Many of the Coats of Arms of the Russian nobility include the ciphers of sovereigns and charges taken from the Arms of the Romanov emperors. One of the most augmented Coat of Arms of all time were those of Count Alexander Suvorov-Ryminsky, commander of the Russian Armies, whose brilliant strategies helped bring about the eventual defeat of Napoleon. As commander-in-chief of the Russo-Austrian Army during the Second Coalition, he drove the French out of northern Italy in 1799 and was created Prince Italiysky. He had also previously defeated a Turkish Army on the banks of the River Rymnik in Turkey in 1789. The augmentations on his Coat of Arms included a rendering of the map of Italy, an escutcheon (small shield) bearing the name of Emperor Paul I, and two lightening bolts issuing from thunder-clouds striking a crescent reversed above a river in bend inscribed R Rymnik .
His services to the Russian nation were commemorated not only by an imperial decoration, but also by the Soviet Union. In Germany the emperors made full use of the Prussian eagle, often as supporters at the side of the shield, in augmentations to those who had helped them in their rise to power. Alexander von Schleinitz, Prussian Foreign Minister, received supporters to his Coat of Arms of two Prussian eagles charged on the breast with the Arms of Hohenzollern. Otto, Prince Bismarck, who brought about German unification, was granted a Prussian eagle (black) and a Brandenburg eagle (red) as supporters. They supported two armorial bearings, those of Alsace and Lorraine, the territories regained from France in 1870.
His services to the Russian nation were commemorated not only by an imperial decoration, but also by the Soviet Union. In Germany the emperors made full use of the Prussian eagle, often as supporters at the side of the shield, in augmentations to those who had helped them in their rise to power. Alexander von Schleinitz, Prussian Foreign Minister, received supporters to his Coat of Arms of two Prussian eagles charged on the breast with the Arms of Hohenzollern. Otto, Prince Bismarck, who brought about German unification, was granted a Prussian eagle (black) and a Brandenburg eagle (red) as supporters. They supported two armorial bearings, those of Alsace and Lorraine, the territories regained from France in 1870.
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries Heraldry in most European countries was in a state of decay. The augmentations granted to the military and naval heroes in Britain were typical of the period being overly bombastic and frequently too detailed to be legible on a typical Coat of Arms. The Arms of Rear Admiral Sir Charles Brisbane included “a chief thereon on waves of the sea a ship of war under sail between two forts, the guns firing and on the battlements the Dutch flag all proper”. Colonel James Stevenson-Barnes had a canton charged with his gold cross and the Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword; his Arms also included a chief bearing a curtain of fortification and the name St. Sebastian. Medals and decorations remained in vogue as augmentations to Coats of Arms well into the 20th century. On May 2nd 1918 the Finnish city of Vaasa was informed that “To commemorate the time when Vaasa as the temporary capital was the heart of the liberation of Finland from Russia, the Senate have decided to give the city the right to add the Cross of Liberty to its Coat of Arms”. Another city in Finland, Mikkeli, housed the headquarters of Marshal Mannerheim’s army, ands on December 21st 1944 the medal of the Cross of Liberty was suspended from its shield. This was the second augmentation given to Mikkeli, in 1942 it was granted a pair of crossed marshal’s batons