Double headed eagle

History in Asia

Sumer, Babylonia, Hittites

Double-headed eagle as a symbol of the Hittite kingdom . Relief reconstruction from Hattus

A likely predecessor of the “double-headed eagle of Byzantium ” is the “double-headed eagle of the Hittite kingdom ”. During the excavation of the capital of the Hittite kingdom - Hattus (XIII century BC., Modern. Bogazkoy ) - an image of a double-headed eagle was found on cylindrical seals, the eagle held two hares in its clutches. Double-headed eagles were found on the walls of monumental structures in other cities of the Hittite civilization ^[1] .

Science knows neither the name nor the legend of the “double-headed eagle” in Hittite mythology . It can be argued that the “Hittite double-headed eagle" had a predecessor in the person of the Sumero-Babylonian eagle Anzud , who was sometimes portrayed as a double-headed ^{[2] [3]} .

Anzud was the deity of the storm, lightning - in Sumerian-Akkadian legends it is said that Anzud even captured the “fate tables” for some time and became the most powerful god, but nevertheless he was defeated by the “god of war” Ninurta - during the battle of Ninurta, Anzud was defeated and he became two-headed ^[3] (although more often Anzud was portrayed with one head). After the victory, Ninurta took Anzud as his coat of arms; Anzud’s image was placed on the banners of Sumer ^[3] . The most valuable jewelry item of Sumer is considered to be a pendant in the form of Anzud (a bird with the head of a lioness) - it is made of gold and lapis lazuli.

India

The bas-relief of Gandaberund in the temple of Rameshvara in

The two-headed bird Gandaberunda is known in Hindu ( Vedic ) mythology from ancient times. The name of this bird consists of two words - “ganda” (strong) and “berunda” (two-headed). Gandaberund connects tradition with the god Vishnu and ascribes great power to her: she is often depicted holding elephants and lions in her claws and beak ^[4] .

Images of Gandaberund , bas-reliefs and statues are found everywhere in the Hindu temples of southern India . Gandaberunda was used by the dynasty in the Mysore state as a royal emblem, and on coins it first appeared in the Vijayanagar empire during the reign of Achyutadevarayya Tuluva ^{[4] [5]} . In modern India, Gandaberund is used in the coat of arms of the state of Karnataka .

Late Middle East

The double-headed eagle has been preserved both in the Middle Ages and in New time in the region from where it supposedly comes from. In particular, it is found in Armenia , for example, on the flag of the princely family of Mamikonyan .

The double-headed eagle was located on the flag of the Seljuk Turks starting from the reign of Togrul Bek . It was used by the Koni Sultanate , a feudal state in Asia Minor , which lasted from 1077 to 1307 ^[6] .

Golden Horde

A number of coins of the Golden Horde were minted during the reign of the khans of Uzbeks (1283–1341) ^[7] and Dzhanibek (d. 1357) ^{[8] [9]} , with the image of a two-headed eagle, as well as several coins minted during the reign of Khan Aziz-Sheikh (1365–1367), with the image of a double-headed eagle, placed in the center of the hexagram .

In the Golden Horde, the double-headed eagle is found on coins from the end of the XIII to the second half of the XIV century . The earliest considered double-headed eagles on copper folaria of the Sakchi Mint ( Danube region) with the image of tamga beklyaribek Nogai ( 1235 - 1300 ) ^[10] . To date, not a single official document (label) with the seal of Uzbek, Dzhanibek or Aziz-sheikh has been preserved in the original, but the Nogai tamga with a two-headed eagle has been preserved. On the surviving labels, a two-headed eagle is not found.

History in Europe

Byzantium

On the banners of the “Turk Seljuks ” a dragon, a lion and a two-headed eagle flaunted in a sign of victories over the Chinese , Persians and Byzantines , respectively. It is very characteristic that this series of symbols represents spiritual rather than state emblems ^[11] . In Byzantium, the double-headed eagle was depicted on the coat of arms of the last dynasty of the Paleologists , who ruled from 1261 to 1453 .

Western Europe

The earliest known image of a double-headed eagle in Western Europe dates back to 1180 and is printed by Count Ludwig I von Saarverden ^[12] . As the state emblem of the Holy Roman Empire, the double-headed eagle was adopted by the emperor Sigismund in 1434 or shortly before this date. The eagle was depicted black on a golden shield, with golden beaks and claws, the heads were surrounded by nimbuses. In modern times, he was crowned with crowns , and a scepter and a sword (in the right), and a power (in the left) were placed in his paws.

