The second ruling dynasty in Russia was the Romanovs. The emblem of these rulers was founded at the beginning of the accession of the family - at the dawn of the XVII century. Over the course of several centuries, it was modified, until finally in the middle of the XIX century a decision was made to create an official symbol of the imperial house.
Ideas of autocratic power
The appearance of the coat of arms of the Romanovs should be considered in the context of the development of socio-political thought in the medieval history of our country. The fact is that the majority of Russian rulers were characterized by the conviction that the autocratic monarchical form of government was primordial, the only legitimate and correct in the Russian land. The rulers each time built their genealogy to the ancient rulers of Byzantium, from where they subsequently took the emblem itself.
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 emblem has existed for quite a long time, almost without any changes. Innovations concerned only a few attributes, but the symbolism itself (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 emblem of these rulers at first repeated the traditional components of the previous princes and kings. As you know, they used as the official sign of the two-headed eagle, borrowed from Byzantium. This figure was the emblem of the reign of the first kings of the new dynasty: Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich. They took a symbol for their home.
The composition has undergone some changes over time. However, they were not of a fundamental nature. For example, sometimes the eagle was portrayed with two heads, and at other times with three heads. In the first case, the third crown was in the middle, between them. In the second, another eagle figure was crowned. In his claws he held in some cases a scepter and power, in others - a sword. Thus, the Romanovs, whose emblem has not undergone fundamental changes for several centuries, have retained traditional symbolism for the entire period of their reign.
Background of the new symbol
It is significant that the reigning imperial house decided to create its own symbol when the formation of the heraldic system of noble families was already completed in our country. In the mid-19th century, the Romanovs made the decision to establish original symbols. The coat of arms was commissioned to create an invited German specialist in heraldry - Baron B.V. Kene. He headed the corresponding department in our country. He also owns the authorship of the famous Russian flag with black, yellow and white colors. He took as a basis a drawing from the personal banner of the boyar Nikita Romanov, who belonged to the reigning dynasty.
Banner Description
The figure of a griffin was depicted on the canvas - a symbol traditional in princely and tsarist everyday life for quite some time. So, on the royal buckets and other things found the corresponding image. 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, besides the griffin, also had the figure of a small black eagle. Some historians attribute its appearance to a borrowing made by the boyar, becoming for some time the ruler of the Livonian city, on the coins of which there was a corresponding drawing.
The origin of the symbol
There is also a point of view that the appearance of the figure of a black eagle is associated with traditions of the Prussian origin of the descendants of this dynasty. Some researchers believe that the coat of arms of the Romanov dynasty is directly related to the latter circumstance. The fact is that ancient Russian sources preserved information that one of the first representatives of this ancient family was the boyar Andrei Kobyl. He had Prussian roots. This boyar came to the service of Prince Ivan Kalita of Moscow. And since then the rise of this kind has begun. Therefore, many scholars believe that the appearance of the 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 entrusted the creation of a new symbol to Baron Kene. He took as a basis, as already mentioned above, a drawing from the canvas of the boyar. The griffin, which is depicted on the coat of arms of the Romanovs, was preserved by him. However, the author changed its color from gold to orange-ocher. This was done in order to comply with the rules of heraldry adopted in Western European countries at the time in question.
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 different colors. 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 golden, painted against a silver field. Therefore, Baron Kene changed the color of the figure to ocher. Perhaps this was the only change that he made to the composition. Otherwise, the author retained the previous structure.
Description
The coat of arms of the Romanovs, the photo of which is presented in this article, consists of a silver heraldic shield. Inside is a figure of a griffin with a shield in its paw, on top of which is a small black eagle. On the sides are lion heads of gold and silver colors against a dark background. Design, in principle, has remained traditional.
Sometimes this shield is included in the coat of arms of the Russian Empire surrounded by black eagles crowned with imperial crowns with a scepter and power. And sometimes another big crown is placed on top. The new symbol was officially approved in 1856 by Alexander II. Thus, the question of who is depicted on the coat of arms of the Romanov clan has deep historical roots and is associated with the medieval history of Russian princes and tsars.
Relationship with other genera
In light of the foregoing, it is necessary to note one more important circumstance, namely the fact that some noble families also originated from Prussian roots. And so the black eagle is also found on their arms. In this regard, the image on the heraldic shield of this figure is quite traditional. Moreover, the double-headed eagle has always been considered the official emblem of this reigning house.