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Valefor the Wings of Freedom
I enjoy Valefor being more bird-like. For me, Valefor symbolizes both Yuna's flight from Bevelle for safety and her standing on her own two feet as a summoner for Besaid. She also utilizes Valefor to escape from Seymour in Bevelle. Another reason I find that the bird form of Valefor is necessary at the start of Yuna's Journey is because she's just starting off; she's "flying from home" so to say. I also believe that the desire to have wings is a part of every child. When I consider that Yuna must have lived in Braska's shadow (even unintentionally) I can imagine how often she must have wanted to just fly away. She had several opportunities and I think this is part of what gave her strength. She had the choice but she always did what she felt was right. In some regard, I believe that Valefor serves as a guiding and freeing spirit for Yuna that wanted to follow in her father's footsteps but wanted to do it on her own terms.
I feel like much of her journey was simply living in a cage created by the church. I think that when she finally decides to stand on her own two feet and do what she feels has to be done that she's decided that she's got nothing to lose. I also really like symbolism in way of wings and flying. On one hand, she gained freedom through her desire to move forward. On the other, she could have flown too close to the sun and crashed to her own demise. I believe that the only reason Yuna's wings supported her was because she had guardians (both people and the aeons) to trust. Without Valefor, I feel Yuna would have been a lot less confident. I feel it is only through her trust of Valefor that she is able to confront Seymour in Bevelle and ask her guardians to trust her. I feel that Yuna's trust in Valefor is what allows her to trust those closest to her.