Winged lion

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

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

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