The stars of the Kremlin: the Bolshevik hardness and Putin’s eclecticism
2 November marks 80 years one of the main symbols of the Soviet Union, printed in millions of images of the Kremlin stars.
Who came up with the idea of their installation is unknown.
The stars survived the change of social system, the collapse of which led them to the state, and, in all probability, will remain over the residence of the President of Russia indefinitely.
In turn were in their place, double-headed eagles were perhaps the most enduring attributes of the former regime in the country of the Bolsheviks.
Mathematical perfection or sign of Satan?
Five-pointed star (pentagram) is one of the oldest symbols of mankind. Archaeologists found it in cave paintings of Greece, the Middle East, Japan and pre-Columbian America. Nothing specifically Russian or Communist in it.
Pythagoras called the pentagram a mathematical perfection, and Leonardo da Vinci the symbol of man, since it fits his “Vitruvian man”.
In different cultures it meant military valor, protection from danger, the right way, the five wounds of Jesus Christ, and the five daily prayers of a Muslim.
The ancient Romans five-pointed star was the sign of the God of war Mars, the Kabbalists — the Messiah. She was decorated with the seals of king Solomon and the Emperor of Constantine is visible on Andrei Rublev’s icon “the Transfiguration”.
In the Middle ages was considered a sign of Satan (“the seal of Baphomet”), however, in this case depicted a single beam downwards and two upwards.
Five-pointed stars of different colors are present in the symbolism of the US, EU, China and many other countries, and on the officer uniform of most armies.
Whose idea was it to make a red star Soviet logo is unknown. Some sources give the authorship of ideas Commissioner Nicholas Polyansky, his other colleague Konstantin Yeremeyev, and others — nameless Kronstadt sailors.
Officially, the symbol called “the Mars star with the plough and sickle” was approved by order of narkomaania of Leon Trotsky from may 7, 1918. In the released behind the leaflet explained: “Red star is a star of happiness to all the poor people, peasants and workers.”
Original red star was a purely military one attribute — for example, it was sewn on a cloth budenovka infantry units of the red army.
The order of Trotsky threatened the Tribunal to anyone who would wear a red star, not serving in the red army.
But after the Civil war, she became a element of the flags and coats of arms of the USSR and the Union republics, and acquired the same status as the swastika in Nazi Germany: the symbol of the state and the dominant ideology of complement complex in the image of the official coat of arms.
Then come up with another symbolic meaning: five rays of the star are the five continents that will soon unite under the banner of communism.
Great change
From the XVII century, four of the 20 towers of the Kremlin — the Spasskaya, Troitskaya, Nikolskaya and Borovitskaya — tsarist crowned double-headed eagles.
About once a century, gilded copper eagles changed. By the beginning of 1930-ies the oldest was an eagle Trinity tower, erected in 1870, the new — Spasskaya tower (1912).
The Bolsheviks officially abolished the old coat of arms on 10 July 1918.
According to the testimony of colleagues, Vladimir Lenin repeatedly expressed a desire to remove from a prominent place in the symbols of the former regime, but during his lifetime did not reach his hands.
In 1929, Joseph Stalin had achieved power. On the eve of his 50th anniversary, celebrated with unprecedented pomp and hymns, “all-Union headman” Mikhail Kalinin said: “Stalin is a genius who can do anything.”
In 1931, the Metropolitan regional Committee headed by Lazar Kaganovich, began with frantic energy to convert an old merchant-nepmansky Moscow in the “model Communist city”.
5 Dec 1931 it was blown up the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. According to the well-known, but unofficial version, Kaganovich personally turned the handle, speaking thus: “Delay hem mother Russia”.
In the 1930s, the NKVD ordered the art historian and restorer Igor Grabar expert assessment of the Kremlin eagles. Academician issued the conclusion:
None of the currently existing on the Kremlin towers eagles is of no monument of antiquity and as such cannot be protected.
After receiving a copy of the document, the Manager of the people’s Commissars Nikolai Gorbunov on June 20, 1930 “with Communist greetings,” wrote the Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee Avel Enukidze: “Lenin several times demanded the withdrawal of these eagles were angry that the work was not done — I personally confirm this. I think it would be nice these eagles replaced their flags. Why do we keep these symbols of the tsarist regime?”.