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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Standard of the Roman Empire
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Παλαιολόγος
The Emblem of the Palaiologos Dynasty
Palaiologos, often latinized as Palaeologus, was a Byzantine Greek noble family, which produced the last ruling dynasty of the Byzantine Empire.
After the Fourth Crusade, members of the family fled to the neighboring Empire of Nicaea, where Michael VIII Palaiologos became co-emperor in 1259, recaptured Constantinople and was crowned sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire in 1261.
His descendants ruled the empire until the Fall of Constantinople at the hands of the Ottoman Turks on May 29, 1453, becoming the longest-lived dynasty in Byzantine history; some continued to be prominent in Ottoman society long afterwards.
A branch of the Palaiologos became the feudal lords of Montferrat, Italy.
This inheritance was eventually incorporated by marriage to the Gonzaga family, rulers of the Duchy of Mantua, who are descendents of the Palaiologoi of Montferrat.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Emblem of Napoleon Bonaparte
Empire Français
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Heraldic Rendering of the Crown of Napoleon
Napoleonic Eagle
Imperial Crown of Napoleon III
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Emblem of the Spanish Falange
Bandera de España con el Yugo y las Flechas
The word Falange means phalanx formation in Spanish.
Members of the party were called Falangists (Spanish: Falangistas).
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde (4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975), known simply as
Francisco Franco, was a Spanish military general and head of state of Spain from October 1936 (as a unified nation from 1939 onwards), and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November 1975.
He came to power as a prominent member of the Spanish Falange movement.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
(The Arms of the Kingdom of Spain)
(1945 - 1977)
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
(Arms of King Juan Carlos I of Spain)
Reino de España
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Brasão de Portugal
(Coat of Arms of Portugal)
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Italian Fascist Eagle
Partito Nazionale Fascista
(Fascismo Aquila)
Italian Fascism also known in Italian as Fascismo is an radical, authoritarian Italian nationalist political ideology.
It is the original manifestation of fascism. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945, the post-war Italian Social Movement, and subsequent Italian neo-fascist movements.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Minore Stemma del Regno d'Italia
Lesser Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Italy (1929-1943)
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Maggiore Stemma del Regno d'Italia
Greater Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Italy (1929-1943)
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Il piccolo stemma del Regno d'Italia
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Emblema della Repubblica Italiana
(Emblem of the Italian Republic)
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Εθνόσημο του Βασιλείου της Ελλάδα
(Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Greece)
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Έμβλημα της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας
Emblem of the Hellenic Republic
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Norway
Kongeriket Norge (Bokmål) - Kongeriket Noreg (Nynorsk)
Crown of the Kingdom of Norway
The Crown of Norway is the crown of the King of Norway and was made in Stockholm in 1818 by goldsmith Olof Wihlborg.
The crown is a corona clausa (closed model) consisting of a ring carrying eight hoops made of gold and surmounted by a globe of blue enamel and an amethyst cross on top of it.
The crown is decorated with many pearls and gemstones including amethysts, chrysoprases, a topaz and an alexandrite.
Its front is adorned with a huge green tourmaline, a gift of the Brazilian consul in Stockholm to King Charles III Johan.
Its splendid colours and its richly elaborated ornaments make the crown typical of the Empire period.
Although the goldsmith work was carried out by Olof Wihlborg, it is not known who designed the crown.
The Crown has a height of 24,5 cm, a diameter of 18,5 cm by 20,7 cm and a weight of 1500 grams.
The Crown has been used at four coronations and has had a prominent place at two benedictions. It has also been placed on the coffin of the deceased monarch since King Carl Johan's death in 1844.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Ramena z Království českého - 1198 - 1806
Wappen des Königreichs Böhmen
(Arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia - 1198 - 1806)
The Kingdom of Bohemia (Czech: Ceské království; Latin: Regnum Bohemiae) was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic.
The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and subsequently the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1867. Following the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, both Kingdom and Empire were dissolved and Bohemia became part of the newly formed Czechoslovak Republic.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Ramena Moravy
Wappen der mährischen
(Arms of the Moravia)
Moravia (Czech: Morava; Polish: Morawy; Latin: Moravia) is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia.
Following the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, Moravia became part of Czechoslovakia (and was part of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II).
In 1945 the ethnic Germans of Moravia were expelled.
On the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993, Moravia remained in the Czech territory as part of the Czech Republic.
It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region.
Moravia's largest city is Brno, its historical capital.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Componente ale Regatului România
(Arms of the Kingdom of Romania -1922-1947)
Regatul României
After World War I Transylvania was united with the Kingdom of Romania.
