the French "blasonner", the German "blasoniren", the English "blazon", the Spanish "blasonar" and Russian word"blazon" - that is, to describe the coat of arms. Heralds created a special jargon to describe coats of arms (and is still used today by heraldry specialists), based on Old French and medieval Latin, since chivalry itself, as well as much associated with it - the chivalric code, weapon developments, tournaments and, finally, heraldry - originates from France, or rather from the empire of Charlemagne (747-814), inhabited by Franco-Germanic tribes. Much of the heraldic terminology is denoted by quasi-French, obsolete words. During the Middle Ages, French was used by the ruling classes in most of Western Europe, so the rules of heraldry had to be drawn up in this language. However, some heraldic terms are so ornate that they seem deliberately designed to puzzle the uninitiated. The special terms developed by the heralds will be discussed below.

It is assumed that the Russian word "coat of arms" is borrowed from the Polish "herb" and is found in many Slavic and Germanic dialects (herb, erb, irb) meaning heir or inheritance. Slavic name This identification mark directly indicates its hereditary nature. The English term "coat of arms", denoting a coat of arms, comes from the name of a special piece of clothing "surcoat" - a linen or silk cape that protects a knight's armor from the sun and rain (the word "knight" comes from the German "ritter" - horseman).

So, coats of arms acquire everything higher value in Western European countries. In England, since the 12th century, heralds have been held in high esteem at the court of kings. Edward III (1312-1377) established a heraldic college that functions to this day (this institution - "The College of Arms" - is located in London on Queen Victoria Street). In France, Louis VII (1120-1180) established the duties of heralds and ordered all royal regalia to be decorated with fleurs-de-lis. Under the French king Philip II Augustus (1165-1223), heralds began to be dressed in knightly dress with the coat of arms of the owner and were assigned certain duties at tournaments. The duties of heralds were precisely formulated by the middle of the 14th century. The title of herald becomes honorary; it is elevated to it only after some battle, tournament or ceremony. To do this, the sovereign poured a cup of wine (sometimes water) on the head of the dedicatee and gave him the name of the city or fortress associated with the dedication ceremony, which the herald kept until he received the next highest degree - the title of king of arms (French "roi d" armes", German. "Wappenkoenig"). The duties of the herald were divided into three main groups: 1) they were entrusted with declaring war, concluding peace, offering to surrender the fortress, and the like, as well as counting the killed and wounded during a battle or tournament and assessing the valor of the knights; were required to attend all solemn ceremonies - the coronation or burial of the sovereign, when elevated to knighthood, ceremonial receptions, etc.; 3) they were assigned purely heraldic duties - drawing up coats of arms and genealogies.
The work of heralds was paid very well; there was a tradition not to let the sent herald go without a gift, so as not to show disrespect to the sovereign who sent him.

Each state was divided into several heraldic marks, which were under the supervision of one “king of arms” and several heralds. For example, France in 1396 was divided into eighteen such marks. In Germany in the 14th century, individual provinces also had their own heralds.
True, since the 18th century, heralds have lost their medieval meaning, but they do not disappear without a trace, and are still used at special ceremonies - coronations, weddings, etc.

Centuries after the appearance of coats of arms, the first scientific works in heraldry and armorials proper, the earliest of which appears to be the "Zuricher Wappenrolle", compiled in Zurich in 1320.

In France, Jacob Bretex at the end of the 13th century describes tournaments and the coats of arms of their participants. But the earliest work outlining the rules of heraldry is considered to be a monograph by the Italian lawyer Bartolo, whose “Tractatus de insigniis et armis” was published in 1356.
Berry, the chief herald of France at the court of Charles VII (1403-1461), on the instructions of the king, traveled throughout the country, visiting castles, abbeys and cemeteries, studying images of coats of arms and compiling genealogies of ancient noble families. Based on his research, he compiled the work “Le registre de noblesse”. After him, French heralds began to keep regular genealogical records. A similar task was received from kings during the period from Henry VIII(1491-1547) to James II (1566-1625) English heralds who carried out so-called “heraldic visits” - inspection trips around the country for the purpose of censusing noble families, registering coats of arms and checking their eligibility. It turned out that most of the ancient coats of arms that appeared before 1500 were appropriated by the owners without permission, and not granted by the king. It was not difficult to invent a simple coat of arms. The situation in which three noblemen who were not related to each other had the same coats of arms was not uncommon, but only proved that these coats of arms were adopted by them arbitrarily. When a dispute arose on this basis between the owners of identical coats of arms, everyone appealed to the king as the last resort. It is noteworthy that when the dispute was resolved, the nobleman, forced as a result to abandon his coat of arms, consoled himself by inventing a new one for himself.
The materials collected during the "heraldic visits" formed the basis of English genealogy and heraldry.

CITY EMBRACES

The basis of city and state emblems are the seals of feudal lords, which certified the authenticity of documents sent by them from their possessions. Thus, the family coat of arms of the feudal lord was transferred first to the seal of the castle, and then to the seal of the lands belonging to him. With the emergence of new cities and the formation of new states, the requirements of the time and legal norms led to the creation of coats of arms, either completely new, not borrowed from the family coats of arms of the nobility, but bearing symbolic images indicating local attractions, historical events, the economic profile of the city, or mixed. An example is the coat of arms of Paris, in which a ship and an azure field with golden lilies coexist. The ship symbolizes, on the one hand, the Isle de la Cité on the Seine River, located in the very center of the city, which has the shape of a ship, and on the other, trade and trading companies, the main component of the city economy. An azure field with golden lilies is an old emblem of the Capetian dynasty, under whose patronage Paris was.

