Admittedly, outside the Free State people were always somewhat skeptical of the Bavarians’ blend of tradition and modernity. Who else would choose a heraldic animal that sometimes sticks its tongue out at others? This posed no problem for the inhabitants of Bavaria. After all, Bavarians are not lacking in self-confidence. Neither is this just eight-centimetre-tall, muscular porcelain lion by Ernst Andreas Rauch. Incidentally, the lion’s tongue, stuck out at the observer over the blue and white escutcheon, is cast separately and subsequently attached to the animal’s majestic body.