The image of an eagle is very common in heraldry. This proud bird, symbolizing power and state foresight, is in the state emblems of Armenia, Latvia, Georgia, Iraq, Chile, and the United States. There is also an image of an eagle in the Russian coat of arms.
The peculiarity of the Russian coat of arms is that the eagle depicted on it has two heads facing in different directions. Such an image cannot be considered exclusively Russian - it was known to the Sumerian civilization, the Hittites. It also existed in Byzantium.
Byzantine theory
The most famous theory connects the origin of the Russian coat of arms in the form of a two-headed eagle with Byzantium. It is believed that this coat of arms was "brought" to Russia by Sofia Palaeologus, the niece and only heiress of the last Byzantine emperor. Having married Sophia, the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III had every reason to consider himself the heir to the emperors of Byzantium, who died under the blows of the Turks, and along with the title of the sovereign inherited the coat of arms in the form of a two-headed eagle.
Many facts contradict this hypothesis. The wedding of Ivan III and Sophia Palaeologus took place in 1472, and the two-headed eagle was adopted as the state emblem (seal) in 1497. It is difficult to find a causal relationship between events separated by 25 years.
There is no reason to believe that the double-headed eagle was the coat of arms of the Palaeologus, and even more so for Byzantium as a whole. This symbol was not on either Byzantine coins or state seals. And yet, this symbol was used as a decorative element. Clothes with such a symbol were worn by representatives of the highest nobility.
As a coat of arms, the two-headed eagle was used not in Byzantium itself, but in neighboring countries - Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, which tried to oppose themselves to it.
Other theories
Some researchers associate the origin of the two-headed eagle on the Russian coat of arms with the Golden Horde. Such a symbol is present on the coins of Janibek Khan, who ruled in the 14th century. But this theory seems to be controversial: borrowing an enemy emblem is unlikely.
The hypothesis about the borrowing of the two-headed eagle from Western Europe seems to be more reasonable. In medieval Europe, the double-headed eagle was present on the coins of Frederick Barbarossa, Bertrand III, King of Bohemia Wenceslas IV, and since 1434 it was the state emblem of the Holy Roman Empire.
Ivan III took a course towards strengthening the international prestige of the young Moscow state. Such measures as the issuance of gold coins, the introduction of European elements into the court ceremonial were aimed at this. It is possible that the adoption of the double-headed eagle as the coat of arms was also associated with the desire to become on a par with European monarchs, first of all, with the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
In Europe, the two-headed eagle appeared at the end of the 12th century - during the era of the Crusades. Probably, it was during the Crusades that this symbol was borrowed by Europeans in the East. In Eastern culture, this image arose in antiquity - initially as an element of ornament, later turning into a symbol of royal power. The two heads of the eagle arose as a follow-up to the principle of symmetry, which in Eastern culture was associated with the idea of perfection, which was correlated with the understanding of the ruler as a “model of perfection”.
As the Russian coat of arms, the image of the two-headed eagle has been filled with new content. They saw it as a symbol of the unification of Moscow and Novgorod, and nowadays it is most often interpreted as a symbol of the unity of the West and East, Europe and Asia in the Russian state.