From the end of the XIII and during the XIV centuries, heraldry penetrated into all areas public life, and heraldic terminology becomes commonly used in cultural strata of society. Heraldry is becoming fashionable in literature, art, and everyday life. Coats of arms appear everywhere, from knights' armor to the collars of their favorite dogs. The knights who returned from the Crusades began, imitating the luxurious clothes of the eastern rulers, to wear special coats of arms, matching the colors of their coats of arms and decorated with embroidered armorial figures and mottos. Servants and squires receive clothes with the coat of arms of their masters, ordinary nobles put on a dress with the coats of arms of their lords, noble ladies begin to wear dresses with images of two coats of arms: on the right is the husband’s coat of arms, on the left is their own. Under the French king Charles V the Wise (1338-1380), clothes painted half in one color and half in another came into fashion. From the nobles and their squires, this fashion passed on to representatives of the urban classes. Thus, heraldry becomes an important component of the culture of Western Europe.

Along with individual heraldry, in the Middle Ages its other directions also developed - urban and corporate, including church. Urban artisans and merchants created guilds, registered as “legal entities” and provided with coats of arms accordingly. It was customary for guild members to wear clothing in the heraldic colors of their association - special liveries. For example, members of the London Butcher Company wore blue and white liveries, bakers wore olive green and chestnut colors, and wax candle merchants wore blue and white liveries. The London Furriers' Company were allowed to use ermine in their coat of arms, although according to medieval norms this heraldic color could only be used by royal and noble families as a sign of their exclusivity and superiority. Mainly tools of labor were placed on corporate coats of arms.

Similar coats of arms, called vowels - "armes parlantes", in which the name of the craft was conveyed by heraldic symbols, are received by many guilds and guilds. Here, for example, is what the coats of arms of the workshops of Ghent, one of the largest craft centers of the Middle Ages, looked like: coopers depicted a working tool and a tub on the shield of their coat of arms, butchers depicted a bull, fruit merchants depicted a fruit tree, barbers depicted a razor and scissors, shoemakers depicted a boot, fish traders depicted a fish, shipbuilders - a ship under construction. The workshop of goldsmiths in Paris received from King Philip VI (1293-1350) a coat of arms depicting royal gold lilies, connected to a gold cross and the emblems of their craft - gold sacred vessels and crowns, with the motto "In sacra inque coronas". Pharmacists depict scales and a lancet on their coats of arms, nailers depict a hammer and nails, wheelwrights depict wheels, manufacturers of playing cards depict symbols of card suits. In addition, corporate coats of arms contained images of the patron saints of the respective crafts. The French king Louis XIII, wanting to raise the importance of the merchants, granted coats of arms to the six merchant guilds of Paris, in which the ship from the Parisian city coat of arms was adjacent to the symbols of the corresponding crafts and mottos.

Rich townspeople wishing to imitate the aristocracy used family insignia like coats of arms, although they were not official. But the French government, in need of money, decided to turn the spreading fashion to its advantage and allowed everyone to acquire coats of arms, but for a fee. Moreover, greedy officials even obliged townspeople to acquire coats of arms. As a result of the introduction of a tax on the right to have a personal coat of arms in 1696, the treasury began to receive significant income, since a huge number of coats of arms were registered. But as a result of this, the value of coats of arms in France fell greatly - the incredibly proliferating coats of arms became worthless.

Educational institutions have also used coats of arms for centuries. Universities often received the coats of arms of their founders, such as Christ's College, Cambridge, founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort. Eton College received a coat of arms in 1449 from its founder, King Henry VI (1421-1471), a pious hermit whose failure to rule was one of the causes of the Wars of the Roses. The three white lilies on this coat of arms symbolize the Virgin Mary, in whose honor the college was founded. Many private and commercial firms today strive to obtain a coat of arms, since the presence of such a coat of arms gives the company solidity and reliability. For example, the famous English trading company Herrods received a coat of arms relatively recently.

From the first days of its existence, the church laid claim to the highest and absolute power in this world, and therefore appropriated to itself all the attributes of secular power, including coats of arms. The coat of arms of the papacy in the 14th century became the crossed gold and silver keys of the Apostle Peter - “permissive” and “knitting”, tied with a gold cord, on a scarlet shield under the papal tiara. These symbols have received various interpretations, which we will not dwell on here. Let’s just say that the coat of arms indicates the rights received by Peter to “decide” and “knit” all the affairs of the church and that these rights were inherited from him by his successors - the popes. This coat of arms is today the official coat of arms of the Vatican, but each pope receives his own coat of arms, in which the keys and tiara frame the shield. For example, the current Pope John Paul II has a coat of arms that he received while still Archbishop of Krakow from the hands of a heraldry specialist, Archbishop Bruno Heim. The cross and the letter "M" on the coat of arms symbolize Christ and the Virgin Mary. It should be said that placing any inscriptions other than mottos in the coat of arms is considered bad form, but the author of the coat of arms justifies himself by referring to the traditions of Polish heraldry (which will be discussed later), where runic writing was originally used. Indeed, the letter “M” resembles a rune of a similar design.

The flag of the Vatican shows the small coat of arms of the city-state, which lacks the scarlet shield, but this color is transferred to the cord that binds the keys. Obviously, the colors of the keys chosen for the flag are gold and silver.

