Self-proclaimed Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has unveiled a new national visual identity. The golden eagle is intended to strengthen national identity and remind people of Syria's historical roots, according to a statement made at the unveiling.
Syria's self-appointed interim president, Ahmed al-Scharaa, unveiled a new “national emblem” on Thursday. The golden eagle, which will serve as the country's coat of arms in the future, is intended to symbolize the unity of the country and accompany the reconstruction of national identity after the end of the Assad regime and 14 years of civil war, according to the state news agency SANA.
The eagle is historically associated with the Battle of Thaniyat al-Uqab (“Eagle Pass”), in which the Muslim military leader Khalid ibn al-Walid conquered Greater Syria. A statement from the so-called Ministry of Information said that the new emblem deliberately references this symbol in order to build a “bridge between the past and the future.”
According to al-Sharaa, the new eagle stands for a “government that emerges from the people and serves them.” The eagle's tail has five feathers representing the geographical regions of Syria—north, south, east, west, and center. The wings each consist of seven feathers, representing the country's 14 governarates. The coat of arms is complemented by three stars, which are based on the Syrian national flag.
“The identity we are launching today expresses a Syria that does not accept division or partition, a unified Syria. The cultural and ethnic diversity is a factor of enrichment, not division or conflict,” al-Sharaa said at the official ceremony in the People's Palace in Damascus. “
He emphasized that, “The new identity expresses the building of the Syrian individual and restores the Syrian identity that has become accustomed to migration in search of security and a promising future, so that we may restore its confidence, dignity, and normal place at home and abroad.”
The new emblem will be used on official documents, public buildings, and diplomatic missions. The leader of the Islamist alliance “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (HTS), Al-Sharaa, alias Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani, who has now been integrated into the Syrian army, overthrew Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in December. Since March, former HTS mercenaries and other jihadist militias have repeatedly committed massacres against Alawites.
