Just a thought

Perhaps the bird on the hylian shield is an owl? I don't know if it has been officially stated what bird it is, but it occured to me that maybe it's an owl. I mean, Owls do appear and guide in several Zelda games (MM, OOT, LA are the only ones I know.) Just a thought, please comment.

It's possible but I think the current explanation for it is that it's a loftwing.

Hyrule Historia implies its a loftwing.

Hyrule Historia - Page 77:

王家の紋章
The Royal Family's Emblem

女神ハイリアが鳥のような紋章を持っていたことと、かつてスカイロフトで大きな鳥を操ったこと から、トライ フォースと鳥があわさった形が王家の紋章となった。
The goddess Hylia had an emblem of a bird because she once handled a large bird in Skyloft, the bird together with the Triforce became the emblem of the royal family.

(Wow. Page 77 is turning out to be quite a goldmine for confirmations)

Yep. Depending on which shield you have, it is usually implied to be a the crimson loftwing. However, I believe that the Hero's Shield in Majora's Mask has an owl on it considering the owl statues and all there in Termina.

Oh, damn.
I never have any of the books like that that confirm or deny theories.

I do find it kinda weird that there is a Hylian Crest w/bird at the desert Temple of Time in SS. Were there Loftwings on the surface, too?

Originally Posted by TurkeyMcBean

I do find it kinda weird that there is a Hylian Crest w/bird at the desert Temple of Time in SS. Were there Loftwings on the surface, too?

The emblem is based on Hylia's (and modified for the people) emblem.

Originally Posted by Temple of Time Guardian

The emblem is based on Hylia's (and modified for the people) emblem.

I thought it was the same emblem as the Hyrule Royal Crest?

Here's the Royal Crest:



I couldn't get a good picture, but here's the emblem at the desert Temple of Time in Skyward Sword:



They're the same emblem, right? The Temple of Time predates the Royal Family, so, what I was actually trying to ask was if they really got the bird from the Loftwings, or did they just steal the entire emblem from the one in Lanayru Desert and claim it as their own?

^ ...I didn't even actually ever think of that. Can't believe I've missed it all this time.

Someone other than the Skyloft population have already designed it, and in a place pretty sacred to them by the looks it. It's quite interesting...

Could that Temple of Time also have once been a temple of Hylia? The bird is supposed to be her emblem, isn't it?

Perhaps that's where her Temple + the Triforce were before the war happened, then she relocated the Triforce to Skyloft, sent it skyward, imprisoned Demise where the Goddess Statue section of Skyloft used to be and had the Temple of Hylia built right next to it to enable the foretold hero to have an easier time of battling The Imprisoned?

Although I suppose that is contradictory to the "Hylia's symbol was a bird BECAUSE she handled on in Skyloft" thing...The only thing I can think of in that case is that the Historia more means "the place that became Skyloft", and perhaps the Loftwing ancestors lived in a section of the world that Hylia favoured, before sending it to the sky. In which case she liked the birds, adopted it as her emblem, then the stuff I mentioned happened. But that's perhaps too fan-fiction-y, I'm no theorist.

Oh yeah, I totally forgot about the Hylian Shield that was given by Lanayru, it also has the exact same crest. That's more proof that the symbol was around long before Skyloft. That shield was said to have been legendary, furthermore, Lanayru would have had it during the time before the Lanayru area became a desert. So, I think the Royal Family adopted a pre-existing emblem.

Actually, Hylia's emblem was just the wings with nothing else.

Here's the best theory I've got:
In the pre-Skyloft days, Loftwings use to live on the surface. (They would have had to land somewhere before, they can't fly forever.) These birds played a role in the society of Hylia's people, and at some point they modified their goddess' crest so that it resembled this bird. Before the rise of the Demon King Demise, this symbol was spread to many of the places with Hylia's influence. When the Humans and Loftwings were sent to the skies, the symbol remained even though the people did not.

---------- Post added at 01:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:56 PM ----------

Note: there was Hylia's crest, People's crest (ToT minus Triforce), and Royal Family's crest. All were different.

Originally Posted by Temple of Time Guardian

Here's the best theory I've got:
In the pre-Skyloft days, Loftwings use to live on the surface.

This has to be the answer in order for the Royal Crest to have the origin that HH claims. As I've already pointed out the Royal Crest already existed on the surface prior to the creation of Skyloft; we can see this on the Hylian Shield and the desert Temple of Time. If the bird on the Royal Crest was really inspired by Loftwings, then there must have been some on the surface, since we already have examples of Pre-Hyrule Royal Crest emblems.

what we have to also remember is that Hylia has been around for a long time, the Goddesses entrusted the Triforce to her (so around when they made it) so Hylia's crest could have very well been around since the beginning of time. and then could be converted to the other crests

Not only do I believe the loft wing is on the Hyrulian Shield, And there Emblem, I believe the Roc-King is a decedent/mutant of them. No owls about it.

But, I believe that the owl does have some kind of special, or sacred significant importance. The guides, the sage incarnated, etc. Maybe, some....Device left behind by Hylia, for her hero?

I really don't have much to say because i already threw together an image of my stance on this topic. Here we have the symbol of Hylia and the symbol of the Loftwing.