The Serbian eagle is a double-headed heraldic eagle, also known as the White eagle, a common symbol in the history of Serbian heraldry and vexillology. The double-headed eagle and the Serbian cross are the main heraldic symbols which represent the national identity of the Serbian people across the centuries, originating from the medieval Nemanjić dynasty. The eagle, defaced with the cross, has been used in the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Serbia from 1882 to 1918 and in contemporary coat of arms of the Republic of Serbia since 2004.
Animated Serbian eagle breaks banners of enemies (Bulgarian, Ottoman and Hungarian in hands, Austrian in corner, German in background)
Serbian eagle on Karađorđević crown
Flag of arms and coat of arms of the Serbian Empire, by G. de Vallseca (1439)
Coat of arms of Stefan Lazarević, Prussian ed. Chronicle of the Council of Constance (before 1437)
The double-headed eagle is an iconographic symbol originating in the Bronze Age. A heraldic charge, it is used with the concept of an empire. Most modern uses of the emblem are directly or indirectly associated with its use by the late Byzantine Empire, originally a dynastic emblem of the Palaiologoi. It was adopted during the Late Medieval to Early Modern period in the Holy Roman Empire, Albania and in Orthodox principalities, representing an augmentation of the (single-headed) eagle or Aquila associated with the Roman Empire. In a few places, among them the Holy Roman Empire and Russia, the motif was further augmented to create the less prominent triple-headed eagle.
Double-headed eagle in Jiroft, Iran, 3rd millennium BC.
Double-headed eagle on the Sphinx Gates of the Hittites in Anatolia, today in Alaca Höyük, Turkey
The double-headed eagle device used in the flag of Kingdom of Vaspurakan (r. 908–1021)
Emblem of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, entrance of St. George's Cathedral, Istanbul