Heraldry

Heraldry is the practice of designing, displaying, describing and recording coats of arms and badges, as well as the formal ceremonies and laws that regulate the use and inheritance of arms. The origins of heraldry lie in the need to distinguish participants in battles or jousts, whose faces were hidden by steel helmets.

In the U.S., the word "crest" is commonly used to refer to a coat-of-arms. However, in heraldry, a crest is just one component of a complete achievement of arms. The crest sits on top of a helmet, which itself sits on the main and most recognizable part of the arms, the shield or escutcheon. Other elements may include supporters holding up the shield and a motto beneath. Crests can in fact be used on their own (this is particularly useful when there is insufficient space to display the entire coat-of-arms); but where the shield alone is used it should never be called a "crest".

Origins and history

The knights in the Bayeux Tapestry from the late eleventh century carry no coats of arms, yet by the mid twelfth century personal badges were being used widely by nobility. By the reign of Henry III of England, arms were inherited, thus their judicial regulation became important. The practice of using marks of cadency arose, to distinguish one son from another, and was institutionalized (standardized) by the fifteenth century.

In the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, heraldry became a highly developed discipline, regulated by professional heralds. As its use in jousts became obsolete (with the exception of rare revivals), arms remained popular for visually identifying a person in other ways — impressed in sealing wax on official documents, carved on a family tomb, and so forth. The first work of heraldic jurisprudence, De Insigniis et Armiis was written by a professor of law at the University of Padua, Bartolo of Sassoferrato, in the 1350s.

"Bartolo's book became popular in legal circles, but most heralds and knights did not speak the Latinate jargon in which De Insigniis et Armiis was written. Because of this linguistic divide, the field of heraldic law bifurcated. One was vernacular, and includes the works of Honoré Bonet and Christine de Pisan. The other remained in Latin, and, in Wales and England, is represented by the works of De Bado Aureo and Upton. This Latin continuation of heraldic legal thought spawned, in England, other vernacular heraldic texts, which are the direct antecedents of Tudor and modern studies of heraldry" (C. Levin)

Throughout the existence of heraldry, coats of arms have been executed in a wide variety of media, including painted wood, embroidery, enamel, stonework, stained glass and, later, computerised media. For this reason, and because its original function was quick recognition in the chaotic conditions of battle, heraldry for the most part distinguishes only six tinctures (yellow, white, red, blue, black and green; purple is counted in theory but its use in practice is marginal) and makes no fine distinctions in the precise size or placement of charges on the field, or the number of a lion's claws. Coats of arms and their accessories are described in a concise jargon called blazon, which for the most part ignores details that are conventional, and in nearly all cases details of varying artistic depictions (which tend to be small and not to help quick visual distinction). It should be noted that the property interest (if any is recognised) in the coat-of-arms inheres in the blazon and not in the particular depiction of the arms.

It is sometimes said that each element of a coat of arms has a conventional meaning, that white stands for honour, blue for loyalty and red for courage, and so on. While the original bearer of a coat may well have had some symbolism in mind, there is no reason to expect consistency from one to the next. In general it is impossible to say what a given coat of arms "means", unless (as is often the case) it incorporates a pun on the bearer's name.

The development of portable firearms made plate armor nearly useless, and heraldry, detached from its original function, gradually became more elaborate at the expense of clarity, both in content (e.g. landscapes representing battle sites became frequent in the 18th century) and in presentation (e.g. rococo frames overwhelmed the content of the shield). The 20th century's taste for stark iconic emblems made the simple styles of early heraldry fashionable again.

Rights and wrongs

From the dawn of heraldry as we know it, arms have passed by inheritance: each coat of arms may generally be borne by all of the original bearer's legitimate descendants in the male line, with modifications to maintain uniqueness, except for the senior heir who inherits the unaltered coat following the death of the incumbent heir. In some countries such differences are not required; the status of the founding armiger passes to all male descendants equally.

There has unfortunately arisen a misconception, encouraged by unscrupulous stationers in the 19th century, that a coat of arms belongs equally to everyone with the same surname, whether or not descended from any rightful bearer. "Family crests" (a misnomer at any rate, as a crest is only one component of a full armorial achievement) continue to be sold to the gullible by heraldic bucket shops; their customers in effect become impostors, and at least in Scotland they risk legal prosecution.

A crest may be used within a belt and buckle by a member of a family or clan, the belt and buckle signifying that this is not the user's own crest but that the user has a familial allegiance to the armigerous owner.

Shield and lozenge

Traditionally, as women did not go to war, they would not have a shield. Instead, their coats-of-arms would be shown on a lozenge (a rhombus standing on one of its acute corners). This continues to hold true with some exceptions, such as a queen or empress, being a man from a theoretical legal viewpoint, may have her arms on a shield, and there have been some other exceptions. In Canada the restriction against women bearing arms on a shield has been eliminated. A parallel usage for noncombatant clergymen could be found sometimes on the European continent, with the occasional placement of arms on a cartouche (an oval-shaped vehicle for their display). For more detail on the use of the lozenge (subject to certain rules) by women in the British heraldic tradition, see the separate article on the lozenge.

