All Wrapped up in Imperial Dreams

Why so glum, Vlad?   (WaPo source)

I was struck by how this photo frames Putin.  It at once emphasizes Russia's current isolation and the much-theorized insulation of Putin from anybody but the yes-men who might be leading him to believe that he a) made a sound decision invading Ukraine and b) that the people are with him.

Or is the big white area akin to a blank canvas upon which Putin can create something from nothing, imposing his will onto a white void?

 

Russia Map by Vemaps.com

 

Oddly, if the photo represented Russia, Putin's head would be approximately in the right position if it were to represent Moscow....roughly.

The double-headed eagle we see on the flag has long been a symbol imperial Russia.  Indeed, the double-headed eagle is described as a heraldic representation of the very concept of Empire.  As the single (Aquila) eagle represented The Roman Empire, when doubled it represented the division of The Empire into the Western (ie Rome) and Eastern (ie Byzantium) Empires in 285 CE.

The way Vlad's head sits squarely in it's center is a perfect metaphor for the man and his war.  It's as if his head is literally swathed in dreams of restoring Russia's old imperial glory

After the fall of Constantinople, the use of two-headed eagle symbols spread to the Grand Duchy of Moscow after Ivan III's second marriage (1472) to Zoe Palaiologina (a niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos)....

In effect its use links Russia back to the Roman Empire, as if Russia is its legitimate heir.  The double-headed Eagle was the principal element of the Russian Empire's coat of arms until the Revolution of 1917.  During the Soviet period, it was abandoned, but was restored in 1993, this time in gold rather than the imperial black of the last Czars.

It was first used by the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry as the emblem of the Kadosh Degree and was adopted as the emblem of the Rite itself in 1758 as the "Double Headed Eagle of Lagash."  I think.  Masonic history is complicated as it is, made more so by it's early secrecy.  

Originally, in French usage, Knight Kadosh was the 24th of 25 degrees under the jurisdiction of the "Council of Emperors of the East and West."

In 1801, the first of today's Supreme Councils was created with a system of 32 degrees; in this system Kadosh became the 30th degree.  In the US Southern Jurisdiction anyway. In the Northern Jurisdiction the 30th degree is called "Grand Inspector." 

But back to the photo, Putin doesn't seem all that happy....

 

I'm not sure if Putin is standing before the flag of the Russian Federation or the Presidential standard.  As far as I can tell they are pretty much the same, the difference being the Federation flag is rectangular and the President's is square.  (Anyone out there with a better grip on this than I?)

It's worth noting the following two images.  The first is the 17th C. Flag of the Czar of Muscovia.  The second is today's Russian Presidential standard.  Not such a great leap to say the Russian President is in effect, a Czar.  Judging by the current war, a Czar which hasn't given up on Imperial ambitions.  Oh, the irony. The ex-Soviet KGB-man takes up the symbol of the Soviets' nemesis....and those guys used to call the Americans "Imperialists"....

By Участник Radziun

By User:Zscout370