WHY IS THE EAGLE THE MOST POPULAR BIRD ?

It seems that from the dawn of time, the eagle has been considered THE KING OF THE SKY by nations around the world- from India to Europe.
This blog will try to answer the question why was the eagle chosen as the KING OF THE SKY by all nations and also show how the eagle has become iconic in all cultures, nations and religions.
In Asia, both Buddhists and Hindus worship Garuda, King of birds who's image is usually part man and part eagle. According to the Mahabharata, Garuda had six sons from whom were descended the race of birds.



In the picture above: Lord Krishna riding Garuda King of birds(Eagle).

It is amazing how many nations around the world have chosen the Eagle as their symbol of strength and pride. Not just in the various scriptures but also in image choosing it as the national symbol on the flag, on the coat of arms and the emblem.
It is quite stunning to look at the number game to get a true sense of the vast popularity and influence of the eagle in world cultures.
There are 6.7 Billion people in the world.
268.4 million people have a flag that has an eagle in it. Another 1260.4 Million people have it as either their emblem or their coat of arms.
For another 2.3 Billion people it is Holy connected to Asian traditions.
For another 2.1 Billion Christians it's associated with John the Apostle.

It is quite obvious that the eagle is both considered the king of the sky and the holiest of birds to most of humanity.
Below are more statistics:

FLAG/EMBLEM/COAT OF ARM WITH AN EAGLE:


NATIONAL FLAG WITH EAGLE:
Mexico 109.9 Million
Egypt 81.7 Million
Poland 38.5 Million
Austria 8.2 Million
Albania 3.6 Million
Montenegro .7 Million
Moldova 4.3 Million
Zambia 11.6 Million
Serbia 10 Million

TOTAL 268.4 Million people have a flag with an Eagle

If you add to it nations that have Eagles in their coat of arms:

EMBLEM/COAT OF ARM WITH EAGLE:

US 303.8 Million
Indonesia 237.5 Million
Nigeria 148 Million
Russia 141.37 Million
Philipinnes 96 Million
Germany 82.4 Million
South Africa 47 Million
Armenia 3 Million
Romania 22 Million
Ghana 18.4 Million
United Arab Emirates 4.6 Million
Jordan 6.2 Million
Iraq 28.2 Million
Syria 19.7 Million
Yemen 23 Million
Namibia 1.83 Million
Thailand 65.5 Million
Malawi 13.9 Million


TOTAL 1260.4 Million people have emblem/COA with eagle.


TOTAL PEOPLE WHO HAVE FLAGS/EMBLEM/COAT OF ARMS:
268.4 M + 1260.4 M = 1.528.8 Billion People

Which is over a fifth of the world population!

The Greek Orthodox flag has an Eagle on it. It is hard to find exact numbers of Greek Orthodox members in the world only of the Eastern Orthodox of which the Greek Orthodox is part of. There's an estimated:

225- 300 Million Eastern Orthodox Worldwide.

In Asian Culture the Eagle is holy and is part of the dragon with the Eagle claws.
Among the nations that give it great strength and meaning:

China 1300 Million
Korea 47 Million
Japan 127.3 Million

Total: 1474.3 Million


In India, in Hindu Mythology: Garuda is the king of the sky.
The gold-colored "Garuda" had a human body but the wings and face/beak of an eagle
It's a Sacred Bird for Hindus. Garuda is revered by Hindus as the vehicle of Lord Vishnu. Heroes who die heroic death are sometimes immortalized as Garuda.

Number of Hindus worldwide 900 Million people

Garuda is also holy to Buddhists and is the coat of arms of Thailand ( See below)

Number of Buddhist worldwide 376 Million people.

Eagles in your culture.

Below:
UK : Barclays Bank- The UK's second largest bank and one of the oldest banks dating back to 1690.
ITALY: Designer Armani - Armani Exchange logo with eagle.







Before we continue, we recommend that each person reading this blog think for a minute about Eagle related items in his own culture.
The eagle symbol has become the symbol of many of Africa's nations, the symbol of many Arab nations, the symbol of many Eastern European nations, the symbol of Russia, the symbol of the USA.

It is holy in Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam among other religions.

It has been the logo of designers, banks, nations, food companies, sport teams, weapons, for centuries.

The question is how and why this animal succeeded in united people around the world about it.

EAGLES IN FLAGS AND COATS OF ARMS

MEXICO

Egypt

POLAND

AUSTRIA

ALBANIA

MONTENEGRO

MOLDOVA

ZAMBIA

SERBIA

USA

INDONESIA

NIGERIA

RUSSIA

PHILIPPINES

GERMANY

SOUTH AFRICA

ARMENIA

ROMANIA

GHANA

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

JORDAN

IRAQ

SYRIA

YEMEN

NAMIBIA

THAILAND

MALAWI

EAGLES IN CITY and DISTRICTS ACROSS EUROPE

The Eagle appears across Europe also in city flags, district flags and family coat of arms. Here are a few examples:
1. UK: Spencer Family (Princess Diana's family) Coat of Arms.
2. Switzerland: Coat of arms of Geneva
3. Germany: Wappen_Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis.
4. Former Czech Republic: City of Karvina
5. Former Czech Republic: City of Orlova.