The Church, which was the largest feudal lord of the Middle Ages, early began to use coats of arms for practical purposes - to identify and demonstrate the territorial affiliation of church organizations. Coats of arms have been found on the seals of abbeys and bishops since the 12th century. The most common symbols of church heraldry are the keys of St. Peter's, St.'s eagle John and other signs symbolizing various saints, details of church life, and a wide variety of crosses. In the UK there are certain rules for the coats of arms of church leaders, showing their status in the church hierarchy. For example, the coats of arms of archbishops and bishops are decorated with miters (the coat of arms of the Pope is crowned with a tiara), and on the coats of arms of lower-ranking priests special hats are placed, in accordance with their status different colors, equipped with multi-colored cords and tassels. The Dean, for example, might have a black hat with two purple single cords with three red tassels on each. Priests of the Roman Catholic Church are not under the jurisdiction of official heraldic bodies, but the coats of arms they use have been regulated by special decree since 1967. For example, the coat of arms of a Catholic archbishop may contain a green hat with two green single cords, each equipped with ten green tassels.

All state emblems of European countries were based on the family coats of arms of the ruling dynasties. Many modern European state emblems in one form or another feature lions and eagles - traditional symbols of power and statehood.

On the coat of arms of Denmark - three azure leopards on a golden field decorated with scarlet hearts - this is what the coat of arms of King Canute VI Valdemarsson looked like around 1190. Along with the English one, this coat of arms can be considered the oldest European state emblem. In the great royal coat of arms of Sweden, lions support the shield and are also present in the second and third quarters of the shield. Around 1200, the ruler of Norway got his own coat of arms, which depicts a golden crowned lion of St. on a scarlet field. Olaf, clutching a battle ax in his front paws. The lion of the Finnish coat of arms gradually took shape by the 16th century. The coats of arms of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg also feature a lion - the old emblem of the Dukes of Burgundy. The coat of arms of the Netherlands features a golden lion with a silver sword and a bunch of arrows in its paws. This is the federal emblem of the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, which gained independence in 1609. The Republican coat of arms was generally preserved after the creation of the kingdom in 1815. Modern look The coat of arms was adopted in 1917, when, on the initiative of Prince Consort Heinrich of Mecklenburg (1876-1934), the royal crown on the lion’s head was replaced with a regular one, a mantle with a canopy and shield-holder lions appeared. By decision of the Congress of Vienna, which established a new European order after the collapse of the Napoleonic empire, the Netherlands gained independence. The son of the last stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, William VI of Orange, became King of the Netherlands under the name of William I. But the southern provinces of the Netherlands decided to defend their own independence. In 1830, an uprising occurred in Brabant, and since then the Brabant golden lion in a black field began to be perceived as a symbol of the independence of the union of the southern provinces. In 1831, the Kingdom of Belgium was proclaimed, the coat of arms of which became the coat of arms of Brabant. The coat of arms of Luxembourg was approved by King William I of the Netherlands in 1815, as he was also the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. The lion can be seen on other state emblems. In international state heraldry, the lion is adjacent to another symbol of supreme power - the eagle. It can be seen on the coats of arms of Austria, Albania, Bolivia, Germany, Indonesia, Iraq, Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Poland, Syria, USA, Chile and many other countries. Unfortunately, the space of this article does not allow us to pay attention to each of them, so here we will look at only a few examples.

The Austrian three-stripe (red-white-red) shield was the coat of arms of the Dukes of Babenberg, who ruled this country until 1246. His image appeared on the seals of the dukes in the 20s and 30s of the 13th century. Earlier, in the second half of the 12th century, the image of a black eagle, a very common heraldic emblem, first appeared on the seal of the first Austrian Duke Henry II of Babenberg. The Austrian knights, led by Duke Leopold V, set out on the third crusade under the black eagle flag. Soon, in 1282, Austria came under the rule of the new Habsburg dynasty, whose family coat of arms was a red lion in a golden field. From 1438 to 1806, the Habsburgs occupied the throne of the Holy Roman Empire almost continuously, whose emblem was traditionally the double-headed eagle. It became the coat of arms of Austria, and later the Austrian Empire (1804) and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1868). The same eagle can be seen on the shield of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

Plants can be seen at the base of the UK coat of arms. These are the unspoken (silent) mottos or symbols of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. In different versions of the coat of arms, they can be depicted either individually or combined into one fantastic plant, a kind of hybrid consisting of a Tudor rose, Caledonian thistle of Scotland, Irish clover shamrock and Welsh onion.

The Tudor rose was formed from the scarlet rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York, who fought among themselves for the English throne. After the Wars of the Roses, which lasted from 1455 to 1485, the founder of the new dynasty, Henry VII (1457-1509), united the emblems of the warring houses into one. The shamrock joined the rose-thistle hybrid in 1801 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

The rose, thistle, shamrock and bow illustrate another area of ​​heraldry. Various badges attached to clothing, which could symbolize a specific person, country or some concept, appeared even before coats of arms, in antiquity, and gained great popularity in the Middle Ages. With the development of heraldry, these badges began to acquire a heraldic character. The badge usually represented one main emblem of the family coat of arms, many of which were very complex and consisted of many details. These badges were intended to show that their owners belonged to a person’s circle or to a whole family. During the Wars of the Roses, many soldiers, especially foreign mercenaries, dressed in the heraldic colors of their lord. For example, at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, soldiers in the Earl of Richmond's army wore white and green jackets, soldiers in Sir William Stanley's army wore red, and so on. In addition, they wore the personal badges of their commanders. This was a prototype of a military uniform. In all modern armies, along with elements of heraldry, there are special badges. The owner of the coat of arms could have several badges, and also change them arbitrarily at will.

