Materials from the book "Ukraine. Coats of arms and flags" (Kyiv, Parliamentary Publishing House).

The modern coat of arms of Chernigov was approved by the Decision of the Executive Committee of the Chernigov City Council of People's Deputies dated December 1, 1992 No. 332 “On the coat of arms of the city of Chernigov.” At the same time, it was decided to invite the city council deputies to consider the issue of abolishing the 1969 coat of arms. The decision was accompanied by a lengthy note explaining the symbolism of the eagle:

"This development of the coat of arms of the city of Chernigov is the result of a process of studying, summarizing and using available historical sources to reproduce a more advanced, highly artistic model of the coat of arms.
The main reasons that necessitated the creation of a new modification of the historical coat of arms are:
a) low artistic and performance level of the existing image;
b) lack of clearly defined originality in existing images;
c) non-compliance with modern generally accepted requirements of heraldry;
d) lack of proportional completeness.
When developing a new variation of the coat of arms, an analysis and comparison of both common features in existing historical images of the Chernigov coat of arms and emblems, as well as an assessment of distinctive features, was made.
Based on the data obtained, a composite holistic image was created.
The following artistic decision made it possible to create an image with a more pronounced originality and historicity. At the same time, it was possible to achieve artistic expressiveness, sophistication and proportional completeness. The advantage of such elegant solutions in heraldry has always been the combination of rigor and sophistication of lines.
The historical coat of arms of the city of Chernigov is a silver coat of arms, against which a black single-headed eagle with specifically spread wings is depicted. A proudly stretched neck, a high head, an open beak with an outstretched tongue symbolize an all-conquering and life-affirming principle, strength, and triumph. Widely spaced paws, traditional for the image of the Chernigov eagle, complement the overall impression of strength and courage. In the left paw of the eagle there is a golden cross, symbolizing the spiritual foundations, meaning and influence of Christianity in the centuries-old life of the city, one of the most influential spiritual centers of our Motherland, which provided an inexhaustible galaxy of Orthodox devotees.
The eagle's head is crowned with a golden five-pointed tower (city) crown - a symbol of the ownership of this coat of arms to the city.
The image of a black eagle in the Chernigov coat of arms has the most stable character. Its antiquity is evidenced by the presence of an image of a double-headed black eagle back in the 10th century as the emblem of the Chernigov principality. Hypothetically, the ancient Russian heroic epic epic, where the eagle is a bird, can hypothetically recreate the history of the appearance of the eagle as a symbol of the Chernigov land.
The existence of the eagle as an emblem of the Chernigov principality is confirmed by the fact that the image of an eagle on the horn of a tour from the Black Grave mound (10th century), as well as the image of a double-headed eagle carved from stone on the walls of the stone chambers of the tomb of the Chernigov princes - Boris and Gleb Cathedral, built in 1123 by the Chernigov prince David -Gleb Svyatoslavich.
According to B.A. Rybakov, the epic prophetic bird - the eagle - was depicted on the sacred rhyton already in the middle of the 10th century. A.F. Shafonsky, examining this coat of arms, noted how old its image was: “This coat of arms was introduced from the very Russian princes before the ruin of the Tatars.”
There is another argument in favor of the existence of the eagle as an emblem of the Chernigov land. Thus, genealogical research shows that numerous descendants of the Chernigov prince Svyatoslav Yaroslavich, the founder of the Svyatoslav dynasty, had a black double-headed eagle in their family coats of arms as a constantly present emblem. Thus, the data presented above and their analysis indicate that the emblem of the Chernigov principality even in pre-Mongol times was the image of a black eagle.
The invasion of Batu's hordes slowed down the development of emblems and symbols, but did not destroy them completely. The black double-headed eagle received further development as an emblem only with the founding of the Chernigov Voivodeship.
In 1633, the Polish Sejm approved the coat of arms of the Chernigov Voivodeship - a black eagle. As we see, the long-standing emblem of the Chernigov principality turned out to be so stable that after several centuries it passed and was officially enshrined as the main emblem in the coat of arms of the voivodeship.
In the period after the reunification of Ukraine with Russia, the appearance of a single-headed eagle, with a cross in its left paw, dates back to 1672. The transformation of a double-headed eagle into a single-headed one has its own logical explanation. State emblem of the Russian state from the second half of the 15th century. in its image it has a double-headed eagle. Of course, the complex monarchical symbolism of the state coat of arms, in the opinion of the kings of arms, who were involved in creating new and revising old city coats of arms, was unacceptable for the coat of arms of a provincial city.
Taking this into account, the image of a double-headed eagle in the coat of arms of Chernigov was replaced by a single-headed one.
In subsequent centuries, until the events of October 1917, the Chernigov coat of arms experienced a number of modifications, but basically retained the semantic content, attributes and color symbolism. At the same time, the color symbolism of the Chernigov coat of arms remained stable throughout the history of its existence and is the most organic for our city."

