Reichsadler The Reichsadler ( " Imperial Eagle " ) was the heraldic eagle , derived from the Roman eagle standard , used by the Holy Roman Emperors and in modern coats of arms of Germany , including those of the German Empire , the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany . The same design has remained in use by the Federal Republic of Germany since 1945 , but under a different name , now called Bundesadler " Federal Eagle " rather than " Imperial Eagle " . Origins . The " Reichsadler " can be traced back to the banner of the Holy Roman Empire , when the eagle was the insignia of the Imperial power as distinguished from the Imperial state s . It was meant to embody the reference to the Roman tradition " ( translatio imperii ) " , similar to the double - headed eagle used by the Palaiologi emperors of the Byzantine Empire or the tsars of Russia . The eagle began to appear in the 9th century on the banner of Charlemagne and his successors . A double - headed eagle was attributed to Frederick II of Hohenstaufen in the " Chronica Majora " by Matthew Paris about 1250 , it also appeared on the seal of the Imperial city of Kaiserswerth in the 13th century . The " Reichsadler " was widely used by Imperial cities such as Lübeck , Besançon or Cheb to underline their immediacy . The Teutonic Order under Hermann von Salza had the privilege to display the Imperial eagle in their coat of arms , granted by Emperor Frederick II . The black eagle was later adopted when the Teutonic State was transformed into the Duchy of Prussia in 1525 . Sigismund of Luxembourg used a black double - headed eagle after he was crowned Emperor in 1433 , while the single - head eagle remained an ensign of the elected " King of the Romans " and Emperor - to - be . After the Empire ' s dissolution in 1806 , the Habsburg Monarchy with the Imperial title adopted the double - headed eagle , aggrandized by an inescutcheon emblem of the House of Habsburg - Lorraine and the Order of the Golden Fleece , as coat of arms of the Austrian Empire . Since 1919 a single - head eagle is depicted in the coat of arms of Austria . Modern . During the revolutions of 1848 in the German states , some attempts were made to reimplement the " Reichsadler " as a symbol of national unity . These ideas were taken up again when a single - head eagle with a Prussian inescutcheon became the insignia of Bismarcks ' s " kleindeutsche Lösung " in the shape of the German Empire in 1871 . After World War I the Weimar Republic under President Friedrich Ebert assumed a plain version of the " Reichsadler " , which stayed in use until 1935 . During Nazi rule , a stylised eagle combined with the Nazi swastika was made the national emblem ( " Hoheitszeichen " ) by order of Adolf Hitler in 1935 . Despite its mediæval origin , the term " Reichsadler " in common English understanding is mostly associated with this specific Nazi times version . The Nazi Party had used a very similar symbol for itself , called the " Parteiadler " ( " Party ' s eagle " ) . These two insignia can be distinguished as the Reichsadler looks to its right shoulder whereas the " Parteiadler " looks to its left shoulder . After World War II the Federal Republic of Germany re - implemented the eagle used by the Weimar Republic by enactment of President Theodor Heuss in 1950 .