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The double-headed eagle first originated in the mighty Sumerian city of Lagash. From cylinders taken from the ruins of this ancient city, the double-headed eagle seems to have been known to the kings of the time as the Storm Bird. From the Sumerians this symbol passed to the men of Akkad, from whom it was brought to the Emperors of the East and West by the Crusades. Charlemagne first made use of the double-headed eagle when he became head of the German Empire, the two heads denoting the union of Rome and Germany, in AD 802.