Heraldic Council

The Heraldic Council at the President of the Russian Federation is the only official heraldic institution in Russia.

The Decree No. 856 by President Yeltsin dated June 29th, 1999 became the legislative basis for the establishment of the Heraldic Council.

The predecessor of the Heraldic Council was the State Heraldry established by Decree No. 1539 of the President of the Russian Federation dated July 25th, 1994, later transformed into the Department of Personnel Policy at the President of the Russian Federation by Decree No.162 dated February 12th, 1998).

Goals of the Heraldic Council:

• Provides to the President information about the state of affairs in the field of heraldry.
• Ensures compliance with the procedure governing the work regarding creation and use of official symbols and distinctive signs.
• Conducts heraldic analysis of the materials, concerning establishments and use of official symbols and distinctive signs.
• Examines drafts of regulatory acts by federal enforcement authorities, government authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and the decisions of the local governments concerning establishment and use of official symbols and distinctive signs.
• Maintains the State heraldic register of the Russian Federation in accordance with the established procedure.
• Develops recommendations concerning  the establishment and use of official symbols and distinctive signs for federal enforcement authorities, government authorities of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and local governments.
• Studies international experience in the area of heraldry.
• Conducts research work in the field of theory and history of heraldry.

Curriculum vitae:

• Graduated from the Department of History at the Leningrad State University, Ph.D. in History.
• Works at the State Hermitage Museum since 1969.
• In August 1992, he was appointed Deputy Director of the Hermitage in charge of science.
• Since February 1992 he has been chief of the State Heraldic Service of the Russian Federation.
• 1992—1994 — Head of the Department of Heraldry at the Russian Archives.
• 1994-1999 — Head of the State Heraldry at the President of Russia.
• Since June 29th, 1999 Chairman of the Heraldic Council at the President of Russia — the State King of Arms.
• Participated in the development of the draft law on state symbols. Organized work on maintenance of the State Heraldic Register of Russia and creation of heraldic services in a number of ministries and departments.
• Has authored more than 150 publications on the history of Russian culture, military history and heraldry.

Heraldic Council structure (Approved by Decree No. 1121 of the President of the Russian Federation on August 26th, 2004)

• Vilinbakhov, Georgy Vadimovich, Deputy Director of the State Hermitage in charge of scientific work, Ph.D. in History (Chairman of Council, state King of Arms).
• Tsvetkov, Alexander Geraldovich, main adviser at the Department for support of activity of advisory bodies of the Russian President’s Department for Personnel Management and State Awards, candidate of philosophical sciences (vice president of the Council)
• Kalashnikov, Gleb Vadimovich, adviser at the department for support of activity of advisory bodies of the Russian President’s Department for Personnel Management and State Awards, candidate of historical sciences (Executive Secretary of the Council)
• Derevshchikov, Alexander Borisovich – Deputy Chairman of the Heraldic Council of the Federal Agency on physical education, sports and tourism, candidate of military sciences
• Dumin, Stanislav Vladimirovich – senior researcher at the State Historical Museum, candidate of historical sciences
• Kartashov, Ilya Mikhailovich – Executive Secretary of the Moscow Heraldic Commission
• Kornakov, Pavel Konstantinovich – member of the editorial board of Zeihgaus magazine, candidate of historical sciences
• Kuznetsov, Oleg Vyacheslavovich — chief of the Military-Heraldic Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation – the main military King of Arms, candidate of historical sciences
• Lavrenov, Vladimir Ilyich – associate professor at the chair of historiography and source studies of the Tver State University, candidate of historical sciences
• Levin, Sergey Stepanovich – senior researcher at the State Historical museum
• Levykin, Alexey Konstantinovich – deputy director of the State Historical and Cultural Memorial Estate Moscow Kremli», candidate of historical sciences
• Medvedev, Mikhail Yurievich – artist
• Mironenko, Sergey Vladimirovich – Director of the State Archives of the Russian Federation, Ph.D. in History
• Sakharov, Igor Vasilievich – director of Institute of Genealogical Research at the Russian National Library, candidate of geographical sciences
• Soboleva, Nadezhda Aleksandrovna – leading researcher of the Institute of the Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ph.D. in History
• Tokar, Leonid Nikolayevich – Chairman of the Municipal Council of the Municipal District No. 71 in St. Petersburg
• Ukhnalev, Evgeniy Ilyich – People’s Artist of the Russian Federation
• Khlebnikov, Sergey Dmitrievich – Deputy Director of the Federal Guard Service of the Russian Federation, commandant of the Moscow Kremlin
• Chernykh, Alexander Petrovich – Managing Director of the Center for Coats of Arms and Genealogical Research at the Institute of the World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, candidate of historical sciences
• Shelkovenko, Mikhail Konstantinovich – adviser at the Ryazan Regional Heraldic Commission, merited artist of the Russian Federation
• Shepelev, Leonid Efimovich – President of the St. Petersburg Scientific Society of Historians and Archivists, Ph.D. in History.

The State Heraldic Register of the Russian Federation (maintained on the basis of the Decree No. 403 by President of the Russian Federation dated March 21st,1996 in edition of the Decree No. 1273 by the President of the Russian Federation of September 25th, 1999) is the single registration document of the Russian Federation created for the purpose of systematizing the existing state and territorial heraldic signs, building the single information field for existing heraldic signs and protection of the approved heraldic signs. The signs, which were approved by the corresponding legislative act and which came into force are entered into the Register. Documents on such signs are submitted to the Council from sites and undergo pre-registration heraldic analysis, which is used to check the conformity of signs and accompanying documents to requirements of the Russian legislation and requirements of the uniform state policy in the field of heraldry, and the original nature of the signs. In the case of approval, the signs are submitted for discussion by the Council session, which makes separate decisions for each sign regarding its entry in the Register. The signs entered in the Register are issued registration numbers, and the owners of the signs are given the established certificates of registration (the procedure for issuance of Registration Certificates is established by the Order No. 471-rp of the President of the Russian Federation dated October 13th, 2003).

Operating Procedure of the Heraldic Council at the President of the Russian Federation.

Operating Procedure of the Heraldic Council at the President of the Russian Federation. The basic decisions and findings of the Heraldic Council at the President of the Russian Federation are made during the Council sessions. Since all members of the Council perform their duties without remuneration, the Council sessions are held once every two months and last one to two days. At its sessions, the Council tackles issues of the carrying out of the single state policy in the area of heraldry (development of common approaches and methodical bases for solving basic questions of heraldic practice, development and discussion of drafts of legislative and regulatory materials, methodical recommendations, principles of carrying out heraldic analysis) and issues on entering the signs into the State Heraldic Register of the Russian Federation. As needed and in particularly important cases, the Council sessions look into questions on the heraldic analysis of individual signs and sets of signs, discussions of specific questions of heraldic practice. Certain issues can be voted by correspondence, when members of the Council are given the materials, and they send in their findings, on which basis the Council makes its conclusions about the issue under review.

The mailing address of the Heraldic Council:

62, Suvorovsky Prosp., 193124 St. Petersburg, Russia
Heraldic Council at the President of the Russian Federation.