BIRDS AS EMBLEMS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 47, 25 February 1939, Page 12

BIRDS AS EMBLEMS.

Emblems and their stories are always fascinating, and it is interesting to find how large a part birds have played among them. Foremost among bird emblems comes an eagle. As far back as 4000 8.C., it was chosen as the emblem of the city of Lagash, which ruled southern Mesopotamia. The army bore it on military standards, while a special form of it, an eagle with a lion’s head, was the emblem of the king’s standard and of the Lagash gods. The eagle was the emblem of the Greeks’ mightiest god, Zeus, and of the Roman, Jupiter. Later, Roman Emperors adopted it as their emblem, and it travelled the known world on the standards of their legions. That made it a kind of symbol of universal power, and later Emperors chose it eagerly. The House of yapsburg adopted as its emblem a two-headed eagle, looking both to the left and right, to signify dominion over east and west. Napoleon Bonaparte, dreaming of universal empire, revived the ancient Roman symbol for his regimental standards, and both Russia and Prussia adopted it.

A very different bird, the humble rooster, has figured qute frequently as an emblem. The ancient Gauls used it, and, in the days when France was ruled by kings, it was the symbol of an important order of knights, and became the emblem of the dauphin. As might be expected, the peacock, in its majestic pride and beauty, was the emblem of various gods and goddesses, notably Juno, but perhaps the most appealing bird emblem is the dove.

The centre of countless legends anc fables, it is at its loveliest as the emblem of peace, the white dove, holding in its beak the olive branch of reconciliation.

' A dog seized a joint ol meat while his master was visiting the butchers.

“Is that your dog?” asked the butcher angrily. “It was,” replied the other. “But he’s keeping himself now.”