Coat of arms of Russia

The coat of arms of Russia is one of the state symbols of the Russian Federation, along with the state flag and the national anthem. The current coat of arms was approved by Decree No. 2050 of the President of the Russian Federation dated on 30 November 1993. On 25 December 2000, President of Russia signed the Federal Constitutional Law No. 2 "On the State Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation" which had retained the 1993 version as the state symbol and approved the rules for its use.

It derives from the earlier coat of arms of the Russian Empire. Though modified more than once since the reign of Ivan III (1462–1505), the current coat of arms is directly derived from its medieval original, with the double-headed eagle having Byzantine and earlier antecedents. The general tincture corresponds to the fifteenth-century standard.

Description and usage

The two main elements of Russian state symbols (the two-headed eagle and Saint George slaying the dragon) predate Peter the Great. According to the Kremlin's website:

«...четырёхугольный, с закруглёнными нижними углами, заострённый в оконечности красный геральдический щит с золотым двуглавым орлом, поднявшим вверх распущенные крылья. Орел увенчан двумя малыми коронами и — над ними — одной большой короной, соединенными лентой. В правой лапе орла — скипетр, в левой — держава. На груди орла, в красном щите, — серебряный всадник в синем плаще на серебряном коне, поражающий серебряным копьём черного опрокинутого навзничь и попранного конём дракона.»

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Which is translated as:

"… a gold two-headed eagle with raised extended wings set against a four-cornered red heraldic shield with rounded lower corners. Two small crowns top the eagle's heads, with one large crown above them. The three crowns are linked by a ribbon. The eagle holds a sceptre in its right claw and an orb in its left claw. The eagle bears a red shield on its breast depicting a silver horseman in a blue cape, mounted upon a silver horse and slaying a black dragon with a silver spear."

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The current coat of arms was designed by artist Yevgeny Ukhnalyov; it was adopted on 30 November 1993 by a presidential decree, and then by a federal law signed by President Vladimir Putin on December 20, 2000.

thumb|Arms emblazoned on the 2018 25 ruble coin

Today, the imperial crowns on each head stand for the unity and sovereignty of Russia, both as a whole and in its constituent republics and regions. The orb and scepter grasped in the eagle's talons are traditional heraldic symbols of sovereign power and authority. Of note is that the scepter shows the Droste effect, as it is topped by a miniature image of the coat-of-arms itself. They have been retained in the modern Russian arms despite the fact that the Russian Federation is not a monarchy, which led to objections by the Communists even though both the blue ribbon and the collar of the Order of St. Andrew (which in the imperial arms supported the three crowns and surrounded the central shield) have been removed from the current coat of arms.

It appears on the federal buildings and is on the cover of the national passport.

The standard of the president of Russia is a squared Russian tricolour defaced with the coat of arms of Russia, the banner of the Russian Armed Forces also has the coat of arms centered on the obverse side. Some state awards of Russia are also designed based on the coat of arms, including the State Prize. Russian ruble coins depict the coat of arms on the obverse side since 2016.

Differences between 1993 and 2000 descriptions

The description of the coat of arms of Russia in the Regulation of the same name, approved by the Decree of the President of Russia of November 30, 1993, No. 2050 "On the State Emblem of the Russian Federation," differs from the description of the coat of arms of Russia in the Federal Constitutional Law No. 2 of December 25, 2000 "On the State Emblem of the Russian Federation". However, both regulatory legal acts contain the same drawing of the state emblem by artist Yevgeny Ukhnalyov in their appendices. In 1993, president Boris Yeltsin signed a decree to replace the Communist design by the present coat of arms.

