Solomonic dynasty Jewish traditions). It is surmounted by a red mantle with the Imperial Crown, and before the throne is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. The Lion of Judah was the central emblem of the Ethiopian tri-color flag during the reign of the monarchy, and now serves as the chief symbol of the Ethiopian monarchist movement. The Lion of Judah has also been adopted as the leading religious symbol for the Rastafari movement that regards Emperor Haile Selassie as divine. The phrase "Moa Ambassa ze imnegede Yehuda", ("Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah") appeared on the arms, and always
Monument to the Lion of Judah on May 8, 1937, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the proclamation of the Italian Empire. On June 15, 1938 the young Eritrean Zerai Deres made a protest against the Italian occupation of Ethiopia in front of the monument. Brandishing a scimitar, he wounded several onlookers and was shot by soldiers. He was arrested by the fascist militia and imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital in Sicily, where he died in 1945. For this gesture Zerai Deres is considered a national hero both in Eritrea and Ethiopia. The Lion of Judah statue remained in Rome until the 1960s, when