Right, this is the last "medium" (sorry for the translation, but there are small, medium and large emblems/coat of arms) common emblem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1915.Windward wrote:... This is the emblem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
You can see the motto was "INDIVISIBILITER AC INSEPARABLILITER", which means "Indivisibility and inseparableness".
PS, Austria and Hungary have their own coat of arms too. You can see both them above.
After the Napoleonic Wars and the Vienna Congress it was necessary to change the old emblem, but it took until May 13 1836 until the final version was decreed by Ferdinand I.
During the rule of Franz Joseph I there were a lot of inofficial rearrangements, additions and cuts to the large emblem. After the defeat at Königgrätz the large emblem was quietly disposed of, and the small imperial emblem was used with only one minor change (the crown) until 1915:
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After the Ausgleich (Compromise) with Hungary it wasn´t before the second year of WW I until Austria and Hungary could agree on a common emblem - in fact, Austria blocked most attempts, and Hungary tried to push, but it took the war to make the introduction possible. Still, there was no agreement on the large emblem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, consens was only reached on the small and medium one. The large emblem was to be issued "at a later date".
Common medium emblem 1915:
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Common small emblem 1915:
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Common small emblem 1916:
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It can still be seen today at a hero memorial in the town Bruck/Leitha
Austrian small emblem 1915
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Austrian medium emblem 1915
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Hungarian small emblem 1916
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Hungarian medium emblem 1915
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Source: Peter Diem "Die Symbole Österreichs" ISBN 3-218-00594-9