Quickfacts: National Emblems

THE COAT OF ARMS

A black eagle with red beak and talons on a gold field is the coat of arms of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The eagle appeared in antiquity adorning the staff of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus. Thereafter, it became the symbol of dominion of all Roman Emperors.

After the decline of Rome, the eagle reappeared on shields of the kings who dominated Europe in the Middle Ages. Charlemagne, the first Frankish king to gather the German Peoples along with other Europeans into his vast empire, had the statue of an eagle placed on top of his palace in Aachen. Subsequently, after the empire was divided into France and the Holy Roman Empire-which included all the German peoples-a black, double-headed eagle on a gold escutcheon remained the seal of the German or Holy Roman Emperors.

In 1848, this double-headed eagle was revived as the symbol of German unity. When Germany was finally unified in 1871, the eagle reappeared on the coat of arms, but this time with a single head.

In 1919, the eagle became the seal of the Weimar Republic and in 1950, the Federal Republic of Germany restored it as a symbol of German history and tradition

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