Evolution

File:Печать Мстислава Владимирович XII век.svg|1094–1132: Seal of Mstislav I Monomakh

File:Seal of Mstislav Mstislavich Udatny.png|1209–1227: Seal of Mstislav Mstislavich

File:Печать Святослава Всеволодовича.JPG|1200–1252: Seal of Sviatoslav III of Vladimir

File:Seal of Alexander Nevsky 1236.png|1236–1263: Seal of Alexander Nevsky (Theodore Stratelates slaying the giant serpent)

File:Печать Иван Калита.JPG|1325–1340: Seal of Ivan I

File:Печать Дмитрия-Донского 2 Reverse.svg|1359–1389: Seal of Dmitry Donskoy

File:Печать Василия I Дмитриевича, 1389.svg|1389–1425: Seal of Vasily I

File:Печать Василия II Васильевича Темного.svg|1425–1462: Seal of Vasily II

File:Oreshnikov i Proris.jpg|1446–1447: Silver coin of Dmitry Shemyaka

File:Seal of Ivan 3.png|1472–1502: Seal of Ivan III the Great

File:Seal of Ivan 4 1539.svg|1539: Seal of Ivan IV the Terrible 1533–1584

File:Seal of Ivan 4 1577.png|1577: Greater seal of Ivan IV the Terrible 1533–1584

File:COA by Ivan IV of Russia 1577.png|1577: Coat of arms under Ivan IV 1533–1584

File:Russia03.gif|1584–1667: Coat of arms of the Tsardom of Russia

File:Russian coa 1589 grozny.png|1584–1598: Seal of Feodor I

File:Russian coa 1605 lzhe.png|1605: Seal of False Dmitry I

File:Olearius seal MF.gif|1613–1645: Seal of Michael

File:Olearius seal AM.gif|1645–1654: Seal of Alexis

File:Novikov triple eagle.jpg|1654: Variant coat of arms under Alexis (after Pereiaslav Agreement)

File:Russian-coa-1667.png|1667–1721: Coat of arms of the Tsardom of Russia

File:Russian-coat-arm-1667.svg|1667–1721: Variant coat of arms of the Tsardom of Russia

File:Печать Алексея Михаиловича, 1667 год.gif|1667–1676: Seal of Alexis

File:Great Seal of the Tsardom of Russia in the early 18th century (retouched).jpg|1682–1696: Seal of Peter I

File:Acta Eruditorum - III stemmi, 1708 – BEIC 13371326.jpg|1698–1699: Sketch of seal under Peter I (by )

File:«Арифметика» Магницкого 01.jpg|1703: Coat of arms under Peter I (published in the book Arithmetic)

File:Московский герб. Henri Abraham Chatelain (1714-1720).jpg|1714–1720:Coat of arms under Peter I

File:CoA of Russian Empire (1721).svg|1721–1725: Imperial coat of arms under Peter the Great

File:Catherinecoa.gif|1725–1727: Imperial coat of arms under Catherine I

File:Ekaterina I ruble.jpg|1725–1727: Silver ruble under Catherine I

File:Государственный герб 1730.jpg|1727–1730: Imperial coat of arms under Peter II

File:Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire 1730.png|1730–1798, 1801–1825: Imperial coat of arms under Anna, Ivan VI, Elizabeth, Peter III, Catherine the Great and Alexander I

File:Rubl 1732.jpg|1730–1737: Silver ruble under Anna

File:Rubl 1739.jpg|1737–1740: Silver ruble under Anna

File:Іоан Антонович. Рубль 1741 року..jpg|1741: Silver ruble under Ivan VI

File:Dondog-Dashi banner.jpg|1741–1762: Imperial coat of arms under Elizabeth

File:Ryskt mynt av koppar med dubbelörn, 1780 - Skoklosters slott - 108161.tif|1758–1796: Copper coin of 5 kopecks under Elizabeth and Catherine the Great

File:Maltese cross Russian coat of arms.jpg|1799–1801: Imperial coat of arms under Paul I

File:Russian COA 1796 a.jpg|1799–1801: Variant coat of arms under Paul I

File:Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire 1799-1801.png|1799–1801: Variant coat of arms under Paul I

File:Lesser Coat of Arms of Russian Empire (1800-1802).svg|1799–1801: Variant coat of arms under Paul I

File:Russian Empire-Full coat of arms.3.jpg|1800: The draft of the greater coat of arms presented to Paul I

