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A stylised eagle, usually shown displayed with wings spread.
Also known as: Eagle displayed, Double-headed eagle
After the lion, the commonest heraldic beast, and the emblem of imperial authority across Europe by descent from the Roman aquila. The double-headed form is a distinct charge with its own history.
A stylised eagle, conventionally borne displayed — facing the viewer with wings spread — unless the blazon specifies otherwise.
Carried imperial associations across Europe through descent from the Roman legionary aquila, and was adopted by the Holy Roman Empire, and later by Austria, Russia, Prussia and others.
The double-headed eagle, with heads facing both ways, is a separate charge associated with Byzantine and later Russian and Austrian usage; the two heads are often explained as authority over east and west, an interpretation that postdates the emblem.
The east-and-west reading is a later gloss rather than a documented original intention.
A stylised eagle seen from the front with both wings spread wide, legs apart and talons extended, the head turned in profile.
Both are heraldic birds, but the martlet is small, has no visible feet and is a mark of cadency rather than a principal charge.
The attitude is blazoned together with the bird.