CIRCA - ~1048  ☬ - an eagle with 2 heads, wings elevated, beak + talons prominent

HISTORY: The Byzantine Empire🔍 didn't use heraldry in a traditional European sense but aristocratic families, and military

units e.g. did employ identifying symbols, several of which have endured, particularly through contact with 12c- 13c crusaders,

(having been used during the subsequent establishment of crusader ruled Frankish lands)

Today they serve as important motifs in modern flags & national seals/ coats of arms etc.

The DUAL/ DOUBLE-HEADED 🦅 EAGLE:

The single-headed AQUILA 𖤍 EAGLE🔍 inherited from the Western Romans* continued in use until well into the 11c

(Symbolically making Byzantines "eagle-bearers;" inheriting the empires symbolic authority)

• The eagle's wings elevated, beak + talons prominent, are a symbol of predatory vigilance & territorial grasp.**

  
  

But the true, uniquely, Byzantine symbol was it's evolution into the:

• The DUAL-HEADED ☬ EAGLE with 2 heads, one facing east🔍, the other west represents watching for threats from

multiple directions;  denoting unified rule over it's eastern & western realms

Frequently gold on a red background, it was used on clothes** & accoutrements, though date of adoption

is debated; it begins to appear in art ~ 10c/11c but, isn't definitively used in connection with the emperor

until 1301. (The only occasion where it appears on a flag is on the 15c ship of Emperor John VIII Palaiologos.)

• The TETRAGRAMMATIC ⛨ CROSS; common in the 14c-15c, a gold or silver cross with four letters beta "Β" in each corner created by the cross intersection - also survived into the heraldic tradition.

[standing for the Byzantine motto "Basileus Basileon Basileuon Basileusin,"= "King of Kings Rules over Kings."]

Several Balkan🔍 states copied the Byzantine model: like Serbia🔍, Albania🔍 & Montenegro🔍 with the Holy Roman Empire🔍 likewise adopted the double-headed eagle in the mid-13th century

* In the Roman tradition an eagle more literally symbolized Jupiter's favor & a legion's unbreakable spirit Later Biblical imagery reinforced this, with the eagle denoting renewal & exalted power [e.g., Exodus 19:4, where God bears Israel on eagles' wings.]

** More than one emperor is recorded as having special boots with eagles golden wire-embroidered or made of pearls, on them, plus pearl-embroidered eagles on saddles, saddle cloths and tents decorated with red eagles.