Hawk of Quraish
The Hawk of Quraish (Arabic: صَقْرُ قُرَيْشٍ, romanized: ṣāqr Quraysh) is a symbol which is found on a number of emblems, coats of arms and flags of several states of the Arab world. The traditions and recorded history about the Quraysh and Prophet Muhammad claim a falcon had been used as clan symbol. Therefore, several variants of the Quraishi hawk were and are seen in the flags, coat of arms, seals and emblems of several Arab states until today. In that meaning, the Hawk of Quraish is a rival to the Eagle of Saladin.[1][2]
Abd ar-Rahman I, the first Umayyad Emir of Córdoba, was known as the Hawk of Quraish (Saqr Quraish). According to medieval chroniclers, this was an appelation given to him by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur, one of his greatest rivals. The Abbasids and Umayyads were both tribes of the Quraysh clan, and Abd ar-Rahman had fled Damascus after the bloody and violent Abbasid Revolution, so for the Abbasid Caliph to give this appelation to the last surviving Umayyad heir was a sign of great respect.
Hawk and falcon symbols are also common in the Gulf Arab countries. Many of the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula, today especially those from the Arab side of the Persian Gulf coast, are traditionally falconry experts; falcons (and hawks) are seen as status symbols and are a common domesticated animal among ethnic Arabs.
Current emblems using the Hawk of Quraish
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Quraishi hawk in Libyan coat of arms as used by Marshal Khalifa Haftar, military commander in the government in Tobruk -
Quraishi hawk in the coat of arms of Syria (since 1980) -
Quraishi hawk in emblem of Palestine Liberation Army
Current emblems using other hawk or falcon symbols
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hawk in the Coat of arms of Jordan -
falcon in the emblem of Kuwait -
falcon in the emblem of the United Arab Emirates -
falcon in the emblem of Emirate of Abu Dhabi (UAE) -
falcon in the emblem of Emirate of Dubai (UAE)
Former emblems using the Hawk of Quraish
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Quraishi hawk in the former coat of arms of Libya (1977–2011) -
Quraishi hawk in the arms of the former Federation of Arab Republics (including Egypt, Syria, and Libya) (1972–1980) -
Quraishi hawk in coat of arms of the Syrian Republic (1946–58) and Syrian Arab Republic (1961–1963) -
Quraishi hawk in coat of arms of the Syrian Arab Republic (1963–1972)
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See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Karl-Heinz Hesmer: Flaggen und Wappen der Welt, pages 93, 155 and 171. Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, Güstersloh 1992
- ^ Syed Junaid Imam: The Flag of Quraish, Flags Of The World Archived 2013-07-10 at the Wayback Machine (1999)