The city of Chernigov was first mentioned in Russian chronicles under the year 907 in the text of an agreement between the prince and. However, it is obvious that by this time the city already existed as a settlement of northerners. The Principality of Chernigov was formed in 1023 or 1024, when the Tmutarakan prince occupied Chernigov. tried to take possession of Kiev, but chose to make peace with. According to the treaty of 1026, the Russian land was actually divided by the Dnieper into two parts: the right bank belonged to the Kyiv prince, and the left bank to the Chernigov prince. died childless, and Chernigov was again annexed to Kyiv. However, shortly before his death, distributing inheritance to his sons, he again separated Chernigov into a separate principality. It was inherited from the family of Chernigov princes. From two sons - and - came two branches of Chernigov princes, the Davydovichs and the Olgovichs. In the 11th – 12th centuries, their representatives claimed seniority among the Rurikovichs and participated in the internecine struggle for the Kiev great table. The eldest branch, the Davydovichi, died out in 1166. The youngest, the Olgovichi, was divided into two more: descendants and Olgovichi.

The Chernigov table was considered the second most “prestigious” princely table of Ancient Rus' after the Kyiv one. The prince usually sat on it, the second in seniority among the Rurikovichs according to the law of the ladder. In terms of size, Chernigov was practically not inferior to Kyiv. A majestic and unusually beautiful view opened up to the eyes of travelers coming to the city: above the low log buildings, the domes of temples, towers of towers and princely courtyards rose, sparkling with gold.

By the beginning of the 13th century, the Chernigov principality occupied a vast territory, mainly on the left bank of the Dnieper. His possessions extended to the northeast to Murom and Ryazan and to the southeast to the Great Steppe. In addition to Chernigov, on the territory of the principality there were such large cities as Novgorod-Seversky, Starodub, Bryansk, Putivl, Kursk, Lyubech, Glukhov, Chechersk and Gomel. In 1239, Chernigov was ravaged by the Mongol-Tatars and fell into decay. After the death of the prince in 1246, the Principality of Chernigov fell apart into fiefs:, and. Chernigov, devastated by the Tatars, could no longer perform the functions of a capital city, and the princely table was moved to Bryansk: local rulers began to bear the title of Princes of Bryansk and Grand Dukes of Chernigov. In the 14th century, the fragmentation of the Chernigov-Seversky lands into small destinies continued. In 1357, Bryansk was captured by the Grand Duke of Lithuania. lost its independence, but for some time retained autonomy within the ranks. The last Prince of Bryansk and Grand Duke of Chernigov was killed in 1401 during the uprising in Smolensk.

During the 14th century, the remaining appanages of the Chernigov principality were also liquidated, and their rulers became serving princes of the Grand Duke of Lithuania. In the middle of the 15th century, some former Chernigov lands were granted to princes who fled to Russia, as a result of which such appanage principalities as , were restored. However, already in the 15th – 16th centuries, the descendants of appanage princes returned to the jurisdiction, retaining their possessions, but becoming simple serving princes.

Chernigov princes

	1023-1036
Under the direct control of Kyiv	1036-1054
	1054-1073
(1)	1073-1076
(1)	1076-1077
(1)	1077
(2)	1077-1078
(2)	1078
(2)	1078-1094
	1094-1096
	1097-1123
	1123-1127
	1127-1139
	1139-1151
(1)	1151-1154
(1)	1154-1155
(2)	1155-1157
(2)	1157-1164
	1164-1177
	1177-1198
	1198-1202
	1202-1204
	1204-1210
	1210-1214
	1214-1219
	1219-1223
(1)	1223-1235

Chernigov is one of the oldest cities in Ukraine (the first chronicle mention in 907), in 1623 it received the status of a Magdeburg city, that is, the right to city self-government. The external attributes of this right were a seal, a coat of arms and a flag.

In historical science, there is no consensus regarding the symbolism of Chernigov and the Chernigov-Siversk land. V. Rumyantseva believes that the emblem of the Chernigov principality has long been a double-headed eagle. However, B. Rybakov, having studied the epics of the Chernigov cycle, argued that originally it was a prophetic raven, or, alternatively, a fantastic creature Semargl. In favor of these hypotheses, as well as other similar ones, one can find enough arguments, especially since the emblem has changed over the centuries. Perhaps the raven is an earlier emblem, which was transformed into an eagle under the influence of the close ties of the Chernigov principality with Byzantium through Tmutarakan in the 11th century. It is appropriate to note that the Grand Duke of Chernigov Mstislav Vladimirovich used a family sign that looked like a trident. He himself began the construction of one of the oldest stone churches in Eastern Europe - the Chernigov Transfiguration Cathedral, where he was buried in 1036. It was he who, after the famous battle of Listven (near Chernigov) in 1024, where he defeated the army of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Yaroslav Wise, founded the Grand Duchy of Chernigov.