Besides Western Europe, only Japan XII century developed a similar heraldic system called "mon". In some European languages ​​this is erroneously translated as "coat of arms", although it is not a coat of arms in the European sense of the word. As an example, we can consider the emblem of the imperial family - a 16-petal chrysanthemum. Similar signs were also placed on helmets, shields and armor breastplates, but unlike coats of arms, they were never depicted so large that they could be recognized from a distance. If such identification was required, "mon" was depicted on flags. Just like the European coat of arms, “mon” is used in art - for the design of clothing, furniture, and interior design. Just like in European royal families, the younger members of the Japanese imperial family had an image of a chrysanthemum modified according to certain rules. Just like in Europe, in Japan it was necessary to legally formalize "mon". Both hereditary heraldic systems arose independently of each other, but their similarity is not surprising, since feudal societies developed according to the same pattern. Like European, Japanese heraldry survived the era of chivalry and is widely used in our time.

SOME CONSIDERATIONS

In Europe, as well as in the USA and other former colonies, heraldry continues to live, despite the fact that feudalism is a thing of the past, and the coats of arms themselves play a purely decorative role. But in these countries, heraldry, which has a long history, has become a good tradition and has been democratized to a large extent. Many people who have long had no connection with the nobility, having discovered the owner of a coat of arms among their ancestors, rush to decorate their home with a coat of arms with a certificate in a beautiful frame. As a result, new coats of arms are constantly appearing. In many countries there are official heraldic societies involved in the development and approval of coats of arms and genealogical research. The large number and solid status of these organizations testifies to the real need of society for heraldry, which today is not a mossy fragment of history, but part modern culture. It is obvious that as long as there are people interested in the past of their kind, there will also remain an interest in coats of arms - witnesses of cruel wars, heroic crusades and luxurious knightly tournaments (to be convinced of this, just read the small and, of course, incomplete list of national and international heraldic organizations, which you don’t even have to read, but just skim).

Unfortunately, the present and future of heraldry is not so optimistic in Russia, where the very basis for its existence is practically absent. In addition, old Russian heraldry is not very rich in material: it includes several thousand noble and several hundred provincial and city coats of arms, most of which appeared at approximately the same time and in one place - in the corresponding administrative institution, that is, in the Senate Department of Heraldry. The “General Arms of Arms of the Noble Families of the All-Russian Empire,” which amounted to 20 volumes by 1917, contained only about 6 thousand coats of arms with a total number of noble families of about 50 thousand. Of course, this is a drop in the bucket compared to the resources of European heraldry. Although various kinds of emblems were used by the Slavs in ancient times, real coats of arms appeared in Russia five hundred years later than in Europe, and not out of practical necessity, but as a beautiful toy from the West. Therefore, without having time to take root, Russian heraldry was carried away by the whirlwinds of history.

In the process of creating website materials, the question sometimes arose - how detailed should they be? What to talk about in general terms, and what to consider in detail? The degree of detail was determined by common sense, since the purpose of the site is to give the reader only a general idea of ​​​​heraldry, which is to some extent reflected in its name. "An Excursion into Heraldry", of course, cannot claim to be a complete coverage of this vast area, since only the basic principles are presented here, illustrated by some examples. Nevertheless, the authors believe that these materials may be of interest to those who have just begun to be interested in heraldry and feel the need for basic information on this topic.
The efforts of modern heraldry as an auxiliary scientific discipline are aimed at the study of coats of arms, namely at identifying their owners, clarifying the history of their origin and establishing the time of their creation. For serious historical research, of course, more detailed information and more reliable sources will be required than "An Excursion into Heraldry." But in order to understand what a coat of arms is, what it consists of, what its main elements mean and are called, and, finally, to try to create a coat of arms yourself, guided by the principles outlined and focusing on the examples given, you can successfully use our review. In any case, the authors hope that they have mentioned here all the main points necessary for the first steps towards practical study heraldry.

List of some foreign heraldic organizations:

• AUSTRALIA: The Heraldry Council of Australia; The Heraldry Society (Australian ranch); The Heraldry Society of Australia Heraldry AustraliaInc.
• AUSTRIA: Heraldisch-Genealogische Gesellschaft.
• ENGLAND and WALES: The College of Arms; The Heraldry Society; Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies.
• BELGIUM: Heraldique et Genealogique de Belgique; Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire; L'Office Genealogique et Heraldique de Belgigue.
• HUNGARY: Magyar Heraldikai es Geneologiai Tarsasag.
• GERMANY: Der Herold; Genealogisch-Heraldische Gesellschaft; Wappen Herold; Deutsche Heraldische Gesellschaft.
• DENMARK: Heraldisk Selskab, Koebenhavn; Dansk Genealogisk Institut;Nordisk Flaggskrift.
• IRELAND: The Chief Herald of Ireland's Office; The Heraldry Scoiety of Ireland.
• ITALY: Aradico Collegio; Istituto Italiano di Genealogia ed Araldica.
• CANADA: Canadian Heraldic Authority; Heraldry Society of Canada.
• LUXEMBOURG: Conseil Heraldique de Luxembourg.
• NETHERLANDS: Koninklijk Nederlands Genootschap voor Geslact en Wapenkunde; Central Bureau voor Genealogie.
• NORWAY: Heraldisk Forening Norsk; Norsk Vapenring; Norsk Slekthistorik Forening; Kunstindustrimuseet i Oslo; Middelalderforum; Universitetet i Oslo, Historisk Institutt; Universitetet i Oslo Ethnografisk Museum.
• NEW ZEALAND: The Heraldry Society of New Zealand; The Heraldry Society (New Zealand Branch).
• POLAND: Heraldic Records Archive.
• PORTUGAL: Institutio Portuges de Heraldica.
• SCANDINAVIAN SOCIETY: Societas Heraldica Scandanavica.
• USA: New England Historic Genealogical Society; North American Institute of Heraldic and Flag Studies; American College of Heraldry; The Augustan Society Inc; Genealogical and Heraldic Institute of America; National Genealogical Society.
• FINLAND: Heraldica Scandanavia; Suomen Heraldinen Seura; Finlands National committee for Genealogi och Heraldik; Genealogiska Samfundet i Finland; Heraliske Sallskapet i Finland.
• FRANCE: Federation des Societes de Genealogie, d"Heraldique et de Sigillographie; La Societe Franeise D"Heraldique et de Sigillographie; La Societe du Grand Armorial de France.
• SCOTLAND: Lord Lyon King of Arms, and the Court of Lord Lyon; The Heraldry Society of Scotland; The Scottish Genealogical Society.
• SWITZERLAND: Heraldische Schweizersche Gesellschaft.
• SWEDEN: Swedish state herald: Clara Neveous, Riksarkivet - Heraldiska sektionen; Svenska Heraldiska Foreningen (Heraldry Society of Sweden); Heraldiska Samfundet; Skandinavisk Vapenrulla (SVR); Svenska Nationalkommitten for Genealogi och Heraldik; Voestra Sveriges Heraldiska Saellskap; Riddarhuset; Genealogiska Foereningen Genealogical Society).
• South Africa: The State Herald; Bureau of Heraldry; The Heraldry Society of Southern Africa.
• JAPAN: The Heraldry Society of Japan.
• INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: Academie Internationale d'Heraldique; Confederation Internationale de Genealogie et d'Heraldique; International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Studies; International Fellowship of Armorists (Heraldry International); International Genealogical Institute; Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.

