Coat of arms of Austria

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Coat of arms of Austria
Details
Escutcheon Duchy of Austria (flag of Austria)
Other elements eagle, or sickle and hammer, or mural crown, broken iron chain
Earlier versions With the double headed eagle

The coat of arms of Austria has been used since the end of World War I to symbolize Austria.

Contents

[edit] Symbolism

The double-headed eagle, symbolizing the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, was replaced with a single-headed eagle. The one with the double-headed eagle has been very similar to the symbol of Byzantine Empire, the so called "Empire of the Greeks", which dominated Europe until 13th century.

The old shield of the Duchy of Austria is located on the eagle's chest; this same design forms the basis for the flag of Austria. The eagle's claws hold a golden sickle and a golden hammer. The broken iron chain between the two claws indicates the liberation from Nazism and was added after World War II.

An approximate English translation of the blazon would be:

Gules a fess Argent, escutcheon on the breast of an eagle displayed Sable, langued Gules, beaked Or, crowned with a mural crown of three visible merlons Or, armed Or, dexter talon holding sickle, sinister talon holding hammer, both talons shackled with chain broken Argent.

Before World War II Austria used a different coat of arms. First a similar eagle without the chains and this one used from 1934 to the german anexation in 1938.

Image:Österreich-Wappen (1934-1938).svg

The Post War Period coin
The Post War Period coin

[edit] The coat-of-arms in numismatics

The coat-of-arms has been the main motive of many collector coins, one of the most recent is the 20 euro Post War Period coin, minted in September 17, 2003. The obverse of the coin shows the coat-of-arms flanked by the Austrian flag and the European Union flag.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Coats of arms of Europe
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