The crosses on the coat of arms will be enshrined in law.

      The document enshrines the mandatory presence of crosses above the crowns and the orb in order to exclude any variants of depicting the country’s main symbol without these elements, the State Duma reports.

      Volodin recalled that a law had already been adopted in the summer banning the use of images of places of worship and heraldic signs without religious symbols. According to him, this became an important measure in protecting "one of the foundations of national identity."

      However, as the State Duma chairman noted, images of the Russian coat of arms can still be found in the public space in which the crosses are missing or have been replaced by other elements. This is what prompted the new legislative initiative.

      "We must do everything to prevent the distortion of the symbols of our statehood," Volodin emphasized. He added that enshrining the crosses in the description of the coat of arms is part of a broader task of protecting national identity, which includes the Russian language, faith, culture and history.