Then the coat of arms of Transylvania was placed in the fourth quarter, with the Turul replaced by a black aquila, the third quarter depicted the joined coats of arms of Banat and Oltenia (the bridge of Apollodorus of Damascus and agolden lion respectively), and the coat of arms of Dobruja was placed in an insertion.
The shield was placed on the chest of a golden crossed and crowned aquila, as a symbol of the Latinity of the Romanians.
The aquila was placed on a blue shield, capped with the Steel Crown.
The coat of arms had three versions: lesser, middle (with supporters and motto), and greater (the middle arms on a mantle red lined with ermine).
Coroana de oţel din România
(The Steel Crown of Romania)
The Steel Crown of King Carol I of Romania was forged at the Army Arsenal (Arsenalul Armatei) in Bucharest of the steel of a gun captured by the Romanian Army from the Ottomans during the War of Independence (1877-1878).
Carol I chose steel, and not gold, to symbolize the bravery of the Romanian soldiers.
He received it during the ceremonies of his coronation and of the proclamation of Romania as a kingdom in 1881.
It is the same Crown used in 1922 at the coronation of King Ferdinand I and Queen Maria as sovereigns of Romania, which took place in Alba-Iulia.
The Crown was used also during the coronation and anointment as King of Michael I of Romania by the Orthodox Patriarch of Romania, Nicodim Munteanu, in the Patriarchal Cathedral of Bucharest, on the very day of his second accession, September 6, 1940.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Оръжие на Царство България
(Arms of the Kingdom of Bulgaria - 1927–1946)
Герб на България
The coat of arms of Bulgaria consists of a crowned golden lion rampant over a dark redshield; above the shield is the Bulgarian historical crown. The shield is supported by two crowned golden lions rampant;
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Грб Србија
Coat of Arms of Serbia (1882–1918)
The coat of arms of Serbia is based the family arms of the former Obrenovic dynasty (adopted in 1882) and features the white bicephalic eagle of the Nemanjic dynasty.
An ermine cape of the style once worn by kings is featured in the background.
The double-headed eagle has been used since Byzantine era, the Serbian cross has been used since the 12th century.
The principal field stands for the Serbian State. It consists of a double-headed eagle on a red shield; its body and wings in silver, and tongues, beaks, legs and claws in gold, between two golden fleur-de-lis.
The inescutcheon stands for the Serbian nation; in a red shield, a cross between four silverfiresteels arranged in the quarters around it, all of them facing horizontally outwards.
A blazon in heraldic terms is: Gules, a bicephalic eagle Argent armed Or, two fleurs-de-lys Or. Overall an escutcheon Gules, a cross Argent between four firesteels Argent. All crowned with a royal crown.
The design on the inescutcheon has been used by Serbian states and the Serbian church since the Middle Ages.
The four shapes around the central cross are firesteels, but they commonly referred to as the Cyrillic letter С. They actually originate from the Greek letter B (beta) from the phrase: Basileus Basileon Basileuon Basileuonton (King of Kings, Ruling Over Rulers), as originally used on the flag of the Palaiologos dynasty of Byzantine Empire.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Грб Краљевине Југославије
Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (previously called Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) was an evolution of the Coat of arms of Serbia. Graphically the coat of arms were similar, featuring only two major differences.
The first difference being the royal crowns.
The royal Serbian coat of arms depicts the Obrenovic dynastic crown.
While the royal Yugoslav coat of arms depicted the ruling Karadordevic dynastic crown.
Kruna Karadjordjevica
(Crown of Serbia)
The second difference was the shield surmounted on the white double headed eagle.
The previous Serbian coat of arms depicted only the Serbian tetragrammatic cross, representing only the Serbian nation.
When Yugoslavia was formed, the surmounted shield was altered to include the newly integrated Croat and Slovene nations, as the three official nations of Yugoslavia.
Serbian Crown Jewels
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Veća Grb pokrajine Hrvatska
(Greater Coat of Arms of the Province of Croatia)
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Grb Srbija
Coat of Arms of Serbia - 1941-1944
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Nezavisna Država Hrvatska
Coat of Arms of the Independant State of Croatia - (1941-1945)
The Independent State of Croatia (Croatian: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH) was an independant state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia.
The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers.
All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts of Serbia.
The state was technically a monarchy and Italian protectorate from the signing of the Rome agreements on May 19, 1941 until the Italian capitulation on September 8, 1943, but the king-designate, the Prince Aimone of Savoy-Aosta, refused to assume the crown in opposition to the Italian annexation of the Croat-populated Yugoslav region of Dalmatia.
The state was actually controlled by the governing fascist Ustaše movement and its Poglavnik, Ante Pavelic.
For its first two years up to 1943, the state was also a territorial condominium of Germany and Italy.
