Eagle of Saladin

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Eagle of Saladin
Sketch of the original "eagle of Saladin" of the Cairo Citadel in Cairo, Egypt

The Eagle of

Libyan Arab Republic
.

Origin of the eagle

A modern reconstruction of Saladin's personal standard, featuring the eagle.

The warlike visage of eagles has been another motivation for humans to adopt the eagle for their military and political emblem in various parts of the world at various times, originally from the Ancient Egyptian eagle depicted in Pharaonic era Egyptians temples, the local eagle became a prized bird of the first Sultan of Egypt, who took Egypt's national animal as a symbol of his reign.[2] Saladin state carried its own eagle on a yellow flag. Saladin adopted the eagle as his personal standard, in addition to its appearance on the flag of his empire.[3] The Cairo Citadel, built during Saladin's reign, has a large eagle on its west wall believed to depict Saladin's emblem. Speculated by the Ottoman explorer Evliya Çelebi to have originally been double-headed,[4] the eagle on the Citadel wall is today headless. The course lines on the eagle do not correspond with those on the wall, suggesting that it was moved to its present location substantially after Saladin's rule, possibly during the rule of Muhammad Ali, when the upper part of the wall was rebuilt.[4][5] The double-headed eagle symbol was used on coins of al-Adil I, Saladin's brother who succeeded him as Sultan.[6]

Modern history

1952 revolution
The coat of arms of the United Arab Republic
instituted the modern design of the Republican Eagle

The

republican Egypt, and the wider cause of Arab nationalism.[citation needed] When Egypt united with Syria in 1958 to form the United Arab Republic, the Eagle of Saladin became the new state's coat of arms, whilst the Arab Liberation Flag was taken as the basis for the flag.[citation needed
]

Even though the Egyptian-Syrian union ended abruptly in 1961 after a coup d'état in Syria, the Eagle remained a potent symbol for those aspiring for

Libyan Arab Republic adopted the Eagle in 1969, however, it was later supplanted by the Hawk of Quraish when, along with Egypt, and Syria, Libya established the Federation of Arab Republics in 1972.[7]

The State of Palestine was the most recent state to adopt the Eagle of Saladin, doing so upon its declaration of statehood in 1988.[citation needed]

Uses

In flags

Current national emblems using the Eagle of Saladin

Unrecognised and semi-recognised states using the Eagle of Saladin

Regional emblems using the Eagle of Saladin

Former national emblems using the Eagle of Saladin

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eagle of Saladin.

References

  1. ISBN 0-07-059093-1
    .
  2. ^ "What is Egypt's national animal?", discoverwildlife.com, Egypt's national animal is the steppe eagle. Eagles were an important symbol in ancient Egypt, with temples often decorated with them. In particular the steppe eagle was a prized bird of the first Sultan of Egypt, Saladin and therefore often known as the Saladin Eagle.
  3. ISBN 9780791458839
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 9789004101241
    .
  5. ^ Smith, Whitney (1985). "New Flags". The Flag Bulletin. 24: 44., citing Meyer, L. A. (1933). Saracenic Heraldry. Oxford: Clarendon. p. 195.
  6. hdl:1911/21277
    .
  7. ISBN 978-1-349-21243-9
    .

External links
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