Snow Melt

An Enlightening National Symbol

The November 23, 2013 prompt for "Blogging Circle of Friends Prompt Forum"  is
In the United States, Ben Franklin wanted the turkey not the bald eagle for our country's symbol. Which would you choose if you had been able to vote?
Or would you have chosen a totally different animal? Why?
If you don't live in the US, does your country have a symbol of a animal or something different? Enlighten us.

The Turkey is a symbol of abundance, thanksgiving, and fertility.1 The Bald Eagle or American Bald Eagle has many symbolic meanings, which are opportunity, protection, guardianship, masculinity, dominance, control, freedom, community, command, action, authority, skill, focus, determination, vision, power, liberation, inspiration, ruler, and judgment.2 After considering the history of American and what is going on in the country today, I think the American Bald Eagle is probably the best symbol for the United Sates of America.

I have several questions about America's symbol. Did the choice of symbols have an affect on America's culture? Would our history have been different if instead of the Bald Eagle we chose the Turkey as a symbol? If the turkey were the symbol of America would we be eating Bald Eagle for Thanksgiving instead of Turkey? Did the choice of symbol have an affect on America's history? If we changed symbols from the Bald Eagle to the Turkey would we change American culture or the country's future?

Footnotes
1  http://www.whats-your-sign.com/animal-symbolism-turkey.html
2  http://www.whats-your-sign.com/symbolic-eagle-meaning.html