Another digression regarding the coat of arms of the Chernigov land - the black eagle, namely its color. It can be assumed that it is not accidental. Historian A. Tolochko writes: “Different sides of the border are marked with different colors. Your side is light, someone else’s side is dark. The opposition of “light”, “red” Rus' to a dark, unknown field is one of the main coloristic dominants of ancient Russian literature. The color code, however, is not the only one. It has its direct continuation in the signs of the cardinal directions, where the south (light) corresponds to one’s own, and the north (darkness) corresponds to someone else’s. At the dawn of ancient Russian statehood, it was in this way that the glades recognized their northern neighbors, the northerners, associating with them black paint, and at the same time the concept of the geographical north and cold. It can be argued that ideas about maximum ethnic alienation are necessarily associated with the black north "

In this case, the position of the heraldists of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, who in the 17th century, becomes clear. claimed that the double-headed black eagle was the ancient emblem of the Chernigov land, on the basis of which the Polish Sejm in 1633 approved the coat of arms of the Chernigov voivodeship. It became a black double-headed eagle with spread wings under the royal crown and the monogram of Prince Vladislav on the chest (interestingly, in the 30s of the 17th century there was another coat of arms associated with the Chernigov region. This is Pahonia or a horseman in armor. It was placed on the seal of the Chernigov zemstvo).

Unfortunately, we do not know the arguments of heraldists regarding the antiquity of the eagle as the emblem of the Chernihiv region. And in general, were there any? We must not forget that the Chernigov lands were a disputed territory between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Moscow State, and hence all sorts of attempts by both states to tie them to themselves in one way or another. Perhaps the black double-headed eagle was planned as a counterweight to the Moscow one. Look, within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth there are lands that have had an eagle in their coat of arms since pre-Mongol times, in contrast to the later Moscow one, borrowed from Byzantium. In addition, the black eagle had something in common with the Polish white one. In this way, they proved that the Chernigov lands as part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth are an integral part of it, and Moscow has no rights to them.

The opposite side approached this issue differently. It is known that in the 17th century the coat of arms in the generally accepted sense did not exist in the Moscow state, and those images that we see on the royal seal can be considered as emblems (and nothing more) that emphasized the idea that Moscow is the collector of Russian lands . It is interesting to note that on the seal of Ivan IV the emblem of the Chernigov land is an oriental type sword or saber, on the platter of Alexei Mikhailovich it is a white deer on a green background. As we see, in the Russian tradition, the emblem of Chernigov lands was unstable, which is explained by the weakness of Russian heraldry, which as a science began to develop only in the 18th century, and in the 17th century. Moscow officials had to either create artificial emblems, or use the developments of more experienced Western heraldists, making their own modifications. Therefore, the Chernigov eagle in 1672 became single-headed. And a cross appears in his paws, serving as a reminder that the Chernigov lands near Kiev were the cradle of Christianity in Rus'. The eagle “lost” its head, since the national emblem of the Moscow state was the double-headed Byzantine eagle, and from the point of view of Moscow officials it was unacceptable for Chernigov, a city, although ancient, but provincial, which was for some time part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, to have such an emblem . Thus, the black eagle established itself as the coat of arms of the Chernigov-Siversk land.

While the city coat of arms of Chernigov we can only consider the image of St. Vladislav. In 1623, Sigismund III, with his privilege, granted the city Magdeburg law, where, among other things, the city coat of arms was approved: “... we assign to the city coat of arms: Saint Vladislav in the zbruya with a red horn.” Why did this particular saint appear on the coat of arms? The administrator of the Chernigov-Seversk land at that time was the prince Vladislav, the future king Vladislav IV, and Saint Vladislav was his patron. Here we must remember the traditions of Kievan Rus, its princes, who placed images of their patron saints on seals. Why was the saint in military gear? Chernigov is a border city, by the way, as it is now. Again, analogies: we see the image of an armed warrior on the princely seals of Kievan Rus. The heraldists of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth knew their business well and provided a solid basis for their developments. Image of St. Vladislav existed on the city seal of Chernigov from 1623 to 1782, i.e. 159 years (in the 17th-18th centuries the concepts of “city coat of arms” and “city seal” were identical.

The decree of the Senate of 1730, which some researchers refer to, refers to the approval of the military emblem and confirmation of the old land coat of arms of the Chernigov region, and not the city of Chernigov. This is convincingly evidenced by sphragistic data. The seal of the Chernigov regiment depicts a black single-headed eagle with a cross, and the city seal depicts St. Vladislav (we should not forget about the complex relationship between Cossack and city government in the Hetmanate.

