Flags With an Eagle

What does an eagle mean on a flag?

The eagle has stood for power, courage and sovereignty since the Roman Empire. Armies and empires used it on their standards, so the bird is a natural choice for modern nations. It also stands for freedom, which is why the United States has used a bald eagle in its coat of arms since 1782, and why American Samoa and the US Virgin Islands show one on their territorial flags.

Flags with an eagle

• Albania: a black double-headed eagle on red, a symbol of the national hero Skanderbeg.
• Montenegro: a golden double-headed eagle on red with a gold border.
• Serbia: a double-headed white eagle in the coat of arms on the state flag.
• Mexico: a golden eagle on a prickly pear cactus, holding a snake, in the center of a green, white and red tricolor.
• Moldova: a golden eagle with a cross and a shield in the middle of the blue, yellow and red tricolor.
• Egypt: the golden Eagle of Saladin in the central white stripe.
• Kazakhstan: a golden steppe eagle under the sun.
• Zambia: an orange African fish eagle above red, black and orange stripes.
• American Samoa: a bald eagle holding a war club and a fly whisk.
• US Virgin Islands: a yellow eagle with an olive branch and arrows.

Double-headed eagles

Three of the flags show a double-headed eagle. The double-headed eagle was used by the Byzantine Empire, where the two heads are commonly said to look east and west. It later spread to other states in the Balkans and Russia, and Albania, Montenegro and Serbia still use it.

The other eagles on the list are shown in profile. They vary in species, from the African fish eagle of Zambia to the steppe eagle of Kazakhstan and the bald eagle on territorial flags.