The current coat of arms of the Republic of Austria has been in use in its first forms by the

First Republic of Austria The First Austrian Republic (german: Erste Österreichische Republik), officially the Republic of Austria, was created after the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 September 1919—the settlement after the end of World War I w ...

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 In heraldry and vexillology, the double-headed eagle (or double-eagle) is a charge associated with the concept of Empire. Most modern uses of the symbol are directly or indirectly associated with its use by the late Byzantine Empire, origina ...

(one-party

corporate state Corporate statism, state corporatism, or simply corporatism is a political culture and a form of corporatism whose adherents hold that the corporate group (sociology), corporate group, which forms the basis of society, is the State (polity), stat ...

led by the clerico-right-wing Fatherland Front - often labeled austro-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 vi ...

in the

Federal Constitutional Law (Austrian act) The Federal Constitutional Law (german: Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz, abbreviated ) is a federal constitutional law in Austria serving as the centerpiece of the Constitution. It establishes Austria as a democratic federal parliamentary republic. ...

''(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. 8a
Abs. 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
§ 1
Wappengesetz 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:'' (late Middle Ages, reintroduced 1915; see also:

Flag of Austria The flag of Austria ( de-AT, Flagge Österreichs) is the flag of the nation of Austria. It consists of three bands of colour in the following order: red, white, and red. The Austrian flag is considered one of the oldest national symbols sti ...

) *''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. Later ...

:'' 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 (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 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, a ...

, 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.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 one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. 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 national colours of the Federal Republic of Germany are officially black, red, and gold, defined with the adoption of the West German flag as a tricolour with these colours in 1949. As Germany was divided into West Germany and East 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 modernism and a widely- ...

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.

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 ...