Today, 61 prints of the Chernigov seal, their descriptions, photographs with a chronological framework of 1658-1782 are known. All of them depict St. Vladislav. 52 prints (1769-1781) were described by N. Grabovaya. She interprets St. Vladislav as an armed Cossack. We have a similar interpretation in the description of the seal of 1692, placed in the “Chernigov Provincial Gazette” of 1857, part unofficial. to No. 18.

Figure of St. Vladislava existed on the city seal until 1782, when by decree of Catherine II the city coat of arms was approved - a black eagle under a crown with a cross in its claw. Why did St. Vladislav satisfy everyone for 159 years, but in 1782 he no longer did? Probably, the Russian Empress, one of the initiators of the divisions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, used every opportunity to destroy any memory that the Russian lands were part of this state. In addition, we must not forget that this coat of arms recalled the special status of the city, its Magdeburg law, which caused rejection in autocratic feudal Russia.

Other emperors also pursued a policy of leveling the identity of the conquered peoples. Let us recall the decree of Paul I, which demanded that the image on city and other seals of Ukraine be replaced with the state emblem of the Russian Empire.
However, the black eagle remained the coat of arms of Chernigov and the Chernigov province until the October Revolution. After it, from 1917 to 1969, Chernigov did not have not only a coat of arms, but also no emblem at all.

On March 15, 1969, the first session of the 12th convocation of the Chernigov City Council approved a new “coat of arms” - “the basis of the coat of arms is a silver shield of Slavic shape, symbolizing the age of the city and its important defensive significance in the past, at the top of the shield there is an inscription in Old Church Slavonic font - “Chernigov”, at the bottom - a sickle and hammer, symbolizing peaceful labor and the inviolability of the union of the working class and the peasantry. The central red-azure plane of the shield, reproducing the colors of the flag of the Ukrainian SSR, is divided by a golden ear of wheat, which emphasizes that Chernigov is the center of a region with developed agriculture. The silhouette of an ancient cannon is depicted on an azure background, it reminds that Chernigov in the past was a fortress on the southwestern borders of Russia: on the red there is a silver image of a retort and a spool, which symbolizes the industrial development of the modern city. Crossing the azure and red background of the plane, the waves of the Desna wind, on the banks of which the city lies.”

As we can see, this emblem contains many violations of heraldic principles, therefore, naturally, with the creation of a sovereign Ukraine, among other things, the question of restoring the old historical coat of arms of Chernigov arose. A commission was created to study this issue. A competition has been announced for the best graphic design of the coat of arms. There were speeches on city television, publications in the press. But it immediately catches your eye that the first historical coat of arms of Chernigov - St. Vladislav - was completely ignored. A coat of arms with an eagle was submitted to the session of the City Council for consideration, but it rejected this project several times, saying that it came from Russia, tsarism, etc.
The deputies lacked knowledge of the history of their hometown. Finally, they decided to submit this issue to the executive committee, and the latter, by its decision No. 332 of December 1, 1992, decided: “to approve the city’s coat of arms according to the description and drawing that are attached,” that is, an eagle with a cross. The author of the modification and description of this coat of arms is the turner of the Chernigov Radio Instrument Plant V. M. Sergeev.

Here is what he writes: “The historical coat of arms of Chernigov is a silver coat of arms, against the background of which is depicted a black single-headed eagle with specifically cocked wings. A proudly stretched neck, a high-raised head, and an open beak with an outstretched tongue symbolize the all-conquering and life-affirming principle, strength, and jubilation. Widely spaced paws, traditional for the image of the Chernigov eagle, complement the overall impression of strength and courage. In the left paw of the eagle there is a golden cross, symbolizing the spiritual origin, significance and influence of Christianity in the centuries-old life of the city, one of the most significant spiritual centers of our fatherland, which has given rise to an inexhaustible galaxy of Orthodox devotees. The eagle’s head is crowned with a golden five-pointed tower (city) crown - a symbol of the ownership of this coat of arms to the city.”

Aspect ratio 1:1,2. The tongue and eyes of the eagle are red, the beak and paws are golden. V. Sergeev gives the rationale for the eagle according to V. Rumyantseva, but in a very categorical form. He presents debatable arguments as generally accepted and unconditional, while completely ignoring St. Vladislav, who was the coat of arms of the city for 159 years. In addition, the eagle loses the grand-ducal crown, which in the pre-revolutionary depiction emphasized the special status of Chernigov. We should not forget that Vladimir Monomakh, Svyatoslav Yaroslavich and other princes reigned here, then occupied the grand-ducal table in Kyiv.

No less interesting is the history of the city flag of Chernigov. In Ukraine, the first mention of city flags is found in the privilege of Sigismund I the Old to the Lviv townspeople for the city coat of arms dated January 27, 1526. Then the flags on which the coats of arms were depicted are mentioned in the privileges of Korsun (1585), Pereyaslav (1620), Boguslav (1620), Ostro (1662).

