Romanov: the coat of arms of the house. History, description, photo

The second ruling dynasty in Russia was the Romanovs. The emblem of these rulers was founded at the beginning of the family's accession - at the dawn of the 17th century. For several centuries, it changed, until finally in the middle of the XIX century it was decided to create an official symbol of the imperial house.

Ideas of autocratic power

The emergence of the Romanov emblem should be viewed in the context of the development of socio-political thought in the medieval history of our country. The fact is that for most of the Russian rulers, the conviction was typical that the autocratic monarchical form of government was primordial, the only legitimate and correct one in the Russian land. The rulers always erected their ancestry to the ancient rulers of Byzantium, from where they later took the coat of arms themselves.

The symbol of the eagle, which holds the scepter and power, was the most expressive sign of the embodiment of this idea of autocratic power. Therefore, this coat of arms has existed for quite a long time, almost without any changes. Novations concerned only some attributes, but the very symbolism (and, most importantly, its ideological meaning) remained the same. Therefore, with the advent of the new dynasty, it received official registration.

Symbolism at the beginning of the reign

Immediately after the end of the Time of Troubles, a new dynasty - the Romanovs - came to power in the country. The coat of arms of these rulers at first repeats the traditional components of the preceding princes and kings. As you know, they used as an official sign of a double-headed eagle, borrowed from Byzantium. This figure was the emblem in the reign of the first kings of the new dynasty: Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich. They took the symbol for their home.

Over time, the composition underwent some changes. However, they were not of a fundamental nature. For example, sometimes an eagle was depicted with two heads, and at other times with three heads. In the first case, the third crown was in the middle, in between. In the second, another figure of the eagle was crowned. In his paws he held in some cases a scepter and a power, in others a sword. Thus, the Romanovs, whose arms did not undergo fundamental changes for several centuries, retained traditional symbolism for the entire period of their reign.

Prehistory of a new symbol

Indicative is the fact that the reigning imperial house decided to create its own symbol, when the process of forming the heraldic system of noble families was completed in our country. In the middle of the 19th century, the decision to establish the original symbolism was made by the Romanovs. The coat of arms was commissioned to create an invited German specialist in heraldry - Baron BV Ken. He was in charge of the relevant department in our country. He also owns the authorship of the famous Russian flag with black, yellow and white flowers. As a basis, he took a drawing from the personal banner of boyar Nikita Romanov, who belonged to the reigning dynasty.

Banner Description

On the canvas was a figure of a griffin - a symbol, traditional in princely and royal usage for quite a long time. So, on the royal ladles and other things, the corresponding image is found. Therefore, some experts conclude that, perhaps, the boyar borrowed this symbol for his banner. However, there is another version of the origin of the image. The fact is that the coat of arms of the Romanovs, whose description is complicated by the fact that the banner itself was not preserved, in addition to the griffin, still had the figure of a small black eagle. Some historians explain his appearance by borrowing, which the boyar made, becoming for some time the ruler of the Livonian town, on whose coins the corresponding figure was.

The origin of the symbol

There is also a point of view that the appearance of the figure of the black eagle is associated with the traditions of the Prussian origin of the descendants of this dynasty. Some researchers believe that the coat of arms of the Romanovs' house is directly related to the latter circumstance. The fact is that the ancient Russian sources preserved information that one of the first representatives of this ancient family was boyar Andrey Kobyl. He had Prussian roots. This boyar came to the service of the Moscow prince Ivan Kalita. And since then the rise of this kind began. Therefore, many scientists believe that the appearance of a black eagle on the heraldic shield is a reference to the Prussian origin of the first representatives of this noble family.

Official registration

Emperor Alexander II commissioned the creation of a new symbol for Baron Ken. He took as a basis, as already mentioned above, a picture from the boyar's canvas. Gryphon, which is depicted on the coat of arms of the Romanovs, was preserved by him. However, the author changed his color from gold to orange-buff. This was done in order to comply with the rules of heraldry, adopted in Western European countries at the considered time.

The fact is that there was a tradition: if the main figure on the heraldic shield was made in the color of metals, gold or silver, then the field should have been in other tones. And vice versa. If the field was gold or silver, then the figure should not have been these colors. So it was in this case. On the banner of the boyar, the griffin was gold, painted against the background of a silver field. Therefore, Baron Kene changed the color of the figure to ohrist. Perhaps this was the only change he made to the composition. In the rest, the author retained the old structure.

Description

The Romanov emblem, the photo of which is presented in this article, consists of a heraldic shield of silver color. Inside is a figure of a griffin with a shield in his paw, on top of which is a small black eagle. On the sides are the lion's heads of gold and silver on a dark background. Registration in principle remained traditional.

Sometimes this shield is included in the emblem of the Russian Empire framed by black eagles crowned with imperial crowns with a scepter and power. And sometimes there is another large crown on top. Officially, the new symbol was approved in 1856 by Alexander II. Thus, the question of who is depicted on the coat of arms of the Romanov family has deep historical roots and is connected with the medieval history of Russian princes and kings.

Relationship with other births

In the light of the above, it is necessary to note one more important circumstance, namely, the fact that some noble births also originated from the Prussian roots. And so the black eagle also occurs on their arms. In this respect, the image on the heraldic shield of this figure is quite traditional. Especially since the two-headed eagle has always been considered the official emblem of this reigning house.