The eagle was used for heraldic purposes in the late Middle Ages by a number of noble families in Albania (it is said that Skanderbeg used it on his flag) and became the symbol of the Albanians. The Kastrioti's coat of arms, depicting a double-headed eagle on a red field, became famous when he led a revolt against the Ottoman Empire that resulted in brief independence for some regions of Albania from 1443 to 1478. The double-headed eagle on the flag is borrowed from the banner of the Byzantine Empire (specifically the emblem of the Palaiologoi dynasty).

The symbol of the double-headed eagle was re-used by Albanian nationalists during the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a symbol of their campaign for their country's independence from the Ottoman Empire. On 28 November 1912, the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed in Vlora and the flag, raised by Ismail Qemali, was adopted as the symbol of the new nation.

Proportion: 5:7