Virgin eagle

The Jungfrau Adler is in the heraldry as a common figure variant shown of stylized heraldic eagle and a heraldic animal .

Origin and representation

The virgin eagle is a mixed mythical creature of man and eagle. Compared to the eagle, it has a special feature that the eagle's head is replaced by a looking woman's head and the upper part is replaced by a naked woman's upper body. The head is usually crowned .

The origin has not yet been clearly established. In the description of the coat of arms ( blazon ) other names are also used for this eagle type. There is often talk of the female eagle or the heraldic harpy eagle . Neither the mythological nor the raptor harpy should have been the starting point for the heraldic figure . It differs from the bird siren in that it has arms and legs, the additional wings on the back, and from the royal eagle, which also wears a crown, through the female upper body and the female face. It is believed that out of ignorance the coat of arms painters created a female figure from a picture of the emperor with curly hair. The emperors in the Middle Ages attached their bust as a sign of patronage on the heraldic eagle.

use

An example of a representation of a virgin eagle is the coat of arms of the Cirksena family , the counts of East Friesland from around 1581 to 1699. The Cirksena eagle is a name for the golden virgin eagle crowned in black .