The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

() is known as the Republican Eagle or Egyptian Golden Eagle, is a heraldic

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of p ...

, facing the viewer's left (

dexter Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British Diary of a Bad Man#Main, web series ''Diar ...

). The eagle's breast is charged with an escutcheon bearing the red-white-black bands of the

flag of Egypt The national flag of Egypt (Arabic: ) is a tricolour consisting of the three equal horizontal red, white, and black bands of the Egyptian revolutionary flag that dates back to the 1952 Egyptian Revolution. The flag bears Egypt's national em ...

rotated vertically, whilst the eagle's talons hold a scroll bearing the official name of the state written in

Kufic script Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...

. The earliest version of the Eagle of Saladin was that used as the flag of

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...

, the first

Sultan of Egypt Sultan of Egypt was the status held by the rulers of Egypt after the establishment of the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin in 1174 until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. Though the extent of the Egyptian Sultanate ebbed and flowed, it generally i ...

, whilst the modern version of the eagle was adopted during the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Subsequently, the modern design of the Eagle of Saladin was adopted as the coat of arms of numerous other states in the

Arab World The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

, namely the

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...

North Yemen North Yemen may refer to: * Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (1918–1962) * Yemen Arab Republic The Yemen Arab Republic (YAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية اليمنية '), also known simply as North Yemen or Yemen (Sanaʽa), was a ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

South Yemen South Yemen ( ar, اليمن الجنوبي, al-Yaman al-Janubiyy), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (, ), also referred to as Democratic Yemen (, ) or Yemen (Aden) (, ), was a communist state that existed from 1967 to 19 ...

, the

Libyan Arab Republic Muammar Gaddafi became the ''de facto'' leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of young Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état. After the king had fled the country, the Revolutionary Comman ...

, and

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. The current eagle was modified in 1984 to its present form.

History

Eagles have for millennia been symbols of power in

, appearing in innumerable devotional and political artistic representations from the Pharoanic era onwards, and used as the heraldic banners of

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, and

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

rulers well in to the medieval era. Chief amongst these was

, who adopted an eagle as his personal standard upon his coronation as Sultan of Egypt in 1174. Subsequent Egyptian rulers, from both the

Ayyubid dynasty The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...

that he founded, and the Mamluk military caste that succeeded it, would continue his use of the heraldic eagle. Saladin's celebrated stature as the leader who recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders, led to the eagle that bears his name becoming associated with renewed

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

and

Arab nationalism Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language an ...

from the late 19th century onwards, ultimately becoming the symbol of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. The Egyptian revolutionaries of the Free Officers Movement under

Mohamed Naguib Mohamed Bey Naguib Youssef Qutb El-Qashlan ( ar, الرئيس اللواء محمد بك نجيب يوسف قطب القشلان, ; 19 February 1901 – 28 August 1984), also known as Mohamed Naguib, was an Egyptian revolutionary, and, along w ...

and

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...

emblazoned on the eagle's breast the green field and white crescent and stars of the old flag of the Kingdom of Egypt and Sudan, and placed the eagle in the centre of the horizontal red-white-black bands of the revolution's Arab Liberation Flag. In so doing, they incorporated all four of the

Pan-Arab colours The Pan-Arab colors are black, white, green and red. Individually, each of the four Pan-Arab colors were intended to represent a certain aspect of the Arabs and their history. The black represents the Black Standard used by the Rashidun Calip ...

of red, white, black, and green derived from the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimad caliphates of Medina, Damascus, Baghdad, and Cairo respectively. In addition to being one of the four Pan-Arab colours, and the predominant colour of the old flag of monarchical Egypt and Sudan, the colour green was itself strongly associated with nationalism in Egypt, particularly due to its use on the banner of the

Egyptian Revolution of 1919 The Egyptian Revolution of 1919 ( ''Thawra 1919'') was a countrywide revolution against the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan. It was carried out by Egyptians from different walks of life in the wake of the British-ordered exile of the rev ...

. As the subsequent revolution of 1952 was explicitly committed to both Egyptian and Arab nationalism, Naguib and Nasser insisted on the inclusion of green on revolutionary Egypt's coat of arms, and national flag. When Egypt united with

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

to form the

in 1958, the appearance of the eagle was modified, replacing the monarchical green field and white crescent and stars on the eagle's breast with an escutcheon bearing a vertically rotated

flag of the United Arab Republic As a result of the Syrian Civil War since 2011, there are at least two flags used to represent Syria, used by different factions in the war. The incumbent government of the Syrian Arab Republic led by the Ba'ath Party uses the red-white-black t ...

with two green stars in the central white band representing the two constituent members of the union. In the eagle's talons was placed the official name of the state on a green scroll, thereby, along with the green stars, incorporating once again the colour green on the coat of arms. Whilst the eagle was replaced at the centre of the Arab Liberation Flag by the two green stars, its status as the union's coat of arms meant that it appeared on all state buildings, documents, and uniforms. Following Egypt's membership of the

Federation of Arab Republics The Federation of Arab Republics (FAR; ar, اتحاد الجمهوريات العربية, , ) was an unsuccessful attempt by Muammar Gaddafi to merge Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Libya, Egypt and Syria in order to create a Arab Union, unified Ar ...

in 1972 during the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...