The coat of arms of Russia was approved on November 30, 1993.

Description of the coat of arms

Based on the Regulations on the State Emblem of the Russian Federation, clause 1:

"The state emblem of the Russian Federation is an image of a golden double-headed eagle placed on a red heraldic shield; above the eagle - three historical crowns of Peter the Great (above the heads - two small ones and above them - one larger size); in the eagle's paws are a scepter and an orb; on the eagle's chest on a red shield is a horseman slaying a dragon with a spear."

Symbolism

Three crowns signify the country's sovereignty. The scepter and orb are a symbol of state power and the unity of the state. The author of the most common image of the coat of arms of the Russian Federation is People's Artist Evgeniy Ilyich Ukhnalev. The symbol of the double-headed eagle first appeared in the history of Russia in 1497, although it was found on Tver coins even earlier. The double-headed eagle is a symbol of the Byzantine Empire. The borrowing of this symbol, as well as from Serbia, Albania from Byzantium, is explained by economic, diplomatic, as well as cultural proximity. The heraldic shield became red for the reason that the image of an eagle on red belongs to the Byzantine heraldic tradition, and the image of an eagle on yellow is closer to the Roman heraldic tradition (coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire).

Possible coat of arms options

All of the above coats of arms are acceptable for use. Most often, the coat of arms is depicted in full color with a shield, as well as in black and white without a shield (on seals).

History of the origin of the coat of arms of Russia

Coat of arms of Russia 1497

The process of uniting the disparate principalities began before John III. It was his father, Vasily II Vasilyevich (ruled from 1435 to 1462), who began the process of unifying Russian lands.

Under John III of Moscow, the principality finally gained strength and subjugated Pskov, Novgorod, and Ryazan. During this period, Tver significantly weakened as a center for the unification of lands.

During the reign of John III, the traditions of government began to change. All the nobility in the subject lands lost their privileges. It was during the reign of John III that the veche bell of Novgorod was dismantled and brought to Moscow.

John III also built a new diplomatic policy. He took the title "Sovereign of All Rus'".

During this period, John III marries the Byzantine queen Sophia (Zinaida) Fominichna Palaiologos.

"John III wisely adopted for Russia the symbolic coat of arms of the Byzantine Empire: a black double-headed eagle on a yellow field and combined it with the Moscow coat of arms - a horseman (St. George) in white clothes on a white horse, slaying a serpent. The state emblem, according to state law, is recognized as a symbol, a visible distinctive sign of the state itself, emblematically depicted on the state seal, on a coin, on a banner, etc. And as such a symbol, the coat of arms of the state expresses the distinctive idea and principles that the state considers itself called upon to implement.

Due to the use of King John III coat of arms Byzantine together with Moscow on the seals of internal and external state acts that have been preserved since 1497; this year is generally considered to be the year of the adoption and merger of the coat of arms of the Byzantine Empire with the coat of arms of the Russian kingdom". /E.N. Voronets. Kharkov. 1912./

Thus, the coat of arms appeared at the moment of its appearance modern state Russian.

It is definitely impossible to say that the coat of arms appeared in 1497, since the matrices for printing coins lasted for 5-15 years. On a coin from 1497, a spearman was reflected on one side, and a double-headed eagle on the other. But we can say for sure that this period can be limited from 1490 to 1500.

Theories of the appearance of the double-headed eagle in Russia as an official symbol

There are several points of view on the appearance of images of a double-headed eagle in Russia (Rus). Firstly, the eagle was originally used on coins and seals of Tver and Moscow. Secondly, the eagle began to be used at approximately the same time - approximately the end of the 15th century, together with images of a spearman.

Currently, there are three theories explaining the appearance of the double-headed eagle on the seals of kings.

Byzantine theory

This theory was actively supported by Russian monarchists and many historians. In most sources it remains the only one. According to this theory, the double-headed eagle began to be used after the marriage of John III with the Byzantine queen Sophia (Zinaida) Fominichna Palaeologus.

This theory is also supported by the fact that the marriage of monarchs coincided with the appearance in Rus' of coins combining the image of a spearman on one side and a double-headed eagle on the other.

