CHAPTER XXXVI 



NEW NATIONAL EMBLEMS 



THE old states of the world have long been repre- 

 sented by animals, either as the national crest or 

 as a kind of accepted totem. The British lion, the 

 Austrian and Prussian eagles, the Napoleonic eagles 

 and bees, the Gallic cock, the Chinese dragon all 

 these are or have been part of the official insignia of 

 nations. New nations and states have been springing 

 up all over the world, and these, especially when of 

 British origin, have nearly all selected an animal of 

 some kind as the national emblem, and have made 

 it the official crest or totem of their state. These 

 totems are sometimes engraved on the bonds of the 

 new communities, and in at least sixty cases are also 

 printed on their stamps. Their selection is not 

 arbitrary, but in general has reference to the origins 

 or peculiarities of the new country. In many cases 

 the bird or beast or fish is a link with the past story 

 of the community of a very interesting kind. Their 

 adoption, and as it were consecration, show a senti- 

 mental phase of the human mind at a time when 

 young communities are successfully emerging from 

 the ordeal of their early struggles. They are not 

 as significant as the manna and rod in the Ark, or 



