Where have our Eagles gone?

[Ron Andrea]

Well I think that going off the coinage is about the best idea we have to go on. More than likely they would not have resembled modern American 20th century style eagles. They probably looked more like chickens or other types of birds. If you look at some military banners from the 19th century,a lot of the eagles look way more like chickens than they do the stylized,and glorified birds of prey were use to seeing displayed today.

If we do luck out and somebody did recover an original Roman Aquila,it would likely look kinda funky to us. Just my 2 cents.

I agree with Adam. It was only with the nineteenth century flag and other two-dimensional displays that the eagles we are familiar with evolved. Most older versions--including early versions of the Seal of the USA--have distinctly chicken-looking eagles.

Not coincidentally, that's what the coin eagles resemble, too.