Additionally, central Dalmatia was annexed directly into Italian territory as part of the irredentist agenda of an Italian Mare Nostrum (Our Sea). Italian influence collapsed in 1943, with the ousting of Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Ustaša - Hrvatski Revolucionarni Pokret
(Ustase Symbol)
The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian political movement.
The ideology of the movement was a blend of National Socialism, and Croatian nationalism.
The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border of Belgrade.
The movement emphasized the need for a racially "pure" Croatia and promoted persecution and genocide against Serbs, Jews and Romani people.
Fiercely nationalistic, the Ustaše were also fanatically Catholic.
In the Yugoslav political context, they identified Catholicism with Croatian nationalism.
Following Croatian nationalism, they declared the Catholic and Muslim faiths as religions of the Croatian people.
The Ustaše also saw the Islam of Bosniaks as a religion which "keeps true the blood of Croats."
In April 1941, they were appointed to rule a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia as the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), which has been described as both an Italian-German quasi-protectorate, and as a puppet state of Nazi Germany.
When it was founded in 1930, the Ustaše was a nationalist organization that sought to create an independent Croatian state. When the Ustaše came to power in the NDH, a quasi-protectorate established by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany during World War II, its military wings became the Army of the Independent State of Croatia and the Ustaše militia (Croatian: Ustaška vojnica).
In 1944/1945, the Ustaše mostly left the country, although part of them remained in SFR Yugoslavia as resistance group known as Crusaders, and large number of them were killed without trial by Yugoslav forces (the Partisans) after the end of war.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Coat of Arms of the Soviet Federal Republic Yugoslavia - 1943-1963
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Nezavisna Država Hrvatska
Coat of Arms of the Independant State of Croatia
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Coat of Arms of Moldova
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© Copyright Peter Crawford 2013
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Հայաստանի զինանշանը
(Coat of Arms of Armenia)
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Coat of Arms of Montenegro
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Godło Polska
(Coat of Arms of Poland)
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Lesser Arms of the Russian Empire
Средний государственный герб Российской Империи
Россійская Имперія - Rossiyskaya Imperiya
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Greater Arms of the Russian Empire
Россійская Имперія - Rossiyskaya Imperiya
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Greater Arms of the Russian Empire
Россійская Имперія - Rossiyskaya Imperiya
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Lesser Arms of the Russian Empire
Средний государственный герб Российской Империи
Россійская Имперія - Rossiyskaya Imperiya
Small Arms of the Russian Empire - Silver
Малый государственный герб Российской Империи
Россійская Имперія - Rossiyskaya Imperiya
Small Arms of the Russian Empire - Gold and Diamonds
Малый государственный герб Российской Империи
Россійская Имперія - Rossiyskaya Imperiya
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Императорская корона России
Heraldic Rendering of the Imperial Crown of Russia
The Imperial Crown of Russia, also known as the Great Imperial Crown, is the crown that was used by the Emperors of Russia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1917.
The Great Imperial Crown was first used in a coronation by Catherine II, and was last used at the coronation of Nicholas II.
It survived the subsequent revolution and is currently on display in the Moscow Kremlin Armoury State Diamond Fund.
The Imperial Crown appeared on the National emblems of the Russian Empire—the Great State Emblem (Большой государственный герб Российской Империи), the Medium State Emblem (Средний государственный герб Российской Империи), and the Lesser State Emblem (Малый государственный герб Российской Империи) of Imperial Russia.
The Great Imperial Crown was placed above the Imperial Cypher (monogram)—but only after the coronation. After ascending the throne, but before the coronation, the Imperial Cypher would bear the princely crown, but not the Imperial Crown.
The crown was also placed on the arms of Congress Poland, a puppet state ruled by the Russian Empire (1814–1915), and the Privislinsky Krai which was incorporated into the empire in 1831.
Since December 20, 2000, the Imperial Crown has appeared on the Coat of arms of the Russian Federation.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Мономаха Cap
(Monomakh's Cap)
Императорская корона России
The Great Imperial Crown of Russia
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Монограмма императора Николая II в России
(Heraldic Cipher of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia)
Николай II, Николай Александрович Романов
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Гражданское оружие Санкт-Петербурга
(Civic Arms of St Petersburg)
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Coat of Arms of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Государственный герб СССР
The State Emblem of the Soviet Union was adopted in 1923 and was used until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Although it technically is an emblem rather than a coat of arms, since it does not follow heraldic rules, in Russian it is called герб, the word used for a traditional coat of arms.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Комитет государственной безопасности
Committee for State Security
Emblem of the KGB
The КГБ (KGB) was the commonly used acronym for the Russian: Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti or Committee for State Security. It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2013 |
Герб Украины
Coat of Arms of the Ukraine
