The double-headed eagle as the state emblem of Russia appeared more than five hundred years ago. But there are other countries, on the coats of arms of which, this heraldic bird is depicted.

Our Royal Bird

In Russia, the double-headed eagle “flew in” from Byzantium – together with the bride of Ivan III, Sophia Paleologos, who came from the last ruling dynasty. The heraldic bird took its place on the seal of Ivan III in 1497, and over time it acquired the attributes of royal power a scepter, orb and crowns.

After the Bolshevik Revolution, it was replaced by a hammer and sickle. The double-headed eagle returned only after the collapse of the USSR. In 1993 the coat of arms of the Russian Federation was created on the basis of the historical one by the Hermitage’s chief artist Evgeny Ukhnalev.

The two heads of the eagle, facing East and West, symbolize power. The three crowns, two on the heads and one above the bird, symbolize the sovereignty of the country and its regions. The scepter and the orb are symbols of state unity. The rider slashing the serpent is a symbol of victory over evil and defense of native lands.

Other National Eagles

Today, in addition to Russia, double-headed eagles are on the coats of arms of several countries. In Serbia, this symbol of the state appeared in the XIV century during the times of the Serbian Kingdom. In 2004, the country returned its historical coat of arms, a silver double-headed eagle with golden beaks and legs, with a red shield on the chest, which depicts four flames.

The bird symbolizes the power of the country and recalls the Nemanjić dynasty, the founders of the united Serbian state. The shield is divided into four parts by the so-called Serbian cross: the flames in each of the segments are symbols of the strength of the Christian faith, which is like a bright fire.

A golden double-headed eagle in a crown and a shield on the chest, on which a leopard lion is depicted, can be seen on the coat of arms of Montenegro. This bird, symbolizing the power of state and church, borrowed from the coat of arms of the first Montenegrin rulers Petrovici-Nogosha. The lion with a raised paw on a lazor-green field is a symbol of courage and episcopal authority, as well as Montenegro’s historical ties with Venice.

The eagle has a scepter and orb in its paws, as a reminder of the ties with Byzantium on the one hand and the Romanov dynasty on the other. For example, the Montenegrin King Nikola I Petrovich was Field Marshal General of the Russian Imperial Army.

A black double-headed eagle with spread wings is present on the coat of arms of Albania. Once such a bird was depicted on the coat of arms of the Kastrioti dynasty. It is no coincidence that the helmet of one of its representatives, Skanderbeg, the leader of the rebellion for independence in the XV century, is depicted above the eagle. For Albanians, the eagle is not just a heraldic bird, but also a symbol of the Land of Eagles, as they call their homeland.