Like the Bald Eagle in the United States, the Garuda is often used to represent Indonesia.
A great deal of symbolism runs through the Garuda. The eagle is a symbol of creative energy. Its principal color, gold, symbolizes the greatness of the nation. The black color represents nature. There are 17 feathers on each wing, 8 on the tail and 45 on the neck. These numbers stand for the date Indonesia proclaimed its independence: 17 August 1945.
In Hinduism’s Mahabharata epic, Garuda is a half-human, half-bird creature, with red wings, white face, and a figure so big that it covered the sun whenever he flew by. Garuda was born as the child of a priest, Resi Kasyapa, and was given special powers by the gods from the moment he ‘hatched’.
Soon after he was born, Garuda was faced with a task to deliver his mother, Winata, from the fraudulence of his father’s other wife, Kadru. He redeemed his mother with a sacred water he worked so hard to acquire, making Garuda an epitome of sacrifice and loyalty.
Garuda’s pervasive presence in many cultures makes him a celebrated figure adapted in many countries. Thailand’s national emblem is also Garuda, but with a depiction much closer to mythology than the one used in Indonesia, with a human torso and red feathers. For Indonesians, the emblem of Garuda is more like an integration between ancient history and contemporary values and symbols that make the country unique.
Picture Credit : Google
