Eagles have for millennia been symbols of power inEgypt, appearing in innumerable devotional and political artistic representations from thePharoanic era onwards, and used as the heraldic banners ofpagan,Christian, andMuslim rulers well in to the medieval era.[3] Chief amongst these wasSaladin, who adopted an eagle as his personal standard upon his coronation as Sultan of Egypt in 1174.[4] Subsequent Egyptian rulers, from both theAyyubid dynasty that he founded, and theMamluk military caste that succeeded it, would continue his use of the heraldic eagle.
Saladin's celebrated stature as the leader whorecaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders, led to the eagle that bears his name becoming associated with renewedEgyptian andArab nationalism from the late 19th century onwards, ultimately becoming the symbol of theEgyptian Revolution of 1952.[5] The Egyptian revolutionaries of theFree Officers Movement underMohamed Naguib andGamal Abdel Nasser emblazoned on the eagle's breast the green field and white crescent and stars of the old flag of theKingdom of Egypt and Sudan, and placed the eagle in the centre of the horizontal red-white-black bands of the revolution's Arab Liberation Flag.[6] In so doing, they incorporated all four of thePan-Arab colours of red, white, black, and green derived from the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimad caliphates of Medina, Damascus, Baghdad, and Cairo respectively.[7]
In addition to being one of the four Pan-Arab colours, and the predominant colour of the old flag of monarchical Egypt and Sudan, the colour green was itself strongly associated with nationalism in Egypt, particularly due to its use on the banner of theEgyptian Revolution of 1919. As the subsequent revolution of 1952 was explicitly committed to both Egyptian and Arab nationalism, Naguib and Nasser insisted on the inclusion of green on revolutionary Egypt's coat of arms, and national flag.[8]
When Egypt united withSyria to form theUnited Arab Republic in 1958, the appearance of the eagle was modified, replacing the monarchical green field and white crescent and stars on the eagle's breast with an escutcheon bearing a vertically rotatedflag of the United Arab Republic with two green stars in the central white band representing the two constituent members of the union. In the eagle's talons was placed the official name of the state on a green scroll, thereby, along with the green stars, incorporating once again the colour green on the coat of arms.[9] Whilst the eagle was replaced at the centre of the Arab Liberation Flag by the two green stars, its status as the union's coat of arms meant that it appeared on all state buildings, documents, and uniforms.
Following Egypt's membership of theFederation of Arab Republics in 1972 during thepresidency ofAnwar Sadat, the Eagle of Saladin was replaced entirely as Egypt's coat of arms by theHawk of Quraish, which would also take the place of the two green stars in the centre of the national flag. In both policies and symbolism, Sadat was eager to depart from the path of his predecessor, Gamal Abdel Nasser, resulting in the adoption of a new coat of arms, and a modified flag, both of which excluded the colour green.[10] The federation, however, was short-lived, dissolving in 1977. Sadat himself was assassinated in 1981.
In 1984, the Eagle of Saladin was restored as Egypt's coat of arms, and has remained as such since, with the eagle returned to the central white band of the national flag. The appearance of the eagle when re-adopted remained the same as the 1958 version with the exception of it being rendered entirely in gold and white, save for the escutcheon on the eagle's breast, which continues to bear the vertically rotated red-white-black bands of the national flag. Consequently, the changes to Egypt's heraldic colours by Sadat were made permanent, and the current design of Egypt's coat of arms (and national flag) does not include the colour green used in both the revolutions of 1919, and 1952.[11]
TheEagle of Saladin holds a scroll on which the name of the state appears inArabic script,Gumhūriyyat Miṣr al-ʿArabiyyah ("Arab Republic of Egypt"). Theeagle carries on its breast a shield with the flag's colors — but with a vertical instead of a horizontal configuration. When appearing on the national flag, the eagle is rendered entirely in gold and white. During the union withSyria in theUnited Arab Republic (1958–1961), and in the ten years afterwards when Egypt retained the union's official name, the two green stars of the union's flag appeared in the white band of the eagle's shield. Between 1972 and 1984, the eagle was replaced by the goldenHawk of Quraish, as part of the symbolism of theFederation of Arab Republics.
^Elgenius, G. (2018).Symbols of Nations and Nationalism : Celebrating Nationhood. London: Palgrave Macmillan Limited.ISBN978-0-230-31704-8.OCLC1076229176.
^Lyons, M. C. (1982).Saladin : the politics of the holy war. D. E. P. Jackson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN0-521-22358-X.OCLC4933444.
^Smith, Whitney (1975).Flags through the ages and across the world. New York: McGraw-Hill.ISBN0-07-059093-1.OCLC1324552.
^Smith, Whitney (1975).Flags through the ages and across the world. New York: McGraw-Hill.ISBN0-07-059093-1.OCLC1324552.
^Elgenius, G. (2018).Symbols of Nations and Nationalism : Celebrating Nationhood. London: Palgrave Macmillan Limited.ISBN978-0-230-31704-8.OCLC1076229176.
^Smith, Whitney (1975).Die Zeichen der Menschen und Völker : unsere Welt in Fahnen und Flaggen. Zürich: Buchclub ex Libris.ISBN3-7243-0115-4.OCLC34082111.
^Jacobs, Robin (2017).Flying colours a guide to flags from around the world!. Robert Fresson. London.ISBN978-1-80066-009-0.OCLC1164358097.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Elgenius, G. (2018).Symbols of Nations and Nationalism : Celebrating Nationhood. London: Palgrave Macmillan Limited.ISBN978-0-230-31704-8.OCLC1076229176.
^Smith, Whitney (1980).Flags and arms across the world. Whitney Smith. New York: McGraw-Hill.ISBN0-07-059094-X.OCLC4957064.
el Ansary, Nasser (2001). "L'emblème de l'État égyptien" [The emblem of the Egyptian State].L'Encyclopédie des souverains d'Égypte des pharaons à nos jours [The Encyclopedia of rulers of Egypt from the Pharaohs until today] (in French). Alleur: Éditions du Perron. pp. 138–141.ISBN978-2-87114-173-0.OCLC48965345.
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