Theory of symbol borrowing in the Holy Roman Empire

In the Holy Roman Empire until 1440, a regular eagle was used. After this period it changes to a double-headed eagle.

Some historians and heraldists note that in Muscovy the double-headed eagle could have been adopted for use under the influence of the Holy Roman Empire.

The theory of symbol borrowing in the Balkan countries

The third version of the borrowing of the symbol is the borrowing of the double-headed eagle from a number of Balkan countries: Bulgaria, Serbia.

Each of the theories has its own right to exist.

You can read more about the appearance of the double-headed eagle on the coats of arms of the world in a separate article: eagle in heraldry.

Since 1539, Russian heraldry has been influenced by the Central European heraldic tradition. In accordance with it, the eagle’s beaks are open and its tongue is protruding. This position of the bird is called: “armed”

During this period, the double-headed eagle was transferred from the reverse of the seal to the obverse. Its meaning is fixed in Russian heraldry.

On back side the first appearance of a mythological animal: the unicorn.

From this period, a shield appears on the double-headed eagle’s chest (at first of a baroque heraldic form), on which there is a rider with a spear, striking a dragon on one side (the main side) and a unicorn on the shield on the other (reverse side).

This version of the coat of arms differs from the previous one in that there is now one jagged crown above the eagle’s heads, which symbolizes the unity and supremacy of the Moscow Prince Ivan IV the Terrible over the Russian lands.

On this seal, on each side there are emblems of 12 Russian lands (in total, 24 emblems on both sides).

Unicorn on state seals

The unicorn first appeared as one of the symbols of state power in 1560. The meaning of this symbol is still not clear. It appeared on state seals several more times - during the reigns of Boris Godunov, False Dmitry, Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich. After 1646 this symbol was not used.

During the Time of Troubles, the state emblem was brought into line with the European heraldic tradition for a short period of time. The spearman was turned to the left, and crowns were again placed above the heads of the eagles. The eagle's wings began to be depicted spread out.

After the end of the Time of Troubles and the reign of the new Romanov dynasty in Russia, the state seal, coat of arms and other symbols changed.

The main changes were that, in accordance with European heraldic tradition, the eagle's wings were now spread out. In accordance with Russian emblematic tradition, the spearman is turned to the right. Three crowns were finally placed above the eagle's heads. The beaks of the eagle's heads are open. The scepter and orb are clutched in the paws.

It was under Emperor Alexei Mikhailovich that a description of the state coat of arms first appeared.

"The eastern eagle shines with three crowns:
Reveals Faith, Hope, Love for God.
Krile stretches out - embraces all the worlds of the end:
north, south, from the east all the way to the west of the sun
with outstretched wings covers the good"("Slavic Bible" 1663, poetic form of description).

The second description is given in the state normative act: Decree “On the royal title and the state seal” dated December 14, 1667:

"The double-headed eagle is the coat of arms of the Great Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of All Great, Little and White Russia, the Self-President, His Royal Majesty of the Russian Kingdom, on which (the coat of arms - editor's note) three crowns are depicted, signifying the three great Kazan, The Astrakhan, Siberian glorious kingdoms, submitting to the God-protected and highest power of His Royal Majesty the Most Gracious Sovereign and command... on the Persians (on the chest - editor's note) there is an image of the heir (this is how the rider was interpreted - editor's note); in the claws (claws - editor's note) a scepter and an apple (power - editor's note), and reveals the most gracious Sovereign, His Royal Majesty the Autocrat and Possessor".

Coat of arms of Russia during the reign of Peter the Great

Since 1710, the horseman on the Russian coat of arms is increasingly associated with St. George the Victorious, and not with a simple spear-bearer. Also during the reign of Peter the Great, crowns on the eagle’s head began to be depicted in the form of imperial crowns. Petal and other crowns were no longer used from this point on.

Master - Haupt	Matrix of the state seal of 1712 Master - Becker

It was under Peter I that the coat of arms adopted the following color design: the double-headed eagle became black; beak, eyes, tongue, paws, golden-colored attributes; the field became golden; the affected dragon turned black; St. George the Victorious was depicted in silver. This color scheme was followed by all subsequent rulers from the House of Romanov.

Under Peter the Great, the coat of arms received its first official description. Under the leadership of Count B.Kh. von Minich can be found today: “The State Coat of Arms in the old way: a double-headed eagle, black, on the heads of the crown, and at the top in the middle there is a large Imperial crown - gold; in the middle of that eagle is George on a white horse, defeating the serpent: epancha (cloak - Ed.) and the spear are yellow, the crown (crown crowning St. George - Ed.) is yellow, the serpent is black; the field around (that is, around the double-headed eagle - Ed.) is white, and in the middle (that is, underneath). St. George - editor's note) red."

In the 17th century, the state emblem underwent a large number of changes and variations.

Coats of arms of Russia under Paul I

After Peter the Great, the coat of arms of Russia changed significantly under Paul I. It was under this ruler that all variants of the coat of arms of Russia were unified and brought to one form

IN given year The Maltese cross appears on the coat of arms of Russia. This year Russia took the island of Malta under its protection. The following year, Britain captured the island. Paul ordered the transfer of the Order of Malta to Russia. The fact that the Maltese cross remained on the Russian coat of arms meant its claim to this territory.

Also, under Paul I, a full coat of arms with shield holders appeared, made in accordance with the traditions of that time. At this time, the “Manifesto on the full coat of arms of the All-Russian Empire” was prepared. The large coat of arms contained 43 coats of arms of the lands that were part of it. The archangels Michael and Gabriel became the shield holders. The manifesto never came into force for the reason that the head of state was killed.

