American National Symbol

Maybe a moose...

Moose are cool.
A 'bull moose', presumably?

I think a mountain lion would be an ideal symbol for the colonies if they stuck with Britain. The British lion, on American terms.
That was the decision made in my own [unfortunately far from complete, in fact -- because I subsequently realised how much more research I needed to do -- barely even started] 'Wider Stili And Wider' TL.

I know that moose are found in America(I've seen them here myself), but they're also found across Eurasia.
Except that we call them 'Elk'...
:p
 
What do you mean ? Apart from the stars and nimbus used as crest which might be a bit unusual, the US COA conforms completely with them.

From my (admittedly limited) knowledge the blazon was intentionally misworded and, among other things, there are an improper number of stripes on the shield(proper European heraldry only allows even numbers of strips). I also recall that it was based on Roman civil government seals more than European coats of arms.
 
The Europeans choice - Skunk

The badass choice - Racoon

The wise choice - owl :D


Need. Not. Apply.

Not even a 2-headed heraldic turkey :eek::

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The wise choice - owl :D

Now there's a thought: the Great Horned Owl. Big, majestic, and above all, tenacious. A new speices, they only date back to the last Ice Age. They can thrive in tundra, taiga, desert, shrubland, prarie, marshland, forests, rainforests, cities, pampas, coasts, and mangroves. With the exception of the deepest stretches of the Amazon rainforest, there is no point in the Americas from the Alaskan tundra to Patagonia where they cannot thrive.

An apex predator, they have been known to feed on adult peregine falcons, alligators, and large herons. With the exception of large mammals, every creature in the Americas is prey to a Great-Horned Owl.

Americans, claim the Great Horned Owl, and with it, your destiny!
 
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is cool, but eagles in general seem so overused as national symbols (Rome, HRE, Prussia, Napoleon, Russia, Austria, Nazis, etc.). Is there any way that the US could have chosen a different animal as its national emblem?

Turkeys need not apply.
True, but BALD eagles are visibly and distinctively an American riff on that.
Although its close relative, the Whitetailed Sea-Eagle DOES live in much of Eurasia, however, while having a white tail, it does not have the white head.
File:Haliaeetus_albicilla_dis.PNG

The African Sea-Eagle is wide spread in sub-Saharan Africa and has a white head and tail - but wasn't widely known to Europeans at this point. So, for distinctiveness, the Bald Eagle works.


Mountain Lion/Puma/Catamount/Panther/Painter/....
A better bet would be a mountain lion.

I think a mountain lion would be an ideal symbol for the colonies if they stuck with Britain. The British lion, on American terms.

Interesting. OTOH, heraldic large cats tend to look very similar. Or more to the point, their representations overlap a lot.

Also, Puma are very hard to see. They are so elusive that there has been, recently, a LOT of discussion about whether they exist at all in places like Saskatchewan or Minnesota. Not a good choice, IMO.


Moose
Maybe a moose...

Moose are cool.

Moose aren't endemic to America, though.
I am using the meaning of "endemic" as in "found exclusively in", not "native to". I know that moose are found in America(I've seen them here myself), but they're also found across Eurasia. There is therefore nothing uniquely American about them, making them a poor symbol for the United States.
Again, Moose aren't common in the 13 colonies. They certainly existed, in places. But mostly in places where there weren't a lot of people.


Alligator
As far as I know no one has ever proposed changing the national animal to the Bison. However another suggestion could be the American Alligator.
American Alligator? Of which there are absolutely none in the 13 colonies, right?

Thunderbird
For a creature of myth, the Thunderbird.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28mythology%29 said:
The thunderbird is a legendary creature in certain North American indigenous peoples' history and culture. It is considered a supernatural bird of power and strength. It is especially important, and frequently depicted, in the art, songs and oral histories of many Pacific Northwest Coast cultures, and is found in various forms among the peoples of the American Southwest, Great Lakes, and Great Plains.

Racoon
Raccoons for a real animal. :)
That's a good idea, actually. Very distinctive, very American.