File:R2-kopeiki-1825-goda-300x300.jpg|1810–1830: Copper coin of 2 kopecks under Alexander I and Nicholas I

File:Coat of arms of Russia in 1803-1830.gif|1803–1840: Variant of coat of arms under Alexander I and Nicholas I

File:Russian COA 1825—55 B.jpg|1825–1828: Imperial coat of arms under Nicholas I

File:5 kopek, 1833. Ryskt mynt - Skoklosters slott - 109914.tif|1830–1839: Copper coin under Nicholas I

File:Russian COA 1825—55 A.jpg|1828–1856: Imperial coat of arms under Nicholas I

File:Coat of Arms of Russian Empire (1876).jpg|1856–1882: Greater coat of arms under Alexander II

File:Greater Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire 1856.jpg|1856–1882: Variant greater coat of arms under Alexander II

File:Middle Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire 1856.jpg|1856–1882: Middle coat of arms under Alexander II

File:Russian Coat of Arms 1856.png|1856–1882: Lesser coat of arms under Alexander II

File:Greater Coats of Arms of the Russian Empire - The sketch of Adolf Sharleman (1882).jpg|1882–1917: Greater coat of arms under Alexander III and Nicholas II

File:Middle Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire.png|1882–1917: Middle coat of arms under Alexander III and Nicholas II

File:Lesser Coat of Arms of Russian Empire 2.png|1882–1917: Lesser coat of arms under Alexander III and Nicholas II

File:Lesser coat of arms of the Russian Empire.svg|1882–1917: Variant lesser coat of arms under Alexander III and Nicholas II

File:Russian coa 1917.svg|1917: Provisional Government/ Republican coat of arms

File:Coat of arms of the Kolchak government (unofficial).png|1918–1920: Coat of arms of the Russian State

File:3 rub Kolchak.jpg|1919: Banknote of 3 of the Russian State

File:Emblem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1918–1920).svg|1918–1920: 1st coat of arms of the Russian SFSR

File:Emblem of the Russian SFSR (1920–1954).svg|1920–1954: 2nd coat of arms of the Russian SFSR

File:Coat of arms of the Soviet Union 1923–1936.svg|1923–1931: 1st coat of arms of the Soviet Union (6 languages)

File:Coat of arms of the Soviet Union (1931–1936).svg|1931–1936: 2nd coat of arms of the Soviet Union (7 languages)

File:Coat of arms of the Soviet Union (1936–1946).svg|1936–1946: 3rd coat of arms of the Soviet Union (11 languages)

File:Coat of arms of the Soviet Union (1946-1956).svg|1946–1955: 4th coat of arms of the Soviet Union (16 languages)

File:Coat of arms of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1954-1978).svg|1954–1978: 3rd coat of arms of the Russian SFSR (without dividing points in )

File:State Emblem of the Soviet Union.svg|1956–1991: 5th coat of arms of the Soviet Union (15 languages)

File:Emblem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1978–1991), Emblem of the Russian Federation (1991–1992).svg|1978–1992: 4th coat of arms of the Russian SFSR (added a five-pointed star)

File:Coat of arms of the Russian Federation (1992-1993).svg|1992–1993: Coat of arms of the Russian Federation after the dissolution of the Soviet Union

File:Russia coat federal constitutional law.jpg|1993: Present coat of arms (official publication)

File:Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation.svg|1993: Present coat of arms

File:Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation 2.svg|1993: Present coat of arms (other variant)

File:Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation bw.svg|1993: Present coat of arms (single-color version)

File:Digital gerb russia max.svg|2017: Present digital coat of arms (with details)

File:Digital gerb russia.svg|2017: Present digital coat of arms

File:Emblem of the President of Russia.svg|2019: Present digital coat of arms used by the Kremlin office and the President of Russia

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Notes

References

External links

Heraldry of the Russian Empire
The Code of Principal Laws of the Russian Empire (Свод Основных Государственных Законов, 1906) (archived 29 September 2007)