Under Alexander I, this type of coat of arms first appeared. It was different from the standard coat of arms. The main difference was that the coats of arms of the dependent territories (Finland, Astrakhan, Kazan, etc.) were not placed on the military coat of arms. The shield on the eagle's chest had a distinct heraldic shape from the French shield. The wings were not raised up.

Under the next emperor, Nicholas I, this tradition was consolidated.

This coat of arms existed during the reign of Nicholas I.

Köhne reform (1857)

Köhne Bernhard was born in 1817 in Berlin. In 1844 he was appointed to the position of curator of the numismatic department of the Hermitage. In 1857, Köhne was appointed head of the armorial department of the heraldry department.

The book “Armorial of the Russian Empire” (XI-XIII) was published under the editorship of Koehne.

It was Bernhard Köhne who organized the coats of arms of the territories of the Russian Empire. It is believed that it was under the influence of Koehne that the state received a new state flag, black, yellow and white. Although in fact, Koehne used only already developed historical materials (it is worth paying attention to the design of the large full coat of arms of the Russian Empire from 1800; on it, shield holders support a yellow flag with a black eagle with their free hand).

Köhne, in accordance with the heraldic tradition that had developed at that time, brought all coats of arms into conformity. The first coat of arms corrected by Koehne was the coat of arms of the Russian Empire. It was under him that three versions of the coat of arms were formed: large, medium, small.

As mentioned above, under the leadership of Köhne, the artist Alexander Fadeev created a new design of the coat of arms.

Main changes in the coat of arms:

• drawing of a double-headed eagle;
• added the number of shields (increased from six to eight) on the eagle’s wings;
• the rider slaying the dragon now faces heraldic right (towards the eagle's right wing).

A year later, under the leadership of Köhne, the medium and large coats of arms were also prepared.

In this coat of arms, the main elements of the coat of arms of the previous version were retained. The color of the crowns has changed - it is now silver.

All attributes of monarchy were removed from the seal, and the shields were removed.

The sketch of the emblem-coat of arms was made by Vladislav Lukomsky, Sergei Troinitsky, Georgy Narbut, Ivan Bilibin.

An interesting fact is that the emblem was used on the reverse of coins issued by the Central Bank of Russia at the end of the 20th century. - beginning of XXI. Many people mistakenly consider this emblem to be the state emblem, which is a misconception.

Common misconceptions about the coat of arms of Russia

It is not the coat of arms of Moscow that is placed on the eagle’s chest, although the elements are very similar to the coat of arms of Moscow. No less important is the fact that the horseman of the state coat of arms is not an image of St. George. On the coat of arms of Moscow the horseman is “galloping”, and on the state emblem it is “riding”. On the coat of arms of Moscow, the rider has a headdress. On the coat of arms of Russia the dragon is prostrate (lying on its back), and on the city coat of arms the dragon stands on four legs.

Use of the coat of arms on facades

Sources

• Coats of arms of cities, provinces, regions and towns of the Russian Empire, included in the complete collection of laws from 1649 to 1900/ compiled. P. P. von-Winkler;
• “How the black, yellow and white colors of Russian heraldic symbolization came about and what they mean” Explained by E.N. Voronets. Kharkov. 1912
• Manifesto of Emperor Paul I on the full coat of arms of the All-Russian Empire. Approved December 16, 1800;
• Website of the Heraldic Council under the President of the Russian Federation;
• Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 30, 1993 N 2050 (as amended on September 25, 1999);
• Decree "On the royal title and the state seal" dated December 14, 1667.
• "Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron."
• Some of the photographs were provided by Oransky A.V. and is prohibited from copying.

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 overgrown 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 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 just such symbolism were invented rather based on the fact of use. The reasons why they were chosen by a certain ancient ruler are unlikely to ever be established for certain.

The history of the coat of arms of Russia from the time of the Dnieper Slavs to the present day. St. George the Victorious, double-headed eagle, Soviet coat of arms. Changes in the coat of arms. 22 images

In Ancient Rus' Of course, such a coat of arms has never existed before. The Slavs in the 6th-8th centuries AD had intricate ornaments that symbolized a particular territory. Scientists learned about this through the study of burials, some of which preserved fragments of women's and men's clothing with embroidery.

During the times of Kievan Rus the great princes had their own princely seals, on which were placed images of an attacking falcon - the family sign of the Rurikovichs.

In Vladimir Rus' Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavovich Nevsky has an image on his princely seal St. George the Victorious with a spear. Subsequently, this sign of a spearman appears on the front side of the coin (kopeck) and it can already be considered the first real full-fledged coat of arms of Rus'.

In Muscovite Rus', under Ivan III, who was married by dynastic marriage to the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Sophia Paleologus, an image appears double-headed Byzantine eagle. On the royal seal of Ivan III, George the Victorious and the Double-Headed Eagle are depicted as equals. The Grand Duke's seal of Ivan III sealed in 1497 his “exchange and allotment” charter for the land holdings of the appanage princes. From this moment on, the Double-Headed Eagle becomes the state emblem of our country.

The reign of Grand Duke Ivan III (1462-1505) - the most important stage the formation of a unified Russian state. Ivan III managed to finally eliminate dependence on the Golden Horde, repelling the campaign of the Mongol Khan 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. 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 St. George the Victorious appeared - one of the oldest symbols of princely power in Rus'. St. George the Victorious is placed in a shield on the chest of a double-headed eagle, crowned with one or two crowns topped with a cross.

Late 16th – early 17th centuries

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 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 Calvary 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 middle of the 17th century, a seal was widely used, on which a double-headed eagle with St. George the Victorious on the chest is crowned with two crowns, and an Orthodox eight-pointed cross rises between the heads of the eagle.

