Why Some People Have Eagles Hanging on Their Homes

[farmgal67357]

It is a symbol that your house is paid for! I just thought they were especially patriotic people, but my husband tells me differently. We found a brass colored one at a flea market today and now it proudly hangs over the front door light. Cool, Huh?

[shabbychick]

Cool. What's the symbol for a house that's underwater? An ark? I need to go get me one. :)

[farmgal67357]

Holy (fill in the blank) Batman! Hubs wants to know if the salmon are spawning and swimming through your living room. He used to live in Tacoma. We could use some of that wet out here in SE Kansas, send it over!

[Southeast Missourian]

I see allot of Homes with Stars located mostly on either of side of their Homes. The Stars are about 9in and are from front ot back. I've often wondered why they've placed them. An Antique Store I frequent http://pastimesantiques.com/ has quite a selection of them. A friend told me recently they're Masons Homes and the amount of Stars tells how depth in the Masonic Lodge. I asked what his degree was and he replied; "I'm not a Mason." That ended that Conversation. Anyway, I was just curious if anyone might know if there is significance to them?

[RoseMary]

:)Very interesting posts. I've never noticed the eagles, but I have seen the stars. I guess I just thought they were for decoration. I'll be interested to see if anyone else has any information on either of them!

[shabbychick]

LOL, no, no salmon. If there were, I'd catch a couple for dinner. I think, though, that I now owe more on my mortgage than I could sell the place for, so I think that puts me underwater. It's not an issue if I keep making my mortgage payments (which, with a fixed rate loan and a secure job, I can well do) but I'd definitely take it in the shorts if I had to sell. When the economy comes back, things will improve, and I'm okay until then. But a symbol for my situation would be cool. Maybe I could do something upside down. Or maybe a tire stuck in a rut. :)

[farmgal67357]

Oh, THAT kind of underwater. Hmmm....a snorkle maybe? ;)

[vintage girl]

Don't feel too bad Shabby. Almost everyone here in California is underwater also. I have a fixed mortgage and a secure job (for now), but am still just a bit upside down. I keep hoping the economy will get better, but it sure doesn't look like it. According to our President "it could be worse":confused: I guess he only had a little bit of time to come up with that, as he had to go on The View:p

As for the stars, I have a ton on my house. With me, it is because I am very very patriotic. I was a military brat (Air Force), and I come from several generations of military families. I am pretty sure they have some other symbolism also. I will do some internet research and let you know:)

[vintage girl]

Most of the info I found on stars was purely decorative. It is a mainstay of country decor. But I did find some historical significance that relates to the amish:

The Amish would paint stars on their barns to tell the community how their crops were doing.

I have stars everywere. I useds large red metal ones in place of shutters on a few of my windows, as I could not get the right shutter size without ordering them special, and that was too expensive.

:)

[Breezy]

I've always thought the stars were just country/casual decoration but had no idea what the eagle meant. :)

vintage girl - my hubby was in the Air Force & my younger sis is retired Navy while my dad & brothers-in-law were Navy men too. :)

[farmgal67357]

Wow! Alot of Air Force folks here! My hubby's Mom and Dad met while serving in the Air Force. Oh, and I asked hubs about that mason star thing. He says they use another type star, not a regular five pointed one. He's a huge history buff (he even has a degree) so he's a good one to ask these types of questions. I have seen TONS of homes out here decorated with big, tin, five pointed stars. It is in fashion right now I guess.

[Queenofthecastle]

I was told that the original metal stars you see on Victorian era houses (not the modern ones we place nowadays) are actually end pieces to metal struts that run through the structure for support. So they were actually a functional element to the architecture, finished in a decorative manner.

As for the eagles, I always wondered that as well - especially when I moved into my current neighborhood which is full of 1940's-1950's era homes and there are eagles here everywhere from that time period. I did a little research and found that this neighborhood was founded and built by the Ku Klux Klan and many of these decorative eagles were meant to indicate - this is horrible - but here it is: white supremacist ideology, referencing the Third Reich of Hitler's regime.

