Coat of Arms of Moscow - Pre-Muscovite Russia

Pre-Muscovite Russia

The emblem had its origins in the Byzantine tradition of depicting a patron saint of the ruling monarch on his seal and coins. Yaroslav the Wise was the first Russian ruler whose patron saint was Saint George. Accordingly, he built several cities and churches in the name of that saint.

Saint George was also the patron saint of his great grandson, Yury Dolgoruky, who founded the city of Moscow. The name "Yury" is Russian for "George". Yury is thought to have honored his patron saint on his coins which represent a standing warrior holding a sword in his right hand. Yury's elder brother, Mstislav the Great, also used a seal featuring a horseman slaying a basilisk. According to some theory, this might have been a reference to St. George as the patron saint of England, since Mstislav's maternal grandfather was the last Anglo-Saxon king of that country, Harald II.

A century later, Alexander Nevsky resumed this usage. A lot of his coins depict a horseman slaying a basilisk or dragon, though the latter is not always visible. Alexander's motivation for reverting to Mstislav's emblem is disputed. It is possible that the image referred to his own victories over the Swedish and German crusaders in the Battle of the Neva and Battle of the Ice.