The Wallachian Eagle

Romanias coat of arms features several eagles, an auroch, a lion and two dolphins.

Steliu Lambru, 14.11.2015, 16:13

Romania’s coat of arms features several eagles, an auroch, a lion and two dolphins. The old royal coat of arms used to include two lions rampant and a black eagle. The lion and the eagle, the symbols of power, sovereignty and state independence, were in fact to be found on many coats of arms and seals in Europe.

While the lion is a more recent presence in Romanian heraldry, being a result of western influence, the eagle has been used as a symbol of power on Romanian territory for much longer. It symbolises the Latin origins of the Romanian people through its association with the Roman aquila, the symbol of ancient Rome, as well as the Christian Orthodox faith of the majority of Romanians, as depicted by the two-headed Byzantine eagle. The geographical space of today’s Romania has also been a good home for the eagle.

By the 19th century, the southern Romanian principality of Wallachia had been renowned for its large forests. One of these forests, the Vlasia Woods, used to be home to a small-sized bird of pray from the eagle family.

Writer Doina Rusti has recently discovered this species of predatory bird in a specialist study and she believes this bird may have been the source of the eagle mythology in these parts: “I found out from a biology study conducted by researchers from Antipa Natural History Museum that a certain species of eagle known as the lesser-spotted eagle used to live around Bucharest. This is smaller in size than a normal eagle and was widespread in this area. It is a protected species today, but in the old times we may assume it was quite common. Many stories we consider to be myths are in fact based on scientific truth.”

The common presence of this predatory bird in the Vlasiei Forest area and the popularity it enjoyed is seen in the variety of names it is given and the variety of languages of origin for these terms. ‘Acvila’ is Latin in origin, the word ‘pajura’ is Slavic, ‘zgriptor’ is Greek, ‘uliu’ is Hungarian, while ‘brehnace’ is a word of uncertain origin, probably onomatopoeic, based on the sounds made by the bird.

Doina Rusti believes that the presence of the eagle in a variety of situations and contexts proves how powerful it was as a symbol: “There is a tradition of this symbol in the southern area, much deeper than the fact that all over Europe the eagle appears on crests and flags as a symbol of power, strength and royalty. On Dacian coins we have the same eagle holding in its talons a wreath of laurels, as in all Mediterranean rituals. The laurel used to be everywhere in the antiquity, evoking the death and rebirth of nature. On Dacian coins we have this eagle holding the wreath in its talons. It also appears in a very large number of tales in folklore, where it rules over the netherworld, where the hero of tales travels. At the same time, the eagle is shown respect, so much so that in a mid 19th century Romanian novel by Nicolae Filimon, the word ‘zgriptor’ actually means coin, money. Prices were expressed in how many ‘zgriptor’ they were worth, it is a substitution metaphor for the effigy on that particular denomination. It is an ancient connection with this symbol, and not a simple act of imitation, as one may believe, even if the eagle is also present on other European crests. I don’t believe that the two-headed eagle is of Byzantine heritage. I believe that there is a mythological connection with this bird, which is why it is present not only on the country’s coat of arms, but also as a protector of Bucharest.”

The Wallachian eagle is the protector of the city of Bucharest. It is the symbol Romanians deemed worthy to represent time, sharing with the wolf and the bear a top position among the symbols of Romania.