Endemicism
oh, yeah, cuz lions and eagles and all those other heraldic animals are TOTALLY found ONLY in the country that uses them as a symbol
By that measure you're limited to a handful of small rodents, a couple of bats and a couple of rabbits. (In the 13 colonies. For mammals.) Oh, and maybe a shrew or two.
Not anything you want as your heraldic animal.
oh, yeah, cuz lions and eagles and all those other heraldic animals are TOTALLY found ONLY in the country that uses them as a symbol
or even found there at all (how many Lions in England), or even at all (Unicorns, Welsh dragons, etc)


Rattlesnake
personally, i feel the rattlesnake as a national symbol can also hearken back to this in particular:
joindie.jpg
Entirely decent choice.


Bison:

Bison maybe?

Probably not, too obscure and unfamiliar an animal.
Also, in the 1780s and 90s, it's unlikely many Americans had seen a bison, which were found east of the Appalachians only sporadically by this time.

The bald eagle was attractive because it was both a distinctly American animal and eagles had been established in heraldry, unlike bison(Wisents had some heraldic history, but not much).

Also, the differences between an American bison and a European bison would be difficult to tell in heraldry, while the differences between a bald eagle and any heraldic eagle is stark and instantly recognizable- the white head.

The RCMP uses it.

Key difference FS,
RCMP founded - 1920 (predecessors: NWMP founded 1873 & DP founded 1868)
USA founded- 1776
Moreover, the RCMP and especially the (R)NWNP were set up to provide law/control of the Canadian West, where Bison were common.


Owls
The wise choice - owl :D
Ah, but which one? and can you make it obvious that it's an American one? Great Horned Owls look like Eagle Owls, Barn Owls are Barn Owls, etc.

????
Not even a 2-headed heraldic turkey :eek:
I .... ummm.... errr... ahhh...
 
From my (admittedly limited) knowledge the blazon was intentionally misworded and, among other things, there are an improper number of stripes on the shield(proper European heraldry only allows even numbers of strips). I also recall that it was based on Roman civil government seals more than European coats of arms.

stripes can be of any number (the fairly ancient arms of aragon have an odd number of stripes By the way) and when eagles are used as sole supporters, they often are shown "displayed" & "elevated" (look at Poland and austria) so although their choice of an eagle and a few other symbols (such as the fasces for the senate) was more then likely based on the roman republic, the design they chose for the national emblem was fairly traditional compared to some south American republics or France for that matter.
 
I was just saying it would be a nice alternative if we to ever change the national animal, as alligators and crocodiles aren't used that often for national animals
part of the reason I'm planning to use the alligator as the iconic animal of a fictional party for one of my TL projects
 
I'd second the rattlesnake. As noted it featured in revolutionary flags and symbolizes both dangerous power but gives a warning - so it's not a sneak. In vexilogical iconography, it could even substitute for the stars in the US flag. Instead of stars, segments could be added to a coiled snake whenever a new state joined the union.
 
I'd second the rattlesnake. As noted it featured in revolutionary flags and symbolizes both dangerous power but gives a warning - so it's not a sneak. In vexilogical iconography, it could even substitute for the stars in the US flag. Instead of stars, segments could be added to a coiled snake whenever a new state joined the union.

50 states would be one long-arse snake. I always wondered why they decided to have each state represented by one star. I mean, what would happen if the USA grows to an extremely large number of states and there's not enough space to fit in any more stars? IIRC, there was a debate on the adding of stars to the canton back around the time of the War of 1812, I think. From the vexillogical standpoint, the 1959 U.S. flag is a very well-designed flag save for the large number of stars on it.

Personally, I think they should've just stuck with the 13-star "Betsy Ross" flag and kept that as the permanent U.S. flag. No need to worry about changing the flag every twenty or so years. Looks good too!

200px-US_flag_13_stars_%E2%80%93_Betsy_Ross.svg.png


Anyway, a rattlesnake would be a good choice, considering it helps represent ideal American values and characteristics, such as only attacking when provoked, giving a fair warning to any opponents, and it would harken back to the "Join or Die" carton, alluding to the unity of each state in the federal union. Not only that, it's a uniquely American creature (geographically and politically), found only in the Americas.
 
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Even a moa would've been the coolest shit ever. You know your national symbol sucks when they get killed by stoats. Might as well have a freakin' dodo.

The saddest part is that our Air Force features roundrels with a flightless bird. We should just adopt the Haast's Eagle.
 
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