, the Eagle of Saladin was replaced entirely as Egypt's coat of arms by the

Hawk of Quraish The Hawk of Quraish ( ar, صَقْرُ قُرَيْشٍ, ṣāqr Quraysh) is a symbol which is found on a number of emblems, coats of arms and flags of several states of the Arab League. The Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula, today especially those fro ...

, which would also take the place of the two green stars in the centre of the national flag. In both policies and symbolism, Sadat was eager to depart from the path of his predecessor, Gamal Abdel Nasser, resulting in the adoption of a new coat of arms, and a modified flag, both of which excluded the colour green. The federation, however, was short-lived, dissolving in 1977. Sadat himself was assassinated in 1981. In 1984, the Eagle of Saladin was restored as Egypt's coat of arms, and has remained as such since, with the eagle returned to the central white band of the national flag. The appearance of the eagle when re-adopted remained the same as the 1958 version with the exception of it being rendered entirely in gold and white, save for the escutcheon on the eagle's breast, which continues to bear the vertically rotated red-white-black bands of the national flag. Consequently, the changes to Egypt's heraldic colours by Sadat were made permanent, and the current design of Egypt's coat of arms (and national flag) does not include the colour green used in both the revolutions of 1919, and 1952.

Appearance

The

Eagle of Saladin The Eagle of Saladin ( ar, نسر صلاح الدين, known in Egypt as the Egyptian Eagle ( ar, النسر المصري ), and the Republican Eagle ( ), is a heraldic eagle that serves as the coat of arms of many countries; coat of arms of Eg ...

holds a scroll on which the name of the state appears in

Arabic script The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used writing system in the world by number of countries using it or a script directly derived from it, and the ...

, ''Gumhūriyyat Miṣr al-ʿArabiyyah'' ("Arab Republic of Egypt"). The

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

carries on its breast a shield with the flag's colors — but with a vertical instead of a horizontal configuration. When appearing on the national flag, the eagle is rendered entirely in gold and white. During the union with

in the

(1958–1961), and in the ten years afterwards when Egypt retained the union's official name, the two green stars of the union's flag appeared in the white band of the eagle's shield. Between 1972–1984 the eagle was replaced by the golden

, as part of the symbolism of the

. File:Coat of arms of the Wāli of Egypt.svg, Coat of arms of the

Egypt Eyalet The Eyalet of Egypt (, ) operated as an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 to 1867. It originated as a result of the conquest of Mamluk Egypt by the Ottomans in 1517, following the Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–17) and the a ...

(1854–1867) File:Coat of arms of the Khedive of Egypt.svg, Coat of arms of the

Khedivate of Egypt The Khedivate of Egypt ( or , ; ota, خدیویت مصر ') was an autonomous tributary state of the Ottoman Empire, established and ruled by the Muhammad Ali Dynasty following the defeat and expulsion of Napoleon Bonaparte's forces which brou ...

(1867–1914) File:Coat of Arms of the Sultan of Egypt.svg, Coat of arms of the

Sultanate of Egypt The Sultanate of Egypt () was the short-lived protectorate that the United Kingdom imposed over Egypt between 1914 and 1922. History Soon after the start of the First World War, Khedive Abbas II of Egypt was removed from power by the British ...

(1914–1922) File:Coat of arms of Egypt (1922–1953).svg, Coat of arms of the

Kingdom of Egypt The Kingdom of Egypt ( ar, المملكة المصرية, Al-Mamlaka Al-Miṣreyya, The Egyptian Kingdom) was the legal form of the Egyptian state during the latter period of the Muhammad Ali dynasty's reign, from the United Kingdom's recog ...

(1922–1953) File:Coat of arms of Egypt (1953–1958).svg, Coat of arms of

(1953–1958) File:Coat of arms of United Arab Republic (Syria 1958-61, Egypt 1958-1971).svg,

Coat of arms of the United Arab Republic The coat of arms used by the United Arab Republic featured the Pan-Arab colours of the flag of the United Arab Republic (in vertical form) on a shield carried by the Eagle of Saladin. Below, a green scroll has the Arabic text for "United Arab Rep ...

(1958–1971) and Egypt (1971–1972) File:Coat of arms of Egypt (1972-1984).svg, Coat of arms of Egypt within the

, and during the seven years after the Federation's dissolution (1972–1984) File:Coat of arms of Egypt (on flag).svg, A version of the coat of arms as it appears on the

Flag of Egypt The national flag of Egypt (Arabic: ) is a tricolour consisting of the three equal horizontal red, white, and black bands of the Egyptian revolutionary flag that dates back to the 1952 Egyptian Revolution. The flag bears Egypt's national em ...

File:Coat of arms of Egypt (Official).svg, Official version of the coat of arms of Egypt, 1984–present File:Coat of arms of Egypt (variant).svg, Variant of the official coat of arms in a lighter shade

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coat Of Arms Of Egypt National symbols of Egypt

History

Appearance

See also

References

External links