Winged lion

A lion and a winged lion from the emblem book, Atalanta Fugiens , by Michael Maier, first published in 1617

The winged lion is a mythological creature that resembles a lion with bird-like wings.

Mythical adaptations

The winged lion is found in various forms especially in ancient and medieval civilizations.

There were different mythological adaptions for the winged lion:

• On the beautiful ridges of that mountain flying-lion are inhibiting and they will be winching sharks, fish and elephant seals to their lairs. - from The Ramayana IIT translation.

• Lamassu or shedu in Mesopotamian mythology was depicted as a winged lion. It was often also depicted with a bull's body instead of a lion's body.
• The griffin in classical mythology was depicted as a lion-eagle creature. Griffin-like creatures were depicted in Egyptian and Persian mythology.
• The first beast in the first vision of the biblical prophet Daniel resembled a winged lion.
• The winged lion was the heraldic symbol of Mark the Evangelist.
• The goetic demon Vapula was depicted as a winged lion.

Emblems

Lion of St. Mark seen on the Venetian Coat of Arms

The emblems of the winged lions were featured in different countries:

• The emblem of the Republic of Venice as the heraldic symbol of St. Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of the Republic.
  • The Lion of Venice is an ancient bronze sculpture of a winged lion that is located in the Piazzetta di San Marco, Venice.
  • The flag of the short-lived Septinsular Republic, derived from the above (Ionian Islands under Venetian rule), has a winged lion on it.
  • The logo of the Italian company Assicurazioni Generali which has a winged lion on it was derived from the above.
• The emblem of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Allied Joint Force Command Naples headquarters, in Italy, is a winged lion holding a sword and scroll on which is written PAX - Latin for 'peace'. ^[1]
• The emblem of the Chinese city of Nanjing is Bixie, a winged lion that wards off evils.

Gallery

• 
  Flag of the Septinsular Republic
• 
  Palacio de Velázquez, Madrid
• 
  Winged Lion Memorial, Prague, 2014
• 
  Coat of arms of Giessen
• 
  Leicester Town Square Fountain
• 
  12th-century oil lamp from Khorasan
• 
  Regent's Park, London
• 
  a page from the Nikolje gospels depicting a winged dragon
• 
  Bixie, Emblem of Nanjing, China

See also

• Aq Bars
• Chimera
• Griffin
• Lamassu
• Manticore
• Merlion
• Nemean lion
• Sea-lion
• Sphinx
• Winged cat
• Lion depictions in art

References

1. "70 years ago, when our command was established the Lion of St Mark was decided on as our symbol". Allied Joint Force Command Naples - JFCNP. Italy. Retrieved September 24, 2021– via Facebook.

External links

Media related to Winged lions at Wikimedia Commons