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The double-headed eagle has been officially adopted as the state emblem of the Russian Federation.
In order to restore historical symbols of the Russian state, and taking into account that the State Emblem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic had lost its symbolic significance, on November 30, 1993, President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin signed Decree No. 2050, "On the State Emblem of the Russian Federation," which approved the use of the image of a double-headed eagle as the official emblem of Russia.
The double-headed eagle is one of the oldest symbols and heraldic signs. Its image can be found on reliefs and artifacts from the Hittite Kingdom (13th century BC), the Han Dynasty in China (206 BC - 220 AD), the Sasanian Empire in Iran (224-651 AD), and in the Arab world during the 12th-14th centuries.
The appearance of the double-headed eagle as a symbol in the Roman Empire most likely dates back to when the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337 AD) began using it after founding Constantinople to show that, despite being divided into Eastern and Western empires, they were still one entity.
Thanks to the Crusades, the image of the double-headed eagle began to appear in Western Europe. During the 12th and 13th centuries, this image was used by the Hohenstaufen dynasty - emperors and kings of the Holy Roman Empire. It can be found on the gold coins of Frederick I Barbarossa and on the coats of arms of Sicilian kings from 1197 to 1268. It is believed that in 1434, under Emperor Sigismund, the black double-headed eagle on a golden shield with golden beaks and claws became the official emblem of the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1204, Constantinople was conquered and destroyed by the knights as a result of the Fourth Crusade. The double-headed eagle, which is now a symbol of Greece, is preserved in the coats of arms of several Greek families, including the Komnenos, Kantakouzines, and Palaiologos families, whose ancestors had ruled the Byzantine Empire. When the Palaiologos dynasty retook Constantinople in 1261, they adopted the double-headed eagle as their symbol, and it became the official state symbol of Byzantium in the first half of the 14th century.
Since the 1490s, the double-headed eagle has been a symbol of supreme power for the Moscow prince. It was also accompanied by the image of an armed rider, which first appeared on grand ducal seals in the 13th century. Specifically, the year 1497 was marked by a charter issued by Ivan III to his sons Fyodor and Ivan of Volotsk. This charter was accompanied by a seal bearing the image of a double-headed eagle under two crowns. The reason for this use of the symbol was the marriage of Ivan III with the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, Sophia Palaiologina, in 1472. The double-headed eagle represented the continuity of the Moscow grand dukes with Roman and Byzantine emperors, and signified Moscow's claim to the status of the Third Rome and the heir of Constantinople.
During the reign of Ivan IV Vasilyevich, known as the Terrible, in 1547, he became the first Russian Tsar. A legend developed that linked the Russian Grand Dukes to the Roman Emperor, Augustus, through his relative, Prus. According to this legend, this connection confirmed the right to use the double–headed eagle as a symbol.
The appearance of the royal seal also changed. A type of "armed eagle" with open beaks and protruding tongues began to be used. In the 1560s, a unicorn appeared on the chest of the eagle, along with a rider holding a spear. Later, images of a double–headed eagle with a unicorn and, later, a rising lion appeared. These images could represent the main Russian principalities around which the rest of the state's lands were grouped.. Presumably, the heraldic image of the unicorn, associated with the Christian tradition, which appeared in Russia through Sophia Palaiologos, could have asserted Ivan the Terrible as the bearer of true Orthodoxy, while also embodying strength and invincibility. The seal of 1577-1578 depicts an eagle crowned with a five-pointed crown, symbolizing the unity and supremacy of the prince of Moscow. Around its head are twenty-four emblems representing the lands that were part of the Russian state.
On the seal of False Dmitry I, presumably made in 1604 by a Polish craftsman, the eagle was originally depicted with raised wings and three crowns. However, a variant with only two crowns became more widely used later, with an Orthodox cross located between them. This image appeared in the late 16th century. With the accession of Mikhail Romanov, a third crown appeared on the Small Seal, between the heads of the eagle. Starting in 1645, the double-headed eagle, with a ring on its chest and crowned with three crowns, became a permanent image on the Large State Seal. Under Alexei Mikhailovich in 1654, the eagle was given symbols of power: the scepter and orb. It was depicted in gold on a red field.
There are different explanations for the symbolism behind the three crowns above the eagle during this time: "faith, hope, and love"; the Holy Trinity; the three kingdoms (Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia); and the royal title "Sovereign, Tsar, and Grand Duke of all the Great and Small Russia, Autocrat".
Under Peter I in the 1710s, it was decided to adopt the image of Saint George striking a serpent as the symbol of Russia. The coat of arms also underwent changes: the eagle was made black on a yellow background, with a rider on red. In 1799, Paul I added the Maltese Cross and crown to the coat of arms, but this addition did not become widespread. Under Nicholas I, two types of coats of arms were established: one with extended wings under a single crown with Saint George, a scepter, and a sword; the other with raised wings showing the coats of arms of Kazan, Astrakhan, Siberia, Poland, Taurida, and Finland. In 1857, Alexander II approved three versions of the state coat of arms: large, medium, and small, which remained in use until the end of the Russian Empire.
After the February Revolution of 1917, the image of a double-headed eagle, created by the artist Ivan Bilibin, was used as the state emblem. It was based on the eagle on the seal of Ivan III, with lowered wings and without the coats of arms of the lands. The image also featured a horseman, scepter, and the state. This emblem was replaced by the state emblem of Soviet Russia, as established by the 1918 Constitution.
On the red shield, there was a golden sickle and hammer, against the backdrop of the rays of the rising sun.
On July 6, 1923, the USSR adopted the state emblem that was consolidated in the 1924 Union Constitution. It featured a crossed hammer and sickle on a globe, with a five-pointed star above and the rising sun below.
On November 5, 1990, by the decree of the Government of the RSFSR on the creation of the State Emblem and the State Flag of the RSFSR, work began on developing the concept of the state symbols of Russia. On November 1, 1991, the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR approved the white-azure-scarlet flag. The final decision on the State Emblem was made by the commission established on November 16, 1993 by the decree of the President of the Russian Federation "On the development of the draft State Emblem of the Russian Federation". A design drawing by the artist E. I. Ukhnaleva was presented, which was approved by Boris Yeltsin on November 30, 1993. On December 25, 2000, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Federal Constitutional Law No. 2-FKZ "On the State Emblem of the Russian Federation", which approved the description and rules for the use of the 1993 coat of arms.
Lit.: Вилинбахов Г. В. Государственный герб России. 500 лет. СПб., 1997; Вилинбахов Г. В. Двуглавый орёл в России // Старая Ладога. Первая международная археологическая экспедиция-школа. Учёные и писатели о культуре, истории, археологии, искусстве, языке, литературе и политике. СПб., 2004. С. 149–180; Он же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://gerboved.ru/t/1512; Хорошкевич А. Л. Символы русской государственности. М., 1993; Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 30.11.1993 г. № 2050 «О Государственном гербе Российской Федерации» // Президент России [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/bank/4934; Федеральный конституционный закон от 25.12.2000 г. № 2-ФКЗ «О Государственном гербе Российской Федерации» // Президент России [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/bank/16414.
Based on the materials of Presidential Library: