The word is used today to signify the penis of an animal, chiefly in Australia and New Zealand. The word pizzle is also known, bear beef least since 1523, especially in the combination “bull pizzle”, to denote a flogging instrument made from a bull’s penis.
Sblood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried neat’s tongue, you bull’s pizzle, you stock-fish! In 1485, Henry VII carried with him a red dragon on the field of Bosworth where he was declared King of England. The dragon was depicted with an erect pizzle, and although the pizzle is missing in many variations of the Welsh flag, the British royal family continue to depict the pizzle. The bear in the coat of arms of Appenzell is represented pizzled, and omission of this feature was seen as a grave insult. In 1579, the pizzle was forgotten by the printer of a calendar printed in Saint Gallen, which brought Appenzell to the brink of war with Saint Gallen. Prior to 2007, the lion on the coat of arms of the Nordic Battlegroup featured a pizzle, but in 2007 the commander ruled that the lion’s penis had to be removed. Since civilian women are often sexually abused in the war zones of the world, they did not consider the depiction of a penis appropriate on a uniform worn into battle.
