By Sonja Methoxha
TIRANA, Mar. 4- Apart from all the political turmoil in our country, the parliament recently was succumber by a more delicate debate regarding the eagle of Albania’s national flag. As a culture in Albania our flag has a more than a patriotic meaning or symbol for our people. It also deeply reflects our history of overcoming centuries-old hardships and invasions.
Even though the two headed eagle isn’t the only state symbol for Albania, but more countries around the Balkans and even Russia have adopted it. It is claimed that the first to have used it were the Roman Empire. It was then adopted by the Byzantines, under which our country have been occupied during the 14th century. The symbol then however, was a two-headed eagle with a star between their neck-parting on top of a golden field.
During the time of Skanderbeg, he adopted the same figure but contrasting with the lack of the star and on top of a red field instead. However, the double headed eagle was then a symbol of power. Even though Albania had officially parted from the Byzantine Empire following its fall, the eagle was widely used regarding its symbol of power. These emblem was adopted in 1451 and started being widely used afterwards by great Albanian figures.
The flag was also adopted during the National Awakening which led to the Independence of 1912. Ismail Qemali urged the two-headed flag eagle on a red field to be used as the national flag for our newly established state. It was the same symbol used by Skanderbeg, who is proclaimed our national hero. Some legends even claim that the flag raised in Vlore after the declaration of Independence by Ismail Qemali and 42 delegates, is Skanderbeg’s flag. But those are only legends.
There is a very lovely old legend regarding how Albanians got their name Shqipà«ri and how our country remained to be known as the land of eagles. The story follows a young boy who went out for hunting and saw a majestic eagle landing on top of a rock, which had a snake in its beak. On top of that rock the eagle also had its nest. It left the snake there and then it flew away. The boy went to see the nest and saw a tiny eagle playing with the snake. The snake though wasn’t dead and attempted to eat the tiny eagle.
The boy took out his boy and immediately killed the snake. He then took the small eagle home with him. But then the majestic eagle went to his home, asked him why he took its child. “The child is mine because I saved it from the snake you did not kill,” said the boy.
“Return to me my child, and as a reward I will give you the acuity of mine eyes and the strength of my wings. You shall become invincible, and you shall be called mine name!” replied the eagle.
The boy returned the baby eagle to its mother, but when they both grew up, the baby eagle would always fly above him, who was now a man. The young man killed many wild beast with his bow and slew many enemies of his country. His eagle friend always followed him.
For his bravery the young man was made king and named “Shqiptar” which means “son of eagle” (eagle in Albanian is shqiponjà«), and the kingdom was called “Shqipà«ri” or the Land of Eagled. The two heads of the eagle in our national flag then represent the north and south, which were separated in dialect and religion, but united in nationality.
According to the law our national flag’s eagle has nine feathers in its wings and seven in its tail. However the flags that have been circulating in the inner market lately are Chinese products of a distorted eagle, which doesn’t even look like a normal bird. And in fact many more souvenir products being sold to tourists are Chinese products. But before getting any nationalistic feelings, this is a pragmatic solutions used for many other products, and for many souvenirs even in developed countries.
The issue however remains the distorted image of the eagle that these products held. A many people didn’t even notice the difference, and before they could even notice it, the products and the tiny flags succumbed the Albanian market and stores. Suddenly the whole square was filled with such wrong representations of the flag, that a scandalous rumour had it that even the president of Albania had one of these fake flags hanging on his residency.
A series of debates, talks and speculations started to overcrowd the attention of many people. Interpretations about the feathers, tail, claws, tongue. As Ben Andoni writes “the colors became murderous, Byzantium was mixed with the Nation, Albania with Arberia, politicians were scolded, patriotism was shown… Cacophony won.”
He mentions an episode of former Socialist Movement for Integration deputy Luan Rama who asked for accountability in the parliament regarding such defects on our national emblem. He had previously accused the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of using the white eagle it has adopted in its institution, which is actually a Slavian symbol. Yet, no one seemed to be doing anything about the misrepresentation of our national flag in our streets and creating false memory.
As aforementioned the emblem of the two-headed eagle is used by many other countries, as it symbolizes freedom and power. But the shape of Albania’s eagle doesn’t converge with that of those of the Slavs, Germans, Russians or Austrians. “The Eagle is a symbol which natural habitat has the flag. It has been specified by [Marin] Barleti for the eagle in Skanderbeg’s flag. This flag has also cycled during the National Awakening. They redesigned it, reformulated it according to Barleti’s dictum and made an excellent eagle. Since that of societies Vatra, or Drita, the eagles are beautiful, black, with their opened and spreaded wings, which seem dynamic and unique,” has written historian Pellumb Xhufi.
Thus it is very well stated that the colors at least cannot be changed, as in the situation of the Ministry. However, there is a living heraldist, Mr. Gjin Varfi, who is also renowned for a book on Albanian heraldry he published some time ago. For some time now his opinions have been totally disregarded, just as our state’s institutions have been totally disregarding our national symbols too.
But beyond Mr. Varfi and his colleagues, or our government leaders, I raise the question, how can people who regard our national flag and especially the eagle so high, let its distorted figure in the fake flags go totally unnoticed?
