Mankind has been fascinated by the golden eagle as early as the beginning of recorded history. Most early-recorded cultures regarded the golden eagle with reverence. Only after the Industrial Revolution, when sport-hunting became widespread and commercial stock farming became internationally common, did humans start to widely regard golden eagles as a threat to their livelihoods. This period also brought about the firearm and industrialized poisons, which made it easy for humans to kill the evasive and powerful birds. The following are various reportages of the significance of eagles, many likely pertaining to the golden eagles, in early cultures and older religions as well as national and military insignias.
Ancient mythology The Greeks and Romans believed Zeus and Jupiter respectively to be represented by the eagle.
Falconry
Golden eagles can be trained to be highly effective falconry birds, though their size, strength, and aggressiveness require careful handling to control the risk of injury to the falconer. They have been used in this practice at least since the Middle Ages. In Asia, they were reportedly used in teams to hunt such animals as deer, antelope and wolves. Concurrently in Europe, their use for falconry was typically reserved for emperors and kings, which is why the common names for the golden eagle in various European languages roughly translate as the “royal eagle”. In the United States falconers seldom use golden eagles, as the similarly aggressive Ferruginous hawk is more available and provides a similar hunting experience with most of the same game species with lower risk of injury to the falconer. The most common interaction of American falconers with golden eagles is in trying to avoid them in order to reduce golden eagle attacks on their trained birds. The very athletic golden eagle is approximately as swift as the large falcons, is quite willing to attack smaller raptors when the opportunity is available, and is often capable of flying down a falcon or hawk. Experienced falconers will consequently not fly their birds if golden eagles are spotted, and usually prefer to fly later in the day when the golden eagles have typically already fed. The culture in which falconry with golden eagles is prominent today is amongst the Kyrgyz people of the Tien Shan Mountains of southeastern Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. This practice is also culturally prominent in western Mongolia and Xinjiang. There are around 250 active eagle hunters in Bayan-Ölgii Province of Mongolia, and 50 in Kazakhstan. In these cultures, the golden eagle is considered a highly valued working animal which will be used for 15 years or more. Falconers carry their bird on a gloved right hand, usually with a wooden brace to support its considerable weight. In the Tien Shan Mountains, falconry mostly occurs in late fall and early winter. It is possible for up to 30 to 50 foxes to be caught by a single eagle during this season. Full-grown wolves are not believed to be viable prey for wild golden eagles; they are too dangerous due to their large size and large, powerful bite. Despite this, falconers occasionally use golden eagles to hunt wolves. The steppe wolf (Canis lupus campestris), a relatively small-bodied race of wolf at around 35 kg (77 lb), is the main wolf reportedly hunted by golden eagles in falconry. There are records that some experienced golden eagles successfully kill subadult or even adult wolves. However, even a well-trained golden eagle has a risk of injury so most falconers do not risk casting a mature eagle at an adult wolf. Some wolves prove particularly challenging quarry: there is the tale of one that was injured by 11 successive eagles but foiled their attempts – killing each one – until it was finally dispatched thanks to the efforts of a twelfth eagle.
Heraldry and myth
The golden eagle is the most common national animal in the world, with five nations—Albania, Germany, Austria, Mexico and Kazakhstan—making it the national animal. It is also a common motif in the national symbols of countries that have not officially made it the national animal or national bird. The reasons for this are various, but among the nations that use the golden eagle as or in a state symbol, there are two clear traditions that help explain the modern usage. Among European countries, the golden eagle was the model for the aquila, the most prominent symbol of the Roman legions and more generally the Roman civilization that had such a powerful impact on Western culture; furthermore, some classical Roman traditions were carried on by the Eastern Roman Empire in the Southern and Eastern of Europe and the Holy Roman Empire in Central and Western Europe, transmitting the use of the golden eagle to several modern states. This association of the golden eagle with Rome has also led to the adoption of similar symbols in other countries; for instance, the adoption of the related and physically similar bald eagle as the national bird of the United States was inspired by the conception of the United States as a modern reincarnation of the Roman Republic, a theme that recurs in other elements as well (including the prevalence of neoclassical architecture in American public buildings and the use of Roman terminology—such as naming the upper house of Congress the Senate—to hark back to the Roman model). Adolf Hitler used a golden eagle regularly as a symbol for the Nazi Party, including large monuments or statues on buildings and bridges as well as the pins worn on lapels of Nazi officers. In this case, the eagle was used as to stir up nationalism, since it was a longtime symbol (Hoheitszeichen) for the German Empire dating back centuries in use for the coat of arms of Prussia and the Holy Roman Empire. Another large tradition of using the golden eagle can be found in the Arab world, where the eagle is historically a symbol of power in Arabic poetry, and was according to legend the personal emblem of Saladin. The specific depiction of golden eagle legendarily considered to be Saladin's was adopted by the Arab nationalist movement, and currently appears on the arms of Egypt, Iraq, and Palestine; it had previously appeared on the arms of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (1967–1990) and on the arms of the Libyan Arab Republic (1970–1972). The current emblem of Yemen displays a golden eagle, but it is not that of Saladin.
Religion
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