Some city flags have survived to this day. The military museum in Stockholm houses the flags of Kyiv and Lviv. They came to Sweden as war trophies.

A description of the Chernigov flag was made in 1786 by Afanasy Shafonsky: “The Chernigov magistrate has, according to old custom, a special magistrate banner, which is used in ceremonial exits in common with the guilds, triangular, and consists of blue damask. On one side is written the image of the Transfiguration of the Lord; on the sides of this image on the right is the prophet Moses, and on the left is the prophet Elijah, at the foot of it are the Holy Apostle John, the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Jacob; on the other side is the former magistrate's coat of arms. The border of it is a banner of yellow damask, along the edges of which, instead of braiding, there are gold and silver leaf stripes and trimmed with silk cord. At the top of the shaft there is a wooden gilded mace and above it the same cross.” In total, A. Shafonsky described 34 flags - two city (Chernigov, Pryluki), 32 workshop (Zenkov, Pryluki, Nizhyn, Borzna, Berezne, Chernigov).

The work of A. Shafonsky allows us to trace the main, characteristic features of the city and closely related guild banners of the Hetmanate.

Panel color:
— Red (16 flags);
— Green (8 flags);
— Blue (6 flags);
— Yellow (4 flags).

Panel shape:
— triangle — five flags;
- “two-horned” - two;
— The rest are not indicated, but we assume that they were rectangular.

Subjects:
— Mother of God — 8 copies.
– Coat of arms – 7
— Pokrova — 6
— Epiphany – 5
- Arch. Mikhail – 5
— Wm.George – 5
- St. Luke - 3
– Cross – 3
— Shop attributes — 8
— Kuzma and Demyan – 3
— Resurrection – 2
— Monogram – 2
— John the Baptist – 2
— Annunciation — 2
— Nicholas the Wonderworker – 2
— Elijah the Prophet – 2
— St. George the Victorious — 2
— Holy Spirit – 1
— Transfiguration – 1
- Vm.Stratilat - 1
— Trinity – 1
— Jesus Christ – 1
— Ascension – 1
— Myrrh-Bearers – 1
— Arch.Gabriel – 1
— St. Demetrius – 1
— Apostle Petro and Pavel – 1
— St. Boris and Gleb – 1
— Position of the vestments of the Virgin Mary – 1

As we see, Christian emblems prevail.

Flag pole tip:
— Mace with a cross – 2
— Mace with spear – 1
– Cross – 1
– Spear – 6
— Spear with ax (halberd) – 6

Thus, the most popular and traditional form of flagpole tip was the spear.

Let us pay attention to the fact that the edge of the panel was trimmed with a border, and the indicated scenes were painted with paints. The embroidery technique, unlike church items, was not used.

It should be noted that the image of an armed warrior on the Chernigov flag should, in our opinion, be interpreted more broadly than just as St. Vladislav.
Before us is a generalized image of a defender of his native land. The origins of this image go back to the times of Kievan Rus. We see something similar on princely seals. One can consider this drawing as the personification of the legendary founder of Chernigov, Prince Cherny. The following fact should also be taken into account. In 1625, a Cossack detachment was created to guard Chernigov (by the way, this is the first documentary mention of the Chernigov Cossacks, except for news of the legendary Snovskaya Sich). So, the interpretation of St. Vladislav as a Cossack also has a historical basis.

Regarding the plot of “The Transfiguration of the Lord,” it is also not accidental. After all, in Chernigov there is the oldest stone temple of the Eastern Slavs - the Transfiguration Cathedral of the 11th century. and for Chernigov residents it has always been the main center of faith and spirituality.

Igor Sytyi
Candidate of Historical Sciences,
member of the Council of the Ukrainian Heraldic Society,
senior researcher at the Chernigov Historical Museum named after V. V. Tarnovsky

Coat of arms of the city of Chernigov (draft, 1859)

Description:Description:
In 1859, according to the rules developed by B. Kene, a draft coat of arms of the city of Chernigov was drawn up:
In a silver field there is a black crowned eagle, holding behind it in the claws of its left leg a long golden cross, inclined to the right corner of the shield, the eagle’s claws are golden, and its tongue is scarlet. The shield is crowned with a golden tower crown and surrounded by golden ears of corn, connected by an Alexander ribbon." Thus, the eagle on the city coat of arms was turned to the "heraldic correct" right side and a frame for the provincial city (crown and wreath) was added.

Coat of arms of the city of Chernigov (1782)

Acceptance date: 04.06.1782

Description:
A single-headed black eagle crowned with a gold crown, holding a gilded cross in its left talon, in a silver field.

