207
LION DOG (thelemmy.club)
submitted 6 days ago by PugJesus@piefed.social to c/historymemes@piefed.social
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[-] PugJesus@piefed.social 38 points 6 days ago

Explanation: People and cultures can become very attached to their symbolism, and attempt to overlay it everywhere they can. Both China and Europe traditionally valued depictions of lions for their symbolism.

... on the left is a particularly infamously poor taxidermy of a lion from Europe. And on the right is a toy dog, of which various ancient breeds have acquired variations of the name 'lion dog' in Chinese because of their supposed resemblance to lions, such as the Shih Tzu

[-] ranslite@pie.dasneuland.de 9 points 6 days ago

I've had three dogs so far. One was a Shih Tzu, it was the best dog I had.

[-] 0ops@piefed.zip 3 points 5 days ago

I see Shih Tzu, I upvote

[-] Geobloke@aussie.zone 3 points 5 days ago

I went to the zoo on the weekend, but it only had 1 animal. It was a shih tzu.

[-] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 2 points 5 days ago

The Shih Tzu is a modern breed, a mix of the Lhasa Also (lion of Lhasa) and the Pekingese.

[-] mastertigurius@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago

I'm pretty sure the guardian lion and heraldic lion are in the wrong panels. This is the coat of arms of Norway.

[-] lauha@lemmy.world 13 points 6 days ago

This is coat of arms of finland

[-] qarbone@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

Can't wait for FromSoft to have the boss that is a lion with one (1) Man-Arm, wielding a sword.

They had blade lion but this is a necessary evolution.

[-] mastertigurius@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

I think Axe Lion and Dual Sword Lion Man could make a fearsome duo when fighting off invaders. Let's have Dual Shield-bearing Lion join in for a defence buff and Triple Love Heart Lion for charm spells, then we'll have a complete party against the Two-Headed Eagle.

[-] SpongyAneurysm@feddit.org 5 points 5 days ago

If you need more lions just call Munich. Bavaria loves lions so much, they have two lions carrying a shield with a total of 4 lions in it.

(And a Panther whose thought process must be something like "day 3498: they still haven't noticed I'm not a lion.")

[-] kindnesskills@literature.cafe 10 points 6 days ago

The first frame is of the heraldic saying the greeting, the second is of the guardian replying. It's not us readers greeting the wrong lions, as I also thought at first.

[-] SpongyAneurysm@feddit.org 5 points 5 days ago

Speech bubbles might've helped clear the ambiguity. I was confused at first, as well.

[-] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 6 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

the British r🤮yal coat of arms has NINE (most of them with penises) and a unicorn

edit: I kept spotting more

[-] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 days ago

Nothing like some lion penis to strike fear in to the hearts of the enemy!

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 points 5 days ago

So there was a state with a angel ... girl, one with a lion and one with 3 lions (but twice the size/might)?

[-] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

it's a stylised version of a harp representing Ireland

the top right is Scotland, the top left and bottom right is England. When it's displayed in Scotland you get two Scotland single-lion and one England triple-lion

nb: in heraldry you're meant to refer to it as if it's a shield in front of you, so left in the image is "heraldic right" - this note for the pedants, but I'm just using left to mean left on the image as you look at it in this comment.

[-] Aganim@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago

Or the flag of the Dutch province of South Holland:

[-] lauha@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago

The cat on that shield looks so confused

"They gave me this axe and told me to go forth and defend the motherland. I'm a cat. Cat's can't hold an axe. What is a motherland anyway? Why do I have a crown? What is cat supposed to do with an axe? Axe questions? Why am I breathing fire?"

this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2026
207 points (98.6% liked)

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