The stylized cobra emblem worn on pharaohs’ crowns is called the uraeus.
The uraeus is the upright, rearing form of an Egyptian cobra, usually shown with its hood expanded as if ready to strike. It symbolized royal authority, divine protection, and sovereignty. Pharaohs wore it at the forehead on crowns and headdresses, including the nemes and the double crown.
The emblem was associated especially with Wadjet, the cobra goddess and protector of Lower Egypt. In representations of unified Egypt, Wadjet’s cobra could appear alongside Nekhbet, the vulture goddess of Upper Egypt. Together they represented the Two Ladies and the protection of the whole kingdom.
The uraeus is not the same as a scarab, which represented regeneration and the rising sun, or Nekhbet, who was primarily depicted as a vulture. Wadjet is the goddess connected with the cobra, while the uraeus is the cobra emblem itself. Egyptian art often shows it spitting protective fire at the pharaoh’s enemies.