The Egyptian mythological bird, phoenix, appears in the coat of arms of the city of Debrecen, as she is reborn from her ashes. The phoenix is a symbol of fire and refers to rebirth of the city after many devastating fires that happened in the past.

The phoenix got into the Greek and Roman myths from Egypt. In the Egyptian language her name was boinu, which means crane. She usually appeared after the floods. The ancient Egyptians believed that she was born in the water and that she was her own mother, just like this was believed about the Sun. Therefore she was worshipped as the replica of the Sun on Earth. Whenever the power of the phoenix ended, she was always reborn in a shining glory. This is how boinu developed into the Greek phoinix, and into the Roman phoenix. Europeans also believed that she had a magical ability of setting fire to herself every 500 years, and raising from her ashes ready to start a new life. Thus she also became a Christian symbol of the resurrection, and got into the coat of arms of Debrecen.