Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Leo Belgicus is a map of the Low Countries (the current day Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium) drawn in the shape of a lion. The earliest Leo Belgicus was drawn by the Austrian cartographer Michael Aitzinger in 1583, when the Netherlands were fighting the Eighty Years' War for independence. The motif was inspired by the heraldic figure of the lion, occurring in the coats of arms of several of the Netherlands, namely: Brabant, Flanders, Guelders, Hainout, Holland, Limburg, Luxembourg and Zeeland, as well as in those of William of Orange.