FALCON
Falcon is a bird for preying. Guru Hargobind Sahib, Guru Har Rai Sahib and Guru Gobind Singh kept falcons as pets. Guru Gobind Singh is known as Chittian Bajan Wale (master who had white falcons). White falcon is very fine looking, sprightly and spry as compared to the other falcons. Falcon in those days was a symbol of royalty. It was a hobby of the sovereigns.
Falcon, as bird or pet, has no significance in the Sikh ideology. Nor it is a symbol of any aspect of the personality of the Gurus. Some Sikhs have tried to present falcon as a Sikh symbol or as Sikh national bird. But, this is not true.
According to a story the immediate cause of the battle of Amritsar (April 13, 1634) was believed to be a falcon, which had flown from the chief of the Mogul army to the court of Guru Hargobind; but this is just fiction.
During some political and religious agitations, when some falcon appeared in the vicinity of Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, or the other Gurdwaras, it was propagated that the falcon belonged to Guru Gobind Singh and had appeared to observe the plight of the Sikh nation. This did boost the Sikh morale, for a short while.
But it is wrong to create a false myth.
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)