The current coat of arms of the Republic of Austria has been in use in its first forms by the
First Republic of Austria since 1919. Between 1934 and the
German annexation in 1938, the ''Federal State (Bundesstaat Österreich)'' used a different coat of arms, which consisted of a
double-headed eagle (one-party
corporate state led by the clerico-right-wing
Fatherland Front - often labeled
austro-fascist
The Federal State of Austria ( de-AT, Bundesstaat Österreich; colloquially known as the , "Corporate State") was a continuation of the First Austrian Republic between 1934 and 1938 when it was a one-party state led by the clerical fascist ...
). The establishment of the Second Republic in 1945 saw the return of the original arms, with broken chains added to symbolise Austria's liberation. In 1981 the ''Wappen der Republik Österreich (Bundeswappen)'' described the
blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visua ...
in the
Federal Constitutional Law (Austrian act) ''(Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz, B-VG).'' With this change of law it was defined that the specific drawing is to codificate in an own statute law and that all other versions of the coat of arms of Austria were no longer in law. In accordance to this the ''Wappengesetz'' from 1984 and the drawing of the actual ''Wappen der Republik Österreich'' is in Austrian law. The often used ″Bundesadler″ (″federal eagle″) is only a synonymous term in colloquial language.
Description
Appearance
I
Art. 8aAbs. 2 B-VG the blazon of the Federal Arms of the Republic of Austria is described as follows:
''Das Wappen der Republik Österreich (Bundeswappen) besteht aus einem freischwebenden, einköpfigen, schwarzen, golden gewaffneten und rot bezungten Adler, dessen Brust mit einem roten, von einem silbernen Querbalken durchzogenen Schild belegt ist. Der Adler trägt auf seinem Haupt eine goldene Mauerkrone mit drei sichtbaren Zinnen. Die beiden Fänge umschließt eine gesprengte Eisenkette. Er trägt im rechten Fang eine goldene Sichel mit einwärts gekehrter Schneide, im linken Fang einen goldenen Hammer.''
In translation:
''The coat of arms of the Republic of Austria (federal coat of arms) consists of a free-floating, single-headed, black eagle with golden arms and a red tongue, whose chest is covered with a red shield crossed by a silver crossbar. The eagle wears a golden mural crown with three visible pinnacles on its head. A broken iron chain encloses the two talons. In his right talon he carries a golden sickle with the edge turned inwards, in his left talon a golden hammer.''
In accordance of Art. 8a Abs. 3 the actual withdrawn of the ''Wappen der Republik Österreich'' is in law as o
§ 1Wappengesetz from 1984:
''Das Wappen der Republik Österreich (Bundeswappen) ist im Art. 8a Abs. 2 B-VG bestimmt und entspricht der Zeichnung des Bundeswappens in der einen Bestandteil dieses Gesetzes bildende
Anlage 1
''
This artistic version as above described with the drawing in attachment 1 of Wappengesetz 1984 in which the eagle's feathers are grey and detailed, with the colours of bluegrey for the chain and dark gold for the other signs, is the actual official coat of arms of the Republic of Austria. There are some other different versions of the arms in use as of more in accordance to the blason of Art. 8a Abs. 2 B-VG, in which the eagle is represented plain black, the undefined colour of the chain and the yellow as heraldic gold. All these versions are used in parallel.
Symbolism
The symbols and emblems used in the Austrian arms are as follows:
*''The Eagle:'' Austria's sovereignty (introduced 1919)
*''The
escutcheon
Escutcheon may refer to:
* Escutcheon (heraldry), a shield or shield-shaped emblem, displaying a coat of arms
* Escutcheon (furniture), a metal plate that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder on a door
* (in medicine) the distribution of pubic ha ...
:'' (late Middle Ages, reintroduced 1915; see also:
Flag of Austria)
*''The
mural crown
A mural crown ( la, corona muralis) is a crown or headpiece representing city walls, towers, or fortresses. In classical antiquity, it was an emblem of tutelary deities who watched over a city, and among the Romans a military decoration. Lat ...
:'' Middle class (bourgeoisie, introduced 1919)
*''The sickle:'' Farmer's class (peasants, introduced 1919)
*''The Hammer:'' Working class (introduced 1919)
*''The broken chains:'' Liberation from
German occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 193 ...
(added 1945)
Discussions about the arms have been triggered in the past by differing political interpretations, especially by the use of the hammer and the sickle and the broken chains, since the crossed
hammer and sickle
The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industr ...
are a widespread symbol of
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society ...
, as is the breaking of chains. Surveys have however confirmed, that understanding of the actual symbolism of the arms is widespread.
[Lit.: Diem: ''Die Symbole Österreichs'']
On the one hand the arms serve as a new republican symbol, on the other as a modified version of the historical Habsburg arms. The current version of the arms is often regarded as being reminiscent of the double-headed eagle of the Habsburg monarchy. According to this interpretation, the single headed eagle alludes, in the sense of the removal of the
left hand, "Hungarian" head, to the removal of the eastern part of the Habsburg Empire. However, Addendum 202 to the 1919 ''
Law on the State Arms and the State Seal of the Republic of German Austria'' states expressly that the "new" single headed Austrian eagle is based not on the double headed eagle (symbol of the Habsburgs since 1804, and previously of the Holy Roman Empire), but rather on the "symbol of the legions of the Roman Republic", the
Aquila
Aquila may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Aquila'', a series of books by S.P. Somtow
* ''Aquila'', a 1997 book by Andrew Norriss
* ''Aquila'' (children's magazine), a UK-based children's magazine
* ''Aquila'' (journal), an or ...
.
[Lit.: Diem: ''Die Entwicklung des österreichischen Bundeswappens'', Abschnitt '' Das Staatswappen der Republik (Deutsch)österreich''] The Austrian federal states have however retained pre-republican heraldic traditions (mostly heraldic images from the Middle Ages, but also diverse accoutrements such as archducal and ducal hats, and knights' helmets).
The tower emblem as first proposal in 1918
On 31 October 1918, the council of state agreed upon the colours of the republic (red-white-red) as well as the new emblem composed personally by chancellor
Karl Renner. The coat of arms was composed quickly due to the need for having a seal at the peace talks after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. The emblem consisted of a black tower representing the bourgeoisie, two crossed red hammers representing workers and a golden wreath of wheat representing farmers. The colours black, red and gold was deliberately chosen because they were the
national colours of Germany, the three colours associated with republican Germany (as opposed to red, white and black), as
first manifested within German lands in 1778.
However, the new emblazon was withdrawn as it was met with heavy criticism from, for example,
Adolf Loos
Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos (; 10 December 1870 – 23 August 1933) was an Austrian and Czechoslovak architect, influential European theorist, and a polemicist of modern architecture. He was an inspiration to Modern architecture, mod ...
and heraldists; the proposal was seen as too similar to commercial advertising. A decision by the council of ministers on 8 May 1919 replaced the tower emblem with the eagle.
See also
*
Flag of Austria
*
Flags of Austrian states
*
Coats of arms of the Austrian states
*
Coat of arms of Austria-Hungary
Literature
*
*
*
*
References
External links
*Peter Diem
''Die Entwicklung des österreichischen Bundeswappens''(german)
*
ttp://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/at).html Austria: Coat of Arms in CRW Flags
{{Coats of arms of Europe
National symbols of Austria
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...