Acceptance date: 1623

Description:
Coat of arms of the city of Chernigov (1623)

Sources: A. Grechilo, Y. Savchuk, I. Svarnik "Herbi of the city of Ukraine (XIV-I half of XX century)"

Flag of Chernigov region

Acceptance date: 11.07.2000

Description:
The flag of the Chernihiv region is a green rectangular panel with an aspect ratio of 2:3, in the middle of which there is a white horizontal stripe 1/5 of the width of the flag. In the upper left part of the flag there is an image of a black double-headed eagle with red paws and tongues, golden eyes and weapons (beaks and claws), and on the heads. by a golden open crown. On the eagle’s chest there is a blue shield with a gold frame, on which the gold sign of Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich is visible. On the flag, two green stripes indicate two geographical zones of the Chernihiv region - Polesie and Forest-steppe. The white stripe symbolizes the Desna River, which separates them.

Coat of arms of Chernihiv region

Acceptance date: 11.08.2000

Description:
The coat of arms of the Chernigov region is a silver shield with a black crowned double-headed eagle with scarlet paws and tongues, golden eyes, beaks, claws and crowns. In the azure breastplate with gold edging is the golden sign of the founder of the Grand Duchy of Chernigov, Mstislav Vladimirovich.

Original taken from bovdo in Tear the Sky (Part V)

I left the latest version of the origin of our coat of arms for you for dessert. It belongs to the secondary, but even among the secondary it stands apart and “serious” historians, if possible, prefer not to mention it at all. This version has no common name; most often it is vaguely called local. It comes from the fact that the double-headed eagle was known in Rus' long before 1497.

I would like to begin the analysis of this version from afar, with a quote from Saxo Grammar’s chronicle “The Acts of the Danes.” Describing the exploits of the Danes, Saxo Grammaticus simultaneously left us the most valuable and extensive evidence about their opponents. In particular, he described in detail the life and customs of the West Slavic tribes, with whom the Danes had been at enmity from time immemorial.

The holy city of the Baltic Slavs was Arkona where the temple of god stood Sventovita (although, most likely, foreign-language chroniclers distorted the Slavic name Svyatovid or Svetovid).

Here is what Saxo writes about the sculpture of Sventovit, which stood in the Arkona sanctuary: “ In the building, a huge statue, similar in every way to a human body, but superior in size, surprised with four heads and the same number of necks, two of which were visible from the chest, two from the back. Both in front and behind, one head looked to the right, the other looked to the left… ».

Sventovit by Konstantin Vasiliev differs markedly from the description of Saxo Grammar, but no less impressive.

And here is Saxo’s testimony about the symbols of the supreme deity of the Slavs: “ Sventovit was symbolized by various signs, in particular, carved eagles and banners, the main one of which was called Stanitsa... The power of this small piece of canvas was stronger than the princely power».

Don't you think that the above quote contains all the key words of our topic? Firstly, among the Slavs, multi-headed deities were common. Secondly, the eagle was their sacred bird, back in the time of Arkona ( and this is from the 6th to the 12th centuries). The only question is how to combine these two postulates. In other words, was the double-headed eagle known as such in the Slavic world?

The weight of evidence suggests that it definitely was! G.P. Durasov and A.K. Ambrose collected a whole collection of embroideries with double-headed eagles in the Russian North. Our good friend, a wonderful woman and a wonderful scientist, Svetlana Vasilyevna Zharnikova, from “Mountain Fantasy of the Lowland Inhabitants,” summarized the accumulated material in her work “On an attempt to interpret the meaning of some images of Russian folk embroidery of the archaic type.”

The pattern on the towel...

...and there are countless of them!

I accumulated it, summarized it, and came to the conclusions that come and go:

...The motif of the double-headed eagle, quite decorative, somewhat fabulous and at the same time laconic, was not alien in its structure to folk ornament. And it organically fit into the ancient ornamental compositional schemes, occupying the very center of these compositions. Nowadays, it has probably become a commonplace to say that the center of any ornamental scheme is semantically more important than its periphery, but in our case I would like to emphasize this again.
In compositions with a double-headed eagle, the royal bird is indeed always in the center, but it entered this compositional scheme relatively recently, not earlier than the 17th century. On both sides of this central figure there are almost always ornamental, stylized, symmetrical images of birds, horses, trees, women with their arms raised or lowered. All of them are components of a very ancient compositional scheme, into which it organically fit, without breaking it, at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries. double headed eagle...

So, Svetlana Vasilievna, no earlier than the 17th century, you say... That is, for some thousands of years, almost since the Neolithic, a certain ornamental composition existed. And then, " at the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries."(c), under the influence of the state emblem, which they spied in a tavern, ordinary villagers began to include a stylized double-headed eagle in this composition. Moreover, they did not embroider it somewhere to the side, on the edge, so that it could be erased later, but in the very center. In the same one that " semantically more important"than the periphery. Isn't it a great honor, one might ask?