Balkans

The double-headed eagle was the emblem of Nemanichi in Serbia ( XII - XIV centuries).

Eastern Europe

In pre-revolutionary historical literature, it has been repeatedly mentioned that the emblem of the Principality of Chernigov has been a black double-headed eagle since ancient times, although there is no direct evidence that it was really used as princely symbolism in the pre-Mongol period. Indirect evidence can be found from the excavation of the Black Grave mound, the prince's turium horn with an eagle on a shackle, a stone-carved image of a double-headed eagle on the wall of the Borisoglebsky Cathedral in Chernigov ( 1123 ), as well as the fact that many descendants of Prince Svyatoslav Yaroslavich , the ancestor of the Chernig dynasty princes , used in their tribal arms of the black double-headed eagle. This coat of arms was also assigned to Chernigov in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth : at the Sejm in 1633, the Polish king Vladislav IV approved the coat of arms of the Chernihiv Voivodeship - the black double-headed eagle ^[13] .

In the 15th century, the double-headed eagle became the emblem of the Grand Duchy of Tver and later the Moscow State ( 1497 ). The eagle is used on coins of the Russian Kingdom in the XIV century (see Russian penny ), also on a silver buckle from the Gnezdovo treasure (dated 950 ), on a fresco depicting Boris and Gleb in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior on Kovalev ( Veliky Novgorod , 1345 ). It is likely that he is also found in the fresco of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev - on the clothes of Yaroslav the Wise , “bright” double-headed eagles ( 1037 ) are depicted.

• The heads of the two-headed eagle of the Holy Roman Empire were depicted in the halo .
• In mythology, there is such a fantastic figure as the three-headed eagle , which is also used in heraldry.
• On the standard of the President of Turkmenistan , a five-headed eagle is depicted.

Modern states

The double-headed eagle is used on the arms and flags of modern states. In addition, in some states where the eagle is not a national symbol, it is used by the armed forces, police, or administrative units (see below).

Albania

In the symbols of Albania, the double-headed eagle is represented on the coat of arms and flag , as well as on the Albanian lek , etc.

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Armenia

In the symbolism of Armenia, a double-headed eagle is found only on the coat of arms (upper right corner of the shield, heraldically left) ^[14] .

Russia

Although the two-headed eagle is depicted only on the emblem of the state symbols of Russia ^[15] , it is widely represented in Russian symbols. These are the President’s Standard , departmental flags and emblems of federal departments, the Russian ruble (coins and banknotes in denominations of 200 and 2000 rubles), postage stamps , state awards , departmental awards , etc.

Serbia

A special heraldic type of double-headed eagle is used in the state symbols of Serbia , on the coat of arms , and on the flag , as well as on postage stamps , etc.

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Montenegro

Like the neighbors in the Balkans, the double-headed eagle is on the coat of arms , and on the flag of Montenegro and other symbols.

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Unrecognized States

The double-headed eagle is depicted on the coat of arms and other symbols of the Donetsk People's Republic .

Historical States

Double-headed eagle was used on the arms and flags of historical states

Armed forces and law enforcement

Historical Military Symbols

Administrative Units

The double-headed eagle is used on the arms of the regions of various states.

Historical Symbols of Administrative Units

Historical administrative units and historical symbols of existing administrative units.

Noble Coats of Arms

In the Russian Empire, at the clans emanated by the emperor, the double-headed eagle was depicted in the crest ^[16] .

Educational institutions

Non-Governmental Organizations

A double-headed eagle as a symbol was used and is used by various non-state and semi-state, public, political, commercial and paramilitary organizations.

Religion and Occultism

Symbolism

In Culture

Buildings and Monuments

Double-headed eagles are used as an element of decoration of many buildings and monuments, some of them are monuments of architecture and history.

Four towers of the Moscow Kremlin ( Spasskaya , Borovitskaya , Troitskaya , Nikolskaya ) were crowned with double-headed eagles until 1935, and until 1918, the Syuyumbike tower in Kazan . After 1991, double-headed eagles were restored on the towers of the State Historical Museum (in 1997) and on the front gate tent in Kolomenskoye (in 1994). Double-headed eagles also adorn the facade of the Moscow Bolshoi Theater , the Fire Tower in Kostroma , the Petrovsky Gate of the Peter and Paul Fortress , the cannon fence of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral in St. Petersburg , and the interior of the Grand Peterhof Palace .

