Excerpts from a RIA Novosti online conference with Georgy Vilinbakhov, State Heraldry Master of the Russian Federation
Question: Who established the Russian state awards?
Answer: The Order of St. Andrew the First Called - Russia's first award - was established by Peter the Great. Russia also owes the appearance of its medals to him.
Q: What are Russia's national symbols?
A: We have the national anthem, flag and coat-of-arms. Every country has a verbal designation - that is, its name; a symbolic one - the flag and coat-of-arms; and a musical one - the anthem. These symbols occasionally go together, but it is more correct to use each independently.
Q: When did the Russian anthem, flag and coat-of-arms take final shape?
A: In the 19th century, as in many other countries. Coats-of-arms are the oldest symbols in the majority of countries. The flags appeared later on, and the anthems followed.
Q: Why did Russia adopt a two-headed eagle for its coat-of-arms?
A: As the Duchy of Muscovy finally acquired independence toward the end of the 15th century, it began to need national symbols. Two-headed eagles, the emblem of the Palaeologi, the Byzantine imperial dynasty, were among the most revered symbols of state heraldry at that time. Grand Duke Ivan III married the niece and only heiress of Constantine Palaeologus, the last Byzantine Emperor. The eagle was also the symbol of the Holy Roman Empire and was very well known in the Balkans. Finally, Muscovy was determined to project an image on a par with other countries' in negotiations with their rulers. All that taken together evidently determined Ivan's choice of emblem.
Q: Why does the Russian Navy fly St. Andrew's flag instead of the national one?
A: In accordance with international tradition, passenger and merchant vessels usually fly the national flag while military vessels have colors of their own for the ensign. The custom most probably appeared so that a harmless civilian ship could be identified at once. Peter the Great established St. Andrew's blue saltire on white for his navy, and a white, blue and red tricolor for the merchant marine late in the 17th century. The tricolor has been considered the national flag ever since.
Q: Does June 12 have any chance of developing in Russia into something like July 4 in the United States?
A: We can only guess right now. The future of the holiday is tied in with the nation's future - which, in turn, depends on what each of us does.
Q: How many government awards does Russia presently have? Which is the highest?
A: There is no order higher than St. Andrew's. There are also the orders of Service to the Fatherland, Honor, Valor, Military Merit, Friendship, Georgy Zhukov and, last but not least, St. George.
Q: Russia has a Christian saint on its coat-of-arms. Is that appropriate in a multi-religious country?
A: As the official description has it, Russia bears on its coat-of-arms a representation not of St. George but of a mounted lancer smiting a dragon. Significantly, there is no nimbus around the rider's head. He did not begin to be identified with St. George until as late as the beginning of the 18th century. The documents of the 16th and 17th centuries, on the contrary, refer to him as a Rider of Light, and occasionally a Sovereign, Rider or Lancer (kopeishchik in Russian). The kopek coin owes its name to the latter word.
Q: Why did Russian experts on heraldry turn to history instead of inventing entirely new national symbols?
A: Russian history goes back many centuries. Throughout those centuries, this country has always had its symbols. The two-headed eagle stood for Russian power from the late 15th century until the early 20th century. It was the symbol of the Grand Duchy of Muscovy, the Moscow Czardom, the Russian Empire, the Russian Republic, established by the February Revolution of 1917, and Soviet Russia before it adopted a new coat-of-arms in 1924. Many extant documents signed by Lenin in 1917 and 1918 bear the stamp of the two-headed eagle from the state seal. The white, blue and red tricolor was established during the reign of Czar Alexei Mikhailovich, father of Peter the Great, in the 17th century. The Orel (which means "eagle"), Russia's first military vessel, flew that flag. It never occurred to anyone to invent another name for this country. It retains the name Russia, thank God. Likewise, a resolution in 1991 revived the symbols rooted in its history.
