![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Michael_Maier_Atalanta_Fugiens_Emblem_16.jpeg/220px-Michael_Maier_Atalanta_Fugiens_Emblem_16.jpeg)
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
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Lion_of_Saint_Mark.svg/220px-Lion_of_Saint_Mark.svg.png)
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
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Flag of the Septinsular Republic
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Palacio de Velázquez, Madrid
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Winged Lion Memorial, Prague, 2014
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Leicester Town Square Fountain
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12th-century oil lamp from Khorasan
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Regent's Park, London
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a page from the Nikolje gospels depicting a winged dragon
See also
References
- ^ "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