Changes

The modern ''double-headed eagle'' flag for the [[Church of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]] and of [[Mount Athos]], features the eagle with a sword in the right claw symbolizing secular authority, and an orb in the left symbolizing spiritual authority. Above the eagle, is a crown and the background colour of the flag is yellow. (''see image below)''.

The two major symbolic elements of Russian state and church symbols (the two-headed eagle and St. George slaying the dragon) predate Peter the Great. The ''double-headed eagle'' was adopted by Ivan III after his marriage with the [[Byzantine]] princess ''Sophia Paleologo'', whose uncle Constantine was the last Byzantine Emperor. After the [[Fall of Constantinople]] to the Turks in 1453, Ivan III and his heirs considered Moscow to be the last stronghold of the Christian faith, and in effect, the last Roman Empire (hence the expression "Third Rome" for Moscow and - by extension - for the whole of Imperial Russia).