So now everytime I see an eagle on a home I think of the symbolism of the Third Reich eagle! There was one on the original mailbox on my home when I bought it - I ripped that thing off there so fast when I found out what it meant!

[farmgal67357]

Well I ain't gonna let those nasty skinheads ruin the meaning of my eagle! I don't think we have any of the KKK around here. At least I hope not.

[RoseMary]

I like the idea of the eagle meaning the house is paid for! I've never heard of the eagle being connected with the KKK. I don't doubt that they took several symbols and made it represent what they wanted it to. But the eagle is not their symbol, so farmgal, I'm glad you're going to keep yours!

I didn't realize that the KKK was as far west as you are, Queenofthecastle!

[Queenofthecastle]

I like the idea of the eagle meaning the house is paid for! I've never heard of the eagle being connected with the KKK. I don't doubt that they took several symbols and made it represent what they wanted it to. But the eagle is not their symbol, so farmgal, I'm glad you're going to keep yours!

I didn't realize that the KKK was as far west as you are, Queenofthecastle!

Yes, at one point in time the KKK actually were behind the governing political party of Colorado! The headquarters were the small town I live in. They don't have much of a presence here anymore but you can still see vestiges of their legacy around here, unfortunately.

The white supremacist movement has appropriated several symbols that used to have more peaceful meanings - such as the swastika - formerly a symbol of peace and unity for aboriginal peoples in North America, before it was taken over by the Third Reich... and more recently the neo-nazi movement.

[farmgal67357]

Those neo nutzies still ain't gettin my eagle! heeheehee Let em' come try, my next door neighbor happens to be black, and in the Army! :)

Wow Queenie! You really are a font of knowledge! I've learned lots of stuff this week.

[chyna]

We have skinheads here too. Except ours are transplants from Idaho. They aren't getting a foothold though, too many of us keep chasing them off.:)

[memmey]

You all can borrow Louisiana's beautiful Fleur de lis...:)

[farmgal67357]

Hey! I'm thinking of doing a stencil around the top of my countertop backsplash, and one of the stencils I am considering has Fleur de lis (or is it Fleur de li? heeheehee) with scroll work. I'm doing the French country thing, yellow and blue toile curtains with Maize Yellow walls. Gotta strip some wallpaper tomorrow!

[memmey]

The Acadiana[k] region and various cities in southern Louisiana, such as Lafayette, New Orleans and Baton Rouge, also use the fleur-de-lis. On 9 July 2008, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal signed a bill into law making the fleur-de-lis an official symbol of the state.[25] Following Hurricane Katrina, the fleur-de-lis has been widely used in New Orleans as a symbol of grassroots support for New Orleans' recovery.[26

I think that would look great! I wiki-ed the fleur di lis and the above quote was in the text. Everywhere down here you see the fleur di lis. It is a symbol of great pride. I have seen some beautiful old ones from the early times and they are spectacular. It is a stylized lily.
That would be VERY french to add that to your kitchen.:D

[Queenofthecastle]

The Acadiana[k] region and various cities in southern Louisiana, such as Lafayette, New Orleans and Baton Rouge, also use the fleur-de-lis. On 9 July 2008, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal signed a bill into law making the fleur-de-lis an official symbol of the state.[25] Following Hurricane Katrina, the fleur-de-lis has been widely used in New Orleans as a symbol of grassroots support for New Orleans' recovery.[26

I think that would look great! I wiki-ed the fleur di lis and the above quote was in the text. Everywhere down here you see the fleur di lis. It is a symbol of great pride. I have seen some beautiful old ones from the early times and they are spectacular. It is a stylized lily.
That would be VERY french to add that to your kitchen.:D

The Fleur di Lis is also widely used in Quebec - also a symbol of pride for French Canadians and the ancestors of those transplanted from French Canada many moons ago in history. There is quite a karmic & historic connection between those in South Louisiana & those in French parts of Canada.