Asian Cultures

Eagles have a long history in Asian Cultures.
The eagle has an important role in myth not just in the west but also in the east.
We have discussed the Hindu religion's role of the eagle in the first segment.
But The eagle has been influential and significant also in all the other Asian cultures.
The dragon one of the most beloved symbols in China/Japan/Korean has Eagle claws for legs.

The eagle symbolism can be found everywhere and even a famous Kung Fu styles is called EAGLE CLAW KUNG FU and has schools across the US.

Belows: Images of the EAGLE CLAW KUNG FU AND VARIOUS DRAGONS:






HISTORY OF THE EAGLE CLAWED DRAGON:

Here's a blurb about the Asian dragon:
Chinese Dragons
"The Celestial Chinese Dragon is comparable as the symbol of the Chinese race itself. Chinese around the world, proudly proclaim themselves "Lung Tik Chuan Ren" (Descendents of the Dragon). Dragons are referred to as the divine mythical creature that brings with it ultimate abundance, prosperity and good fortune."

"Many different animals contribute to the dragon's body. For instance, the dragon has the body of a snake, belly of a frog, scales of a carp, head of a camel, horns of a giant stag, the eyes of a hare, ears like a bull, a neck like an inguana, paws like a tigers, and claws like an eagle."

The Oriental Dragon Tradition
To identify the origin of an Oriental dragon, look at its claws. If it has five claws per foot it probably comes from China. Three claws means Japan. Four claws means Korea.

"Unlike the the negative energies associated with Western Dragons, most Eastern Dragons are beautiful, friendly, and wise. They are the angels of the Orient. Instead of being hated, they are loved and worshipped."

"Dragons are deeply rooted in Chinese culture. The Chinese sign for the dragon first appeared upon turtle shields as a tribal totem way back during the Yin and Shang dynasties, and was eventually emblazed on the national flag during the Qing Dynasty [1644-1911 AD]."


EAGLE CLAW KUNG FU

Ying Jow Pai (Eagle Claw Kung Fu)
The Eagle Claw system is a Northern Chinese martial arts style with an emphasis on clawed hand positions and catching and controlling the opponent.
Eagle Claw Gung Fu (Faan Tzi Ying Jow Pai) is known for its peculiar and powerful gripping techniques and for its intricate system of locks, takedowns, and pressure point strikes as well as long strikes. Eagle Claw is one of the oldest, most complete, most complex and devastating of the surviving Northern Shaolin styles. The style is said to have started in 1130, at a time of Mongolian incursions into northern China, when General Ngok Fei learned techniques from a Shaolin monk named Jow Tong. Ngok Fei adapted and taught these techniques (which he called "Elephant Style) to his army which went on to many battlefield victories. Later during the Ming Dynasty the hand techniques were combined with the Faan Tzi system by a monk, Lai Chin, thus creating the system now called Northern Eagle Claw. During the 1800's, the system was passed along to the Lau family. In the 1920's one of the top fighters in all of China was Eagle Claw master Chan Tzi Ching. One of his top students was Ng Wai Nung who went on to assist the famous Eagle Claw Grandmaster Lau Fat Mon. In the US there are many schools spread throughout the nation.

CALLIGRAPHY

In Calligraphy there are also a lot of images of eagles.

EAGLE IMAGES

The Eagle is one of the most popular animals worldwide. On a daily basis billions of people are exposed to images of eagles posted everywhere including logos, memorabilia, flags etc... ( See our previous post and watch the video: Alba- the eagle for history of the eagle in many other nations or go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhg9X0LhEI4

In the next two posts on this blog, we've tried to accumulate some of the many images of eagles that surround us today from American Airlines adds, to the large beer maker Anhueser Busch.

What is fascinating is how many companies, organizations and even countries have adopted the eagle as a symbol of strength, power and trustworthiness for hundreds of years.

EAGLE IMAGES IN THE USA

Even thought the eagle is part of the coat of arms or flag of nearly a quarter of the world population- it has strongly been associated in modern times with the USA.

The eagle appears in almost every US government logo and can be found in almost every souvenir store across the US in all the states. In a cross country trip I've made several years ago, I found memorabilia with it even in the smallest towns in the middle of nowhere.
Seems like it's only competition are Elvis, Marlyn and Mother Marry items.




There are many inspirational posters With eagles in them that can be bought both in stores and online. They show images of flying eagles with inspirational tags or sentences attached to them.




Many Flag posters also have an eagle gracing it.
Attached below are but a few of endless examples that can be found online as well: