Coat of arms of Austria
National emblem of Austria: a single‑headed eagle with red‑white‑red shield, mural crown, sickle, hammer and broken chains; evolved from imperial symbols and reflects republican identity.
The coat of arms of Austria is the official national emblem used by the federal government and state institutions of the Republic of Austria. Its present composition dates from the years following World War I and was re‑adopted after World War II, combining heraldic elements that express Austria’s republican identity, social groups and liberation from dictatorship.
Design and symbolism
The central figure is a single‑headed black eagle bearing on its breast a small shield charged with the red‑white‑red horizontal bands of the Austrian flag. The eagle wears a mural crown and holds a sickle in one talon and a hammer in the other; broken chains are depicted around its legs. Each element has an intended symbolic meaning: the eagle stands for sovereignty and statehood, the red‑white‑red shield for the nation, the mural crown for civic authority, the hammer and sickle for industrial and agricultural workers, and the broken chains for liberation from oppression.
Elements at a glance
- Shield: red‑white‑red bands, traditional national device.
- Eagle: single‑headed, representing the republic rather than empire.
- Mural crown: a crown of battlements symbolizing the citizen body.
- Sickle and hammer: emblems of agriculture and labor.
- Broken chains: mark of liberation added after 1945.
Historical development
The emblem’s history reflects Austria’s political shifts. A double‑headed eagle long associated with the Holy Roman Empire and later Habsburg monarchy represented imperial rule. After the monarchy fell in 1918, a new republican coat of arms was established around 1919 to signal the change of regime. During the 1930s the state adopted a different eagle motif under an authoritarian government, and the Anschluss of 1938 led to the emblem’s suppression. After the end of World War II the republican arms were restored and the broken chains were added to symbolize regained freedom.
Usage and legal status
The coat of arms appears on official documents, seals, government buildings and other state property. Stylised and statutory versions exist for different formal uses; reproductions are generally regulated to protect the symbol’s dignity. Provincial and municipal authorities often maintain their own distinct coats of arms, which coexist alongside the federal emblem.
Notable distinctions
One important distinction is between the single‑headed republican eagle and the older double‑headed imperial eagle: the change signals a shift from dynastic empire to democratic republic. The combination of civic, agricultural and industrial symbols together with the broken chains makes the Austrian arms a compact statement about national identity, social constituents and historical experience.
Description
Blasonning
Blasoning of the Austrian federal coat of arms:
"The coat of arms of the Republic of Austria (federal coat of arms) consists of a free-floating, single-headed, black, golden-armed and red-crested eagle, whose breast is covered with a red shield crossed by a silver crossbeam. The eagle wears on its head a golden mural crown with three visible pinnacles. The two fangs are encircled by a broken iron chain. He bears in his right fang a golden sickle with its edge turned inward, and in his left fang a golden hammer."
- Art. 8a para. 2 B-VG (1981; in the textually unchanged version of 2004)
Converted versions
There are several variants of the coat of arms in circulation, which are essentially based on two contradictory basic assumptions, and which can be found in particular on the service flags of the federal government (federal flags):
- The legally artistically designed federal coat of arms according to the Coat of Arms Act (Federal Law Gazette No. 159/1984), which finds its graphic implementation in Annexes 1 and 2. In it, the eagle's plumage is richly detailed and depicted in grey, the fangs and the three symbols sickle, hammer and mural crown are depicted in golden colour, as well as the band shield in red colour with the band in silver colour and the broken chain in blue-grey colour.
- A version, according to Peter Diem as the only correctly defined version, based on the heraldic description of Art. 8a para. 2 Federal Constitutional Law, in which the heraldic eagle is monochrome black and the symbols yellow, as the heraldic gold, as well as the shield in red color with the band in white, as the heraldic silver, are represented. The broken chain, whose colouring does not appear in the heraldic description, is mostly found in grey in this variant.
Another version is derived from the "Diem variant", in which the heraldic black plumage of the eagle is depicted in a highly simplified manner.
Symbolism
The symbols and emblems in the coat of arms of the Republic of Austria (federal coat of arms) mean:
- Heraldic eagle: sovereignty of Austria (introduced in 1919);
See also: Eagle (heraldic animal)
- Bindenschild: Emblem of Austria (high medieval, reintroduced in 1915);
- City wall crown: symbol of the bourgeoisie (introduced in 1919);
- Sickle: symbol of the peasantry (introduced in 1919);
- Hammer: symbol of labour (introduced in 1919);
- Blasted iron chain: In memory of the liberation from the National Socialist dictatorship (supplement from 1945).
Interpretation
Origin 1918/1919
The explanatory Supplement 202 of the Constituent National Assembly under the Social Democratic-led State Government Renner II to the Law of 8 May 1919 on the State Coat of Arms and the State Seal of the Republic of German Austria states that the "new" Austrian single-headed eagle was by no means "a monarchical symbol" which could only be referred to the Habsburg, previously Holy Roman coat of arms; this was "a prejudice". Rather, the eagle as Aquila had already been "the symbol of the legions of the Roman Republic" and functioned in modern times in the coats of arms of the United States of America, Mexico and Poland.
In the concluding sentence, contrary to this, it is again noted as recourse: "A certain echo of the previous state coats of arms is therefore desired". Several times it is expressly emphasized that the experts of heraldry had demanded that the symbols of the three estates (mural crown, sickle and hammer) had to be "attached so discreetly that they by all means do not appear obtrusive":
"A resolution of the Council of State had envisaged an emblem which would symbolically represent the three main classes of society, citizen, peasant and worker, and which, in the choice of the colours black, red and gold, would at the same time symbolize the national composition of the Republic of German Austria. On the basis of this suggestion, the previously existing State Seal Office organized a competition, from which a long series of designs emerged. The heraldic experts criticized most of these designs for being too reminiscent of modern company logos, of the protected trademarks and patterns of commercial law, and called for a coat of arms which, precisely because of its heraldic character as a state emblem, would effectively distinguish itself from private emblems. The symbolism of the estates, they said, should be applied in a more discreet form than in most designs. On the basis of these expert considerations, the State Government has decided to recommend the present simple coat of arms, which is entirely in accordance with heraldic principles, to the Constituent National Assembly for adoption.
The eagle functions as a sign of statehood in general. The United States of North America, Mexico and Poland use the eagle. The assumption that the eagle is a monarchical sign is a prejudice. The eagle was the symbol of the legions of the Roman Republic. It symbolizes the sovereignty of the state. The single-headed eagle bears a coat of arms on its breast; the red-white-red shield is not the shield of the ruling house, nor that of the Babenbergs, but was the sign of the country of Austria in the time of the Babenbergs and was customary in the country even before this princely dynasty. The three symbols sickle, hammer and mural crown are carried by the eagle. These three symbols are also familiar to heraldry and are applied so discreetly that they do not appear obtrusive.
Since the coat of arms has the task of designating offices and institutions as governmental, it is very important that the population immediately understands and respects this badge, which is different from all other badges, as a governmental mark.
A certain echo of the previous state coats of arms is therefore desirable."
- Constituent National Assembly: Explanatory Memorandum to the Draft Law on the National Coat of Arms and the National Seal of the Republic of German Austria.
Contemporary interpretations
Politically divergent interpretations of the federal coat of arms have triggered discussions about the coat of arms in the past. Surveys confirm, however, that there is widespread familiarity with the actual symbolism of the coat of arms. On the one hand, the coat of arms of the Republic is interpreted as a new republican symbol, on the other hand as a modified version of the old Habsburg coat of arms. This version is often seen as a reminiscence of the double-headed eagle of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy of the Habsburgs. According to this assumption, the single-headedness of the eagle in the sense of an omission of the heraldically left, "Hungarian" head points to the omission of the eastern parts of the empire.
A "westward" looking head also finds no historical support - the topic of the East-West conflict in Europe probably did not play a role in 1919. The Austrian provinces, however, have retained the pre-republican heraldic tradition (the heraldic images dating mostly to the High Middle Ages, but also various epithets such as archducal and ducal hats, knightly helmets). Also the black of the eagle was never up for discussion.
Supposedly communist symbol
It has often been criticized that the symbols hammer and sickle in the fangs of the heraldic eagle could be understood as the communist or Marxist-Leninist symbol hammer and sickle: While the hammer and sickle are crossed in the communist symbol, in the Austrian coat of arms the symbols Mauerkrone, Sichel and Hammer (symbolically standing for the main classes of society, citizens, peasants and workers) are arranged as a trinity.
Legal protection
The Austrian Coat of Arms Act
| Basic data | |
| Title: | Coat of Arms Act |
| Long title: | Federal Law of 28 March 1984 on the Coat of Arms and Other Emblems of the Republic of Austria (Coat of Arms Act) |
| Type: | Federal Law |
| Scope: | Austrian Republic |
| Reference: | Federal Law Gazette No. 159/1984 |
| Date of Law: | March 28, 1984 |
| Effective Date: | April 27, 1984 |
| Last Change: | Federal Law Gazette I No. 161/2013 |
| Law text: | ris.bka |
| Please note the reference to the current version of the law! | |
The coat of arms of the Republic of Austria (Federal Coat of Arms), together with the colours of the Republic of Austria, the flag of the Republic of Austria, the official flag of the Federation (Federal Service Flag) and the seal of the Republic of Austria, are laid down in the Federal Act of 28 March 1984 on the Coat of Arms and Other Emblems of the Republic of Austria (Coat of Arms Act), which also regulates the use and display of the Federal Coat of Arms.
The design of the federal coat of arms (the blazoning) is precisely defined in Art. 8a para. 2 Federal Constitutional Law and as such is unchangeable. Various authorities and organisations entitled to bear the coat of arms nevertheless use either simplified, often heraldically "correct", or otherwise modified forms as pictograms, usually referred to as authority marks.
Criminal law provisions place the disparagement of the state and its symbols under special threat of punishment in accordance with § 248 StGB, which also includes the federal coat of arms.
Use and display of the federal coat of arms
With coats of arms is to be distinguished generally the leading in the sense of the coat of arms law, thus the use as personal insignia, and the pure representing. § 7 coat of arms law states:
"The use of images of the federal coat of arms, of images of the flag of the Republic of Austria as well as of the flag itself is permissible insofar as it is not likely to feign public authority or to impair the reputation of the Republic of Austria."
With regard to the latter, the provisions of § 248 StGB, disparagement of the state and its symbols, apply in particular.
Section 4 of the Coat of Arms Act, on the other hand, explicitly enumerates who has "the right to bear the federal coat of arms", with the coat of arms - within the meaning of that Act - being "borne by anyone who uses it in the exercise of governmental functions" (para. 1). These are:
- the highest organs of the Republic with the Federal President, the Presidents of the National Council and the Chairman of the Federal Council, the President and Vice-President of the Court of Audit, the members of the Federal Government and the State Secretaries, as well as with the members of the Ombudsman Board (para. 2);
- the governors of the provinces as organs of indirect federal administration, the authorities, offices, institutions and other departments of the Federation, the Austrian Federal Forests and the Federal Armed Forces; also included are the universities and colleges including their institutes, faculties, departments and special university institutions, insofar as they have at least limited legal personality, as well as the administrations of the State monopolies (para. 3);
- public corporations, legal and physical persons entitled to do so by federal law or to whom this right has been conferred by an administrative act on the basis of federal law provisions (para. 4).
"The draft law is based on the view that the federal coat of arms as a state symbol is to be used only by state organs, state authorities and offices as well as certain state institutions. Consequently, no provision is made for conferring this entitlement on other natural persons or legal entities. However, the authorizations to use the coat of arms of the Republic of Austria standardized in other legal provisions or granted on their basis are not to be affected by this."
- Federal Government: Government Bill on the Coat of Arms Act: Explanations, general part, page 4
Accordingly, in addition to the above-mentioned persons entitled to use the federal coat of arms, individual other organisations, such as the Austrian Red Cross or the Vienna Boys' Choir, as well as individual companies are also entitled to use the national coat of arms. Pursuant to Section 68 of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Code, the Minister of Economic Affairs grants companies that distinguish themselves through special services to the Austrian economy or an outstanding position in their branch of industry permission to use the coat of arms together with a reference to the character of the distinction (state distinction, or state coat of arms bearer).
Furthermore, although every Austrian (state) school is not permitted to display the coat of arms in the school logo, according to Section 7(2) of the Compulsory School Maintenance Act 1955 (2012), each classroom of a compulsory school must display "at least" one federal coat of arms.
Pursuant to § 53 and § 54 of the Motor Vehicles Act, only motor vehicles intended for use on official and ceremonial occasions and only for federal executive bodies (Federal President, members of the Federal Council and National Council, etc.) may bear the coat of arms.
Definition of the "use of the federal coat of arms
In the explanations of the government bill to the coat of arms law of 1984 is found in the special part to § 4 to the term it "leading":
The legal definition of the term "use of the federal coat of arms" appears necessary for the sake of legal clarity. It is based on the opinion of the Administrative Court in its decision of 25 March 1966, Zl. 1368/1965. It is only to be understood as a specific type of use or use of the coat of arms, namely one which indicates a public entitlement (cf. also Holzinger, Kompetenzfragen des Wappenschutzes, ÖJZ 6/1977, p. 143)."
- Federal Government: Government Bill on the Coat of Arms Act: Explanations, special part, page 6.
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Author
AlegsaOnline.com Coat of arms of Austria Leandro Alegsa
URL: https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/21243