The development of a new coat of arms and seal designs began at the start of Alexander’s reign, even before his coronation. He would later become renowned primarily for sweeping state reforms, most notably the abolition of serfdom, which earned him the title Saviour. Yet the reform journey started with a modernization of state symbols.
Alexander’s name is linked not only to military, financial, zemstvo, and judicial reforms, but also to educational reforms and a landmark victory in the war with the Ottoman Empire in 1877–1878, which helped liberate Balkan peoples. The path of reform included moments of policy inconsistency and gendarmerie pressure that spurred radicalization within the revolutionary movement and gave rise to terrorist organizations like Narodnaya Volya, leading to multiple assassination attempts against senior officials and, eventually, the emperor himself. This turbulent history earned him a controversial nickname, sometimes called The Executioner, by later historians.
Among the high points in the imperial act to approve new symbols was the decision made on April 11, 1857 according to the old calendar (April 23 by the new). Immediately after, three emblem variants—large, medium, and small—were described and released publicly. These designs remained largely unchanged for nearly sixty years, until the February Revolution of 1917, which stripped the eagles of their crowns and royal attire. After the October Revolution, the emblems were replaced by a hammer and sickle framed by golden ears against a rising sun, and in the early 1990s a red ribbon symbolically returned, restoring a crowned eagle under the decree of the Russian president Yeltsin.
Initial sketches of the small coats of arms were created by Alexander Fadeev, a member of the Heraldry Department, before later being replaced by drawings from Adolphe Charlemagne, a future academician of painting who became famous for the satin deck of playing cards in Russia. Heraldry work was directed by Baron Boris Tick, whose aim was to align Russian state symbols with the established rules of European monarchical heraldry. Notably, the rider on the chest of the heraldic eagle was turned to the left to conform with Western heraldic practice, aligning the bearer with European tradition for the right-hand shield holder.
At the outset, Russia did not have a tradition of hereditary coats of arms or a fully developed heraldic discipline; banners often displayed Christ, the Virgin, saints, and the Orthodox cross, painted or embroidered in ways that were not standardized. Seals offered a rough analogue to Western heraldic images, where symbols and motifs gradually began to enter state emblems.
Early Russian princes favored placing patron saints or themselves on seals, with inscriptions identifying the owner. By the era of Kiev’s descendants, including Udaly Mstislav and Grand Prince Vsevolod, the rider on horseback started to appear more frequently. Initially it represented the prince himself, but later the image was reinterpreted. The emblem of St. George the Victorious slaying a dragon and the seal of Mikhail Borisovich of Tver, which showed a rider striking a serpent with a spear, became powerful symbols of Moscow’s ascendancy. As Moscow united all Russian lands, the cavalryman’s spear-wielding victory over evil grew into a central emblem of the state’s identity.
Two other important images gained prominence: the double-headed eagle and the unicorn. The double-headed eagle, influenced by West German imperial imagery, appears in the heraldic record of the Palaiologan dynasty as a possible precursor. In Western heraldry, a symbol of imperial power was shared rather than tied strictly to a single ruler, and Moscow’s rulers increasingly demanded such symbols for themselves.
Western Europe saw the double-headed eagle emerge in coats of arms from the late 12th century and be adopted as a state symbol during Emperor Sigismund’s reign in the 1430s. Some scholars trace its roots to the Hittite era, noting appearances on cylinder seals from the 13th century BCE and on grand architectural works. Over time, the eagle coexisted with the single-headed Roman eagle and eventually replaced it as the dominant heraldic image.
In modern times, crowns were sometimes added or rearranged, with regalia placed on the eagle’s talons. The seal of Ivan III featured a double-headed eagle, and the rider slaying a dragon on that seal became linked to the eagle’s image. In Ivan’s era both images appeared on the same stage, facing one another until the next century when the chest-mounted rider gradually became the dominant symbol again—the rider moved to the left side, following Western heraldic norms.
Ivan IV the Terrible used various seals in which a unicorn appeared in place of the rider. Over the centuries, these motifs merged, creating a new state seal around February 3, 1561, which depicted a double-headed eagle and a horseman in the center, with another eagle on the opposite side and an additional emblem in the middle. The unicorn’s appearance may have signaled a shift in the monarch’s status from grand duke to sovereign king, drawing on biblical associations of kings David and Solomon and their horned creatures as emblems of divine endorsement.
The double-headed eagle’s symbolism has been interpreted in multiple ways. It often represents a fusion of spiritual and secular authority—the tsar and the patriarch—and the strategic position of the Russian state between East and West. Throughout different eras, crowns appeared in varying configurations, from one crown to two or three, sometimes topped with an Orthodox cross. The rider’s orientation shifted between the left and right sides, influenced by heraldic conventions and later by wartime symbolism. A globe and a scepter entered the eagle’s claws in the 17th century, and in December 1667 a royal decree clarified the state seal’s symbolism, illustrating three banners for Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia, along with the broader imperial symbol of the throne and power.
Peter I sought to alter the eagle’s color by turning it black and adding shields from principalities on its wings, yet he stopped short of redefining Russia’s core symbol. The state emblem retained its essential form. Emperor Paul I, in 1800, attempted major changes including a white eight-pointed Maltese cross on the chest to signify his acceptance of the Order of Jerusalem. However, he did not complete these changes, and his successor Alexander I largely restored the emblem to its traditional presentation. Nicholas I later introduced only minor adjustments before a broader reform agenda arrived with Alexander II’s reign.
Alexander II ultimately pursued a large-scale dynastic reform, building on Paul I’s groundwork. Under Nicholas I, the Stamp Department established a comprehensive system for heraldic representation, overseeing large, medium, and small state emblems as well as the seals and emblems of imperial family members and the Romanov family’s emblem. This era marked the culmination of an ambitious program to codify Russia’s heraldic identity and align it with the broader European monarchical tradition, while also preserving unique national symbols and their evolving meanings.
Related posts:
Poland’s Flag Day and the Eagle Kan Moment: A Reflection on National Symbols Iberian Imperial Eagle: Population Growth and Conservation in Iberia Imperial Seal and Related Russian Artifacts Highlight Auction Interest Certificate Controversy in a Chita Kindergarten Rewriting Russia’s Flag History: Symbols, Struggles, and Shifts Across Centuries Conservation and Status of the Iberian Imperial Eagle Arctic Seals: Preservation Efforts Amid a Warming World Learn how to make a double exposure in Photoshop 【STEP BY STEP】 The Golden Eagle in Spain: Status, Life, and Challenges Reintroduction Debates: White-Tailed Eagle in Asturias and the Ecological Clash Reintroduction of the European sea eagle in Spain: progress, concerns, and ongoing monitoring Seals as Ocean Cartographers: Filling Bathymetric Gaps with Marine Mammal Data