Coats of arms developed in close connection with another symbolic image - seals. Often, the coat of arms and the seal repeated each other or contained similar elements. Therefore, heraldry is studied simultaneously with sphragistics - the science of seals.
Coats of arms and seals are distinctive signs. It took a long time before the coat of arms and the seal became the way we present them today. Scientists believe that the ancestors of coats of arms and seals were property marks, marks on objects, testifying to their belonging to a particular person.
Medieval artisans put their hallmarks on metal, pottery and other products, peasants made notches ("frontiers") on trees, marking the boundaries of land plots. Livestock owners sometimes burned "brand", "stain" on animal skins. By the way, this is where the word "stain" came from.
Princely insignia can be found on coins, weapons, vigilante belts and on military banners.
The merchant, sending his goods abroad, hung a lead seal in it, often with the sign of the prince to whom he obeyed.
The rulers certified letters of honor for estates, titles and privileges by hanging lead (less often gold and silver) or wax seals with corresponding images.
Applied seals have been used since the end of the 14th century. The clergy used seals, which usually depicted the Virgin and Child on the obverse and the blessing hand on the back.
A variety of seals were personal rings - seals that have been very common for several centuries.
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Prince D. M. Pozharsky's ring-seal depicts two lions standing opposite each other on their hind legs and engaging in battle. AS Pushkin was proud of his family seal. It depicts a hand with a raised sword, which symbolized the faithful service of his ancestors to Russia.
Despite the low preservation of ancient seals that have come down to us, researchers believe that they were extremely diverse in their time. Studying them can be extremely difficult.
Many seals are not dated, are "deaf", others are so mysterious that they give rise to contradictory interpretations when trying to decipher drawings and inscriptions.
With all this, there is a certain pattern in the development of seals, say, during the formation of the Russian centralized state. The symbols of the struggle against external enemies - images of an armed horseman - were transferred from Alexander Nevsky to the seals of the Moscow princes. And later they were entrenched in the state signs of Russia - in the seal and coat of arms. True, for some time on the Moscow seals one could see a completely peaceful horseman with a falcon. But after the Battle of Kulikovo, the image in the form of a warrior sitting on a horse and striking a dragon snake with a spear was increasingly established.
After the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in the middle of the 15th century, the Moscow grand dukes adopted the Byzantine coat of arms - the two-headed eagle. Ivan III married the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Sophia Palaeologus, which clearly influenced the state emblem of Russia.
Since then, the combination of a two-headed eagle and a horseman-spearman has become an officially recognized image on the coat of arms and seal of Russia.
In the struggle for primacy in Russia, for the right to unite it under their rule, the Moscow princes collided with those of Tver. And this was reflected in a peculiar way on the seals of the last great princes of Tver: they see a rider armed with a sword, a serpent wriggling under the horse's feet. But Tver was not destined to turn into the capital of the Russian state, and the "application" for this was …
The appearance of coats of arms is associated with the need to distinguish between knights of different orders in the era of the crusades. Symbolic images were placed on shields, cloaks, and armor. Otherwise, the soldiers, chained from head to toe in iron, could not recognize where their own and where others were.
The compilation of the coats of arms was subject to some general rules. Various types of coats of arms were identified - French, Spanish, Italian and others. In Russia, they used mainly coats of arms of the French type - a quadrangular shield with a sharpness in the lower part.
Gold and silver were used for images on the coats of arms. If the coats of arms were reproduced on paper, conventional designations were used (gold - black dots, silver - white field without shading). Colored enamel was used in the manufacture of emblems, which was also conveyed in a simplified form by means of paints and special shading.
All sorts of drawings were applied on the field of the coat of arms. These were animals (real and fantastic), celestial bodies, man-made objects (bow, arrows, sword), plants and, of course, people.
Above the shield was a ribbon with a motto, expressing in a brief statement the rules of life and work of the owner of the coat of arms.
On the seals-coats of arms of individual principalities and lands, images were formed during the time of feudal fragmentation. Then they became an integral part of the national signs.
Changes to images on coats of arms and seals often reflected major political changes. So, the Vladimir-Suzdal princes first had a common emblem for all Russian princes - a trident. But already at the end of the 12th century, a lion appears in their coat of arms - a symbol of strength and power.
In 1672 skilful artists sumptuously designed the book "Ty-Tularnik". Here are the sketches of the seals of Russia at that time. Along with the national emblem, there are signs of cities and lands, sometimes reflecting characteristic local signs.
So, the coat of arms of Yaroslavl is a bear standing on its hind legs with a protazan (a kind of spear). The bear, but already in its natural position, on four legs, is depicted on the coat of arms of Perm the Great (Middle Urals). On the coat of arms of Smolensk you can see a cannon on which a bird sits. The moose deer represents the symbol of Nizhny Novgorod. Almost all coats of arms of Siberian cities have fur-bearing animals. The ancient city of Vladimir was personified by a golden lion in a crown.
Sometimes it is enough to look at the coat of arms of the city to say what this area is famous for in terms of the economic activities of the population.
Kostroma has long been a large pier on the Volga. On its coat of arms is a silvery river and on it a boat with rowers. The weaving business is reflected in the coat of arms of Kineshma. The mining industry is imprinted in the symbols of the cities of Yekaterinburg, Petrozavodsk, Biysk, Kuznetsk, Alapaevsk. The set of weapons represents the coat of arms of Tula. Ears of grain are pouring from the cornucopia - this is how the coat of arms of Kungur is represented. Beloozero, Ostashkov and other points were famous for their fishing, which was reflected in the coats of arms of these cities.
Russian coat of arms received its real development in the 18th century. The development of the coats of arms was carried out by a special state institution - the Heroldmaster's office, founded under Peter I. At this time, the practice of creating arms for noble families and cities was widespread. The tsar ordered that the regiments of the Russian army stationed in different cities had images of the coats of arms of these cities on their banners. By the way, ancient banners are also a historical source associated with the emblems of heraldry.
During the reforms of Catherine II (provincial, city), it was assumed that each city should have its own coat of arms. At the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, a decree was issued on the creation of the "General Emblem of the Russian Empire". But the work was not finished.
Now we are seeing a return to the historical symbols of our cities, which is expressed in signs on the products of industry in a particular area. Souvenir badges, readily purchased by tourists, are also known. To cherish the historical symbols of your area means supporting the good deeds of your ancestors.
Knowledge of coats of arms is extremely important in order to understand the household items of the past centuries. Especially those with a special artistic value. Noble nobles considered it a sign of good manners if the family coat of arms could be seen on dishes made of gold, silver and porcelain, on cutlery, even on the buttons of clothes. And for the historian, this is a good guide for determining the ownership of such things, their dating, and establishing historical value.
One cannot but say that palaces and houses, their stone and metal fences were decorated with coats of arms. Thanks to this, the development of old quarters, for example, Leningrad, has been clarified.
There are book signs (ex-libris) indicating the owners of the books in "kinship" with the coats of arms. Sometimes ex-librises coincided with the emblems, but not always. Knowing the book signs to whom they belonged, scientists have restored the composition of the once scattered libraries of prominent historical figures of the past. Bookplates are still in use now. One witty library owner, as a warning to amateurs not to return the borrowed literature, included the words in the book sign: "This book was stolen from the library of such and such" …
