Heraldically, "_Un Aigle Eploye_" it would be called.

That is, an eagle in the act of taking flight--in the vernacular, a "spread eagle." The eagle looks to the left, with its wings half expanded.

In its talons it grasps a thunderbolt, as in the old Roman standard.

Those who have ever wandered into the Monastery of the Certosa, at Milan, have seen just such an eagle on one of the tombs of the great Visconti family.

For, in truth, this emblem has been modeled after that one.
Below the thunderbolt is a tablet of brass, three inches square, on which is a raised number.