The situation with monuments is exactly the same. Bremen Roland holds a shield with a double-headed eagle (coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire ). Double-headed eagles decorated the destroyed Monument to Nicholas I (Kiev) , the pre-revolutionary version of the monument to Ivan Susanin , the monument to M. D. Skobelev in Bialystok. Of the existing monuments, the images of double-headed eagles were used to create the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg , the monument “Fighters for Soviet Power in the Far East” in Vladivostok , the obelisk from Pugachev’s troops in Kungur , the Monument to the Scuttled Ships in Sevastopol , the monument to Alexander III in Irkutsk , the memorials Park complex of heroes of the First World War in Moscow.

Newspapers and magazines

• The coat of arms of the Russian Empire and the Russian Empire was depicted on the title pages or front pages of many official publications (for example, the Moscow Gazette ); the same applies to official publications of the Russian Federation.
• The newspaper “ Two-headed eagle ” from 1911 to 1916 was published in Kiev by the eponymous patriotic ( Black-Hundred ) society of Russian youth ^{[19] [20]} .
• The Double-headed Eagle magazine was published in Berlin in 1920–22 and in Paris in 1926–31 by the Supreme Monarchical Council ^[19] .

Literature, Theater, and Cinema

• Vasily Kurochkin wrote the satirical poem “The Two-headed Eagle ”, which was first published in the emigre edition of A. I. Herzen's “ Voices from Russia ” (Prince 4, 1857).
• Boris Sadovsky wrote the novel "The Two-headed Eagle" (1915).
• Jean Cocteau wrote and directed the play Double-headed Eagle ( French: L'Aigle à deux têtes ) from German and Austrian history. In 1948, on its basis, he created the film of the same name .

Fine Art

• Double-headed eagles were depicted on the Orthodox icons of the Virgin - on the Azov (XVIII century) ^[21] , "Autocratic" ^[22] and the icon "Yako Orlya Krylya" (the last two - the end of the XIX century) ^[23] .
• The Finnish artist Edward Isto in 1899 painted the painting “ Attack ” ( Fin. Hyökkäys ), on which a two-headed eagle attacks the maiden of Finland .

Arts and crafts

• The double-headed eagle often adorned utensils related by origin to the Russian or Byzantine monarchs.
• Images of a double-headed eagle are often found on Faberge eggs .

Music

• Zhanna Bichevskaya in 1999 recorded the song “Two-headed eagle” to the music of G. Ponomarev and verses by S. S. Bekhteev ^[24] .

Board Games

• The emblem of the fictional state of Imperium of humanity in the universe of the game " Warhammer 40,000 " is a double-headed eagle.

• Eagle in heraldry
• Three-headed eagle
• Coat of arms of Russia
• Eagle (coin side)

• State Eagle // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Double-headed eagle // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Rumyantseva V.V. Land Emblems and Coats of Arms of the Cities of Left-Bank Ukraine of the Period of Feudalism / Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR . - K .: Naukova Dumka , 1986.- 128 p. - 5,000 copies.

• Coat of arms of Russia: history and modernity. Multimedia lecture of the famous historian prof. Oleg Germanovich Ulyanov June 10, 2015 in the MIA "Russia Today"
• OLEG ULYANOV (Museo centrale della Cultura e dell'Arte della Russia, Mosca). Dalla Nuova Roma alla Terza Roma: a proposito della translatio dello stemma dell'aquila bicipite
• Ulyanov O. G. Two-headed eagle from Rome to the Third Rome: mythologization of Translatio Imperii
• Double-headed eagle island
• Where did the double-headed eagle come from in Russia?
• Fedor Gaida. What is the significance of a double-headed eagle?
• Vladimir Orlov. Tore the sky. Part VI — VII. 03/03/2015.
• Karnaukh A. L. Trident as a sign of the Great Goddess of Kievan Rus. - 2nd ed., Rev. and add. - Dnepropetrovsk: Academy of History, 2015. - 80 p.
• Khromov K.K. Image of a two-headed feathered creature on the coins of Ulus Jochi (mythology, symbolism or ornithology?)