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The winged lion of Mark the Evangelist for centuries has been the national emblem and landmark of Venice (detail from a painting by Vittore Carpaccio, 1516)

The lion is a common charge in heraldry. It traditionally symbolizes bravery, valor, strength, and royalty, since it is traditionally regarded as the king of beasts.

The following table summarizes the positions of a heraldic beast.

The lion's head is normally seen in profile. If he faces the viewer he is gardant (or guardant), and if he looks back over his shoulder he is regardant. These adjectives follow any other adjectives of position.

The lions in the coat of arms of England are passant gardant. In French blazon this charge is called a léopard; a lion rampant gardant is a léopard lionné; and a lion passant with his head in profile is a lion léopardé. The position of the head thus determines his species. This practice leads some people to insist bitterly that the beasts in the royal arms of England are leopards, not lions. There is no right answer to this question; nevertheless they are officially depicted with a mane.

A lion (or other beast) coward has his tail between his legs. His tail may also be forked (queue fourchée) or doubled (double-queued); in the arms of the kingdom of Bohemia, the forked tail was originally an artist's flourish, but later became a distinctive and essential detail.

The lion has been represented figuratively since the Stone Age. Ice age hunters depicted the lion this way in the cultural stage of the Aurignacian more than 30,000 years ago. The characteristic of the lion as the "king of the jungle" goes back to the influence of The Physiologus, an early Christian book about animal symbolism which spread into many cultures and generally had great influence in Western culture. The royal symbolism of the lion was repeatedly taken up in history, in order to claim power, for example by Henry the Lion. The ongoing fascination is apparent today by the diversity of coats of arms on which the lion is shown in various colors and forms (see below).

In antiquity, the lion was common in the south coast of the Mediterranean, as well as in Greece and the Middle East. According to the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, the Israelite Tribe of Judah had the Lion of Judah as its symbol. In Greek mythology the lion appears in a variety of functions. The Nemean Lion was portrayed as a people-eating beast; killing it was one of the twelve tasks assigned to Heracles. In the story of Androcles, one of Aesop's fables, the hero, a run-away slave, pulls a thorn from a lion's paw; when he is later thrown to the lions as punishment for escaping, the lion recognizes him once again and refuses to kill the man. The lion also plays a role in numerous other antique cultures. In Egypt the pharaoh was represented as the sphinx, a lion with a human head. The best known representation of this type is the Great Sphinx of Giza. The Egyptian mythology also recalls Dedun, the Egyptian god of wealth.

The image of lion appears on many flags, coats of arms and emblems. For example, it symbolises the Sinhalese people (Sinhalese Singha = Lion). Local folklore tells of Prince Vijaya, the first of the Sinhalese kings, as being the son of Sinhabahu, who was fathered by a lion. See history of Sri Lanka. Lions are recurring symbols in the coat of arms of royalty and chivalry, particularly in the UK, where the lion is also a national symbol of the British people, and in Ethiopia, where it is a symbol of the Monarchy.

Coat of arms of the Czech Republic, with the double-tailed lion of the former Kingdom of Bohemia	Coat of arms of the former Kingdom of Bohemia	Lion supporters in the arms of Prague (Czech Republic)	Coat of arms of Luxembourg
Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Belgium	Flag of Flanders, Belgium	Coat of arms of the Kingdom of the Netherlands	Coat of arms of the Province of Siena
Coat of arms of Bulgaria	Lion supporters in the arms of Calderdale, England	The royal coat of arms of Scotland	Coat of arms of Norway
Coat of arms of Finland	Coat of arms of León, Spain	Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Morocco	Coat of arms of Halych-Volhynia, Ukraine

Arms of the former Duchy of Aquitaine (France)	Coat of arms of Denmark	Coat of arms of England	Coat of arms of Wales
Coat of arms of Montenegro	Coat of arms of Estonia	Coat of arms of Dominica	Coat of arms of Sierra Leone

Emblem of India

Lion on the coat of arms of Sri Lanka

• Leo
• Leo Belgicus
• Leo Minor
• Gallery of flags with animals#Lion
• Manticore
• Eagle (heraldry)

v • d • e Heraldic creatures
Beasts	Bear • Boar • Bull • Camelopard • Hind • Lion • Ox • Stag • Tiger • Wolf
Birds	Cock • Dove • Eagle • Martlet • Phoenix • Pelican • Rook
Fabulous creatures	Alce • Basilisk • Cockatrice • Dragon • Griffin • Keythong • Manticore • Opinicus • Phoenix • Unicorn • Wyvern
Fish	Dolphin • Ged • Luce • Scallop
Creeping things	Bee • Biscione • Cockatrice • Crapaudy • Emmet • Salamander • Serpent