The coat of arms is described in Article 14 of the Constitution of Albania: "The coat of arms of the Republic of Albania is a red shield with a black, two-headed eagle in the center. At the top of the shield, in gold, is the helmet of Skanderbeg." The design is further specified in Article 7 of the Law 8926: "The Coat of the Republic of Albania is a state symbol. It displays a shield, colored blood red, with an eagle in the center, the same as the eagle of the national flag of the Republic of Albania. On top of the shield, in gold color, is Gjergj Kastioti's helm, shown in right profile. The shield's dimensions have a 1:1.5 ratio." The same law specifies that the eagle on the flag has its wings open to the sides, nine feathers on each, and seven on the tail.
Significance of the helmet
Skanderbeg's helmet is made of white metal, adorned with a strip dressed in gold. On its top lies the head of a hornedgoat made of bronze, also dressed in gold. The bottom part bears a copper strip adorned with a monogram separated by rosettes: * IN * PE * RA * TO * RE * BT *, standing for Iesus Nazarenus * Principi Emathie * Regi Albaniae * Terrori Osmanorum * Regi Epirotarum * Benedictat Te. The inscriptions on the helmet may refer to the unsettled name by which Albania was known at the time, as a means to identify Skanderbeg's leadership over all Albanians across regional denominative identifications. Contemporary sources show that 14th century Albanians were invariably identified as a tribal peoples, with no state of their own. Thus, depending on where they lived – North or South, in the plains or in the mountains, and to which civilization they subscribed to - we have Turkish Arnauts, Greek Arbanites or Albanoi, AlbanianArber, Arben, Arberesh,Epirotas. According to a report by historian Shefqet Pllana, Sami Frasheri in his Kamus-al-Alam maintains that the wording "Dhu lKarnejn" was an appellative attributed to Alexander the Great of Macedon, the very name which Skanderbeg bore in the Islamic form. This second explanation may not be the truer, since the theory of the Macedonian-Albanian and Epirot-Albanian continuance is strong among Albanians but not among all the peoples of Europe. This opinion agrees with the work of Marin Barleti who writes: "When the people saw all those young and brave men around Skanderbeg, then it was not hard to believe that the armies of Murat were so defeated by the Albanians. Indeed, the times when the star of Macedon shone brilliantly had returned, just as they seemed in those long forgotten times of Pyrrhus and Alexander."