17th century

The Time of Troubles ended, Russia repelled the claims to the throne of the Polish and Swedish dynasties. Numerous impostors were defeated, and the uprisings that flared in the country were suppressed. Since 1613, by decision of the Zemsky Sobor, the Romanov dynasty began to rule in Russia. Under the first king of this dynasty - Mikhail Fedorovich - the State Emblem changes somewhat. In 1625, the double-headed eagle was depicted for the first time under three crowns. In 1645, under the second king of the dynasty, Alexei Mikhailovich, the first Great State Seal appeared, on which a double-headed eagle with St. George the Victorious on the chest was crowned with three crowns. From that time on, this type of image was constantly used.

Next stage of change State emblem came after the Pereyaslav Rada, Ukraine’s entry into the Russian state. A seal was attached to the charter of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Bogdan Khmelnitsky dated March 27, 1654, on which for the first time a double-headed eagle under three crowns is depicted holding symbols of power in its claws: scepter and orb.

From that moment on, the eagle began to be depicted with raised wings .

In 1654, a forged double-headed eagle was installed on the spire of the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin.

In 1663, for the first time in Russian history, the Bible, the main book of Christianity, came out of the printing press in Moscow. It is no coincidence that it depicted the State Emblem of Russia and gave a poetic “explanation” of it:

The eastern eagle shines with three crowns,

Shows faith, hope, love for God,

The wings are spread out to embrace all the worlds of the end,

North, south, from the east all the way to the west of the sun

Goodness covers with outstretched wings.

In 1667, after a long war between Russia and Poland over Ukraine, the Truce of Andrusovo was concluded. To seal this agreement, a Great Seal with a double-headed eagle under three crowns, with a shield with St. George on the chest, with a scepter and orb in its paws.

Peter's time

During the reign of Peter I, a new emblem was included in the state heraldry of Russia - the order chain of the Order of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called. This order, approved by Peter in 1698, became the first in the system of higher state awards Russia. The Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, one of the heavenly patrons of Peter Alekseevich, was declared the patron saint of Russia.

The blue oblique St. Andrew's Cross becomes the main element of the insignia of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called and the symbol of the Russian Navy. Since 1699, there have been images of a double-headed eagle surrounded by a chain with the sign of the Order of St. Andrew. And next year the Order of St. Andrew is placed on the eagle, around a shield with a rider.

It should be noted that already from 1710 (a decade earlier than Peter I was proclaimed emperor (1721), and Russia - an empire) - they began to depict the eagle imperial crowns.

From the first quarter of the 18th century, the colors of the double-headed eagle became brown (natural) or black.

The era of palace coups, Catherine's time

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 St. George the Victorious in a red field.” In 1736, Empress Anna Ioanovna invited a Swiss engraver, 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. Catherine the Great did not make changes to the state emblem, preferring to maintain continuity and traditionalism.

Pavel the First

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.

IN short time reign of Emperor Paul I (1796-1801), Russia was 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, there was a shield with St. George (Paul interpreted it as the “indigenous coat of arms of Russia”), superimposed on the Maltese cross.

Paul I did 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.

First 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 its paws are not only the now 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 Pavlovich the First, 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, 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 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 of 1882.

July 24, 1882 Emperor Alexander III 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 of 1883

On February 23, 1883, the Middle and two versions of the Small coat of arms were approved. 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.

State emblem of the Provisional Government

After the February Revolution of 1917, power in Russia was gained by Masonic organizations, which formed their own Provisional Government and, among other things, a commission to prepare a new coat of arms of Russia. One of the leading artists on the commission was N.K. Roerich (aka Sergei Makranovsky), a famous freemason, who later decorated the design of the American dollar with Masonic symbols. The Masons plucked the coat of arms and deprived it of all the attributes of sovereignty - the crown, scepter, orbs, the wings of the eagle were limply lowered down, which symbolized the submission of the Russian state to the Masonic plans.. Subsequently, after the victory of the August revolution of 1991, when the Masons again felt strength, the image of the Double-Headed Eagle , adopted in February 1917, was to again become the official coat of arms of Russia. The Masons even managed to place the image of their eagle on the obverse of modern Russian coins, where it can be seen to this day. The image of an eagle, modeled in February 1917, continued to be used as an official image 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 ancient Byzantine, but political, party symbols: the double-headed eagle was replaced by a red shield, which depicted a crossed hammer and sickle and the rising 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.

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 USSR

After the formation of the USSR in 1924, the State Emblem of the USSR was adopted. The historical essence of Russia as a power passed precisely to the USSR, and not to the RSFSR, which played a subordinate role, therefore it is the coat of arms of the USSR that should be considered as the new coat of arms of Russia.

The Constitution of the USSR, adopted by the Second Congress of Soviets on January 31, 1924, officially legalized the new coat of arms. At first it had three turns of red ribbon on each half of the wreath. On each turn was placed the motto “Workers of all countries, unite!” in Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Georgian, Armenian, Turkic-Tatar languages. In the mid-1930s, a round with a motto in Latinized Turkic was added, and the Russian version migrated to the central baldric.

In 1937, the number of mottos on the coat of arms reached 11. In 1946 - 16. In 1956, after the liquidation of the sixteenth republic within the USSR, Karelo-Finnish, the motto in Finnish was removed from the coat of arms, until the end of the existence of the USSR there were 15 ribbons on the coat of arms with mottos (one of them - the Russian version - on the central sling).

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.

December 8, 2000 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. Above the heads of the eagle are depicted 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; he reflects different stages national history, and continues them in the third millennium.

Russian Civilization