Folk patterns and ornaments are not just a random set of geometric shapes - they are a collection of canonized images. They are woven or embroidered according to rules no less strict than the rules by which icons are painted. Because their sacred load is the same. Any pattern is, first of all, a talisman; it was applied to clothes or ritual towels not for beauty, but in order to protect their wearer from evil spirits. Including a new non-canonical component in a protective pattern means destroying all sacred protection.

Judge for yourself: in Rus' there were a lot of revered and especially revered Orthodox saints, but not a single one of them in the entire thousand years of Christianity received the honor of being included in traditional folk ornaments. Even conditionally schematically, at the level of a hint. Moreover, a foreign symbol that does not have a spiritual meaning could not be included in the sacred scheme. Since the double-headed eagle found its place in traditional patterns, it means that it was, at a minimum, not alien to folk sacredness.

Double-headed eagles in folk design are found not only on embroidery, but also on platbands ( the window of a house, as an area of ​​contact with the outside world, needed special sacred protection, which is why painted frames were given such great importance - they also served as a talisman).

Our climate has served us badly. In the poor and barren Middle East, the main building material is stones and clay. As you know, if you carve something in stone, it will last forever. Likewise, clay tablets are not afraid of rodents, fires, or floods. And in our natural zone, everything or almost everything was of plant origin - fortresses and huts were built from wood, threads were spun from flax and hemp, they were written on birch bark...

As a result, the scarce Middle Eastern stone and adobe artifacts have survived to this day in acceptable condition and in almost complete volume, and our rich heritage has almost completely disappeared in the whirlpool of human and natural elements.

Shirts and towels are an extremely unreliable information carrier; time takes its toll and any fabric decays over time. Wooden frames rot and turn into dust. Birch bark letters perish in the flames of fires, are corroded by mold or crumble from decay... Therefore, we will not blame Svetlana Vasilievna Zharnikova for hasty conclusions - indeed, microscopically little material evidence older than the 17th century has reached us.

And those that have arrived... are carefully hidden from us! Because there is really something to hide! Well, how, for example, widely publicize information that The first single image of a double-headed eagle in Europe, dating back to the 10th century, was discovered by archaeologists here, in Russia, near Smolensk, in a treasure from the Gnezdovo mound back in 1867?! What about Western theory? What about the Byzantine? But what about the tons of dissertations written based on these theories? But what about the crowds of candidates and doctors who defended these dissertations? Where to put them? Deprived of degrees and to become janitors? - So, there aren’t enough brooms for everyone...

A silver buckle from the Gnezdovo treasure is the earliest independent and self-sufficient image of a double-headed eagle in Europe.

Similar images on plaques and pendants dating back to the same time as the buckle from the Gnezdovsky treasure were found in Kyiv and near Belgorod. Princely warriors decorated their clothes and belts with such pendants. And near Vologda they dug up the tip of a sword scabbard, decorated with a stylized double-headed eagle, dating back to the year 950... In a word, the overwhelming majority of historical theories are based on a much more shaky evidence base, but historians are interested in their existence, but not in the existence of this one!

The most recent find from this series was excavated quite recently, in 2009, near the village of Staroye Rakomo, Novgorod region - this is a lead pendant of the 11th-12th centuries. And instead of trumpeting it to the whole world, once and for all silencing all pro-Westerners and pro-Byzantines, they chose to keep a low profile on the discovery.

Pendant from Old Rakomo.

Just think about it, the history of the double-headed eagle in Rus' has been reliably tracked since at least the 10th century! Byzantium has half a millennium ahead of it; The Khazar Kaganate is not only alive and well, but also thriving, but Hungary, on the contrary, is not, since the Hungarians have not even moved to Europe yet; the formidable Pechenegs and Polovtsians are shaking the Ecumene, but no one has ever heard of any Mongol-Tatars; in fact, Rus' itself has not yet formed, but the double-headed eagle already feels at home here!

Let's make a lyrical digression. To some extent, I am also an archaeologist. I disdain to be called a historian, I don’t dare to be called a folklorist, so I came up with my own name for my hobby - mental archeology.

If ordinary archaeologists go out into the field every summer, pick through the archaeological layers and bring out broken shards with which they don’t know what to do next and they continue to rot in museum storerooms the same way they rotted before in the damp earth, then I’m working , without leaving home. I conduct my excavations in folklore sources and, if ordinary archaeologists are looking for material evidence of past eras, I am looking for mental evidence. Sometimes I succeed in this, as I managed, for example, based only on fairy tales, to prove that the hut on chicken legs was actually a near-horizon observatory. So on our current topic, it seems that I have unearthed some kind of mental artifact.

There is such a supporting character in Russian folklore - Nogai bird (can sometimes be written with an “a” in the first case – Nagai). I think the absolute coincidence of the name of the Russian mythical bird with the name of the Tatar beklarbek, who began issuing money with double-headed eagles in the Golden Horde, has already struck your eyes ( see part II of this study).

Current interpreters mostly believe that the Nogai bird is a griffin; lion with eagle head and wings. This opinion is based on a single line from the anonymous “Azbukovnik” of the 16th century, which claims that, they say, the Nogai bird moves on land on four legs.

In other works where Nogai the Bird appears - Russian folk tales " Rejuvenating apples" And " Ivan the Bear's Ear", Belarusian folk tale " The blue retinue is sewn inside out", apocrypha " Pigeon book“- she behaves quite like a bird and demonstrates behavioral reactions characteristic of the biological class Aves.

“The Pigeon Book,” or rather, its early editions, indicate that Nogai is a pseudonym, and her real name is Stratem or Strahil. This dispels all doubts about its species - it really is a bird, not a griffin. Moreover, this is a personal bird or even an emanation of the Slavic-pagan lord of the winds - Striboga. That is, the character is archaic, well known in Rus'.

Let us ask ourselves a question: how did it happen that the Stratim-bird received a pseudonym derived from the name of the Tatar temnik? The only answer that comes to my mind is: when in Rus' they saw the eagle coins of Nogai, the double-headed eagle depicted on them was simply learned! The Russians identified the sign on Horde money as the Stratim Bird, which was well known to everyone from pagan times. And from then on, the name of the Tatar beklyarbek became associated with this mythological character ( or vice versa).

By the way, Nogai himself successfully infiltrated our folklore. Remember such a textbook anti-hero as “ Dog Kalin Tsar"? So this is it! Word " kick" translates as " dog"; and the word " Kalin" - How " thick» ( the Horde usurper, indeed, suffered from excess body weight).

And, indeed, if the Stratim/Nogai bird was depicted as a double-headed eagle on embroidery and trim, oral folklore should... no, I shouldn’t, but I had to save information about it. At least at the level of explanation who it is and what role it plays in sacred protection. After all, all these elements of folk art are shoots growing from the same root: patterns woven or carved from wood are just a visualization of what fairy tales and epics talk about.

What is called an inner voice tells me that we will return to folklore... we will return specifically to fairy tales about rejuvenating apples and about the blue retinue... but for now we will continue about the double-headed eagle, as a sign and symbol. Given the above prerequisites, it simply could not help but end up in Russian heraldry - the double-headed eagle becomes the official symbol of the Principality of Chernigov and the Principality of Przemysl.

Coat of arms of the Principality of Chernigov.

The coat of arms of the Principality of Przemysl.

It is worth dwelling on the history of the Principality of Przemysl, since it illustrates the fate that the West of Russia was preparing, persuading Ivan III to accept the imperial or royal crown. Shortly before Batu’s invasion, it became part of Galicia-Volyn (Chervonnaya) Rus'.

When the Mongols arrived, the ruler of Red Rus', Daniil Galitsky, turned to Europe for help. Oh, the European rulers bombarded Daniel with assurances of their support, began to menacingly rattle their swords, dashingly twirl their mustaches, and even agreed to recognize the Russian barbarian as their equal - Daniel was crowned, he and his descendants received the Latin title Rex Russiae ( King of Rus').

The notorious Europe of Galicia-Volyn Rus' did not help anything else. Apart from the crown, the West did not send anything to Daniel - not a penny, not a fighter. And when Chervonnaya Rus' strained itself in the fight against the Horde, those whom it protected from the Mongol-Tatars tore it apart and divided it among themselves. Galicia went to the Kingdom of Poland, Volhynia to the Principality of Lithuania. Over time, the population of these regions completely forgot about their Russian origin and are now distinguished by the most rabid Russophobia - the natives of these places during the Great Patriotic War replenished the SS division “Galicia” with personnel, and in modern times they have formed the backbone of Maidan activists.

In 1349, the former Principality of Przemysl will be occupied by Poland - its Russian history will end there. It is interesting that the Przemysl double-headed eagle will outlive the state that it symbolized. On the territory of the Przemysl land, the Polish administration will issue its own currency for some time - Russian penny. On the reverse it will depict a double-headed eagle, which the Poles considered nothing less than a typical Russian distinctive sign.

The Poles believed that “Russian” money should have a Russian symbol; they had no doubt what kind of symbol it would be.

The minting of the Russian penny in the territory of the former Russian Kingdom will stop around 1390. In 1401, the Principality of Chernigov will cease to exist. However, the pre-Moscow history of the double-headed eagle in Rus' will not end with this. In the 1470s, the Grand Duchy of Tver suddenly began to print it on its money. But this is a completely different story, which is worth considering separately...

To be continued.

Orlov Vladimir,
crypto-ornithologist.