Very rarely and almost invariably in non-European contexts, such as the arms of Nunavut, the former Republic of Bophuthatswana and some Algerian civic heraldry of French colonial origin, specific shapes of shield are specified in the blazon (and the specific type of shield is sometimes followed to the extent, as in [http://www.polity.org.za/html/govdocs/misc/gaucoat.html the arms of Gauteng, that structures in the shield (in that case "shield thongs") function as charges).

In rare instances the shield may be blazoned as being displayed on a cartouche, the tincture of which is then specified.

The arms of The Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven and the late Sir Denis Thatcher, Bt
A lozenge, the traditional shape of a woman's coat of arms	A shield, traditionally used only by a man

Tinctures

Main article: Tincture

The first rule of heraldry is the rule of tincture: metal (bright tinctures) must never be placed upon metal, nor colour (dark tinctures) upon colour, for the sake of contrast; except where this cannot be avoided, as in the case of a charge overlying a partition of the field. Like any rule, this admits some exceptions, the most famous being the arms chosen by Godfrey of Bouillon when he was made king of Jerusalem, featuring five gold (or yellow) crosses potent on a silver (or white) field — a design that might have been modelled after the Arab technique of Damascus steel.

The names used in English blazon for the tinctures come mainly from French:

Tincture	Heraldic name
Metals
Gold/Yellow	Or
Silver/White	Argent
Colours
Blue	Azure
Red	Gules
Black	Sable
Green	Vert
Purple	Purpure

A number of other colours are occasionally found, typically for special purposes. These are discussed in the main article on tinctures.

Besides the solid tinctures, certain patterns called furs function as tinctures. The two common furs are ermine and vair, each of which has several rarer variants.

Ermine represents the winter coat of the stoat, which is white with a black tail; the heraldic fur is white with a pattern of black spots, representing a number of skins sewn together.
Vair and Potent represent a kind of squirrel with a blue-gray back and white belly; sewn together it forms a pattern of alternating blue and white shapes.

Proper: Charges such as plants and animals may also be depicted in their natural colours, in which case they are described as proper. Proper charges are much more frequent as crests and supporters than on the shield. Proper is understood to be a tincture, though its appearance is contextual.

Divisions of the field

Main article: Divisions of the field

The field of a shield in heraldry can be divided into more than one tincture, as can the various charges. Many coats of arms consist simply of a division of the field into two contrasting tinctures, by a single line or several parallel lines, vertical, horizontal or diagonal, or some combination. Since these are considered divisions of a shield the tincture rules can be ignored. A shield divided azure and gules, for instance, would be accepted. This is especially true of a shield that is tierced. Arms that are tierced fesswise sable, vert and gules are fine because the shield is considered to have been divided into three rather than having a fess on two background colours. The line or lines of partition may be straight, wavy, indented (zigzag), embattled (in the form of battlements), engrailed or invected (scalloped), among other shapes.

Charges

Main article: Charge

Any object found in nature or technology may appear as a charge in armory, and probably has at least once — albeit more or less stylized. Charges can be animals, objects or geometric constructs (ordinaries). Apart from simple stripes — some of which probably originated as bands that reinforced the shield and were painted a contrasting color — the most frequent charges are the cross (with hundreds of variations) and the king of beasts.

Other common animals are fish, martlets, eagles, griffins, boars and stags. Dragons, unicorns and more exotic monsters appear rarely as charges but more often as supporters. Possibly the rarest animal in heraldry is the iguanodon supporter of the borough of Maidstone in Kent.

Animals are found in various stereotyped positions. Quadrupeds are most often rampant, standing on the left hind foot (or both hind feet depending on the shape of the shield and on local styles), arranged to fill the field and to emphasize distinctive features such as claws and tail. The next most frequent position is walking (passant), like the three lions of the kings of England. Eagles are nearly always shown with their wings spread (displayed).

Human figures are relatively rare as charges, but appear quite often as supporters. Human heads, hands and hearts occur more often as charges. Very many coats of arms in the Balkans show a mutilated Turk, alluding to a long history of warfare. "Moor's" heads appear in the arms of Sardinia and Corsica.

In English heraldry the crescent, mullet (a star with straight rays, which originally represented a spur), martlet, annulet, fleur-de-lis and rose may be added to a shield to distinguish cadet branches of a family from the senior line. It does not follow, however, that a shield containing such a charge belongs to a cadet branch. All of these charges occur frequently in basic (undifferenced) coats of arms.

Ordinaries

Main article: Ordinary

Ordinaries (sometimes called "honourable ordinaries") resemble partitions, but are customarily treated like charges; for example, when painted they often cast shadows on the field. Unless otherwise specified they extend to the edges of the field. They include:

cross;
fess: a horizontal stripe;
pale: a vertical stripe;
bend: a diagonal stripe, beginning at the bearer's upper right, i.e. the viewer's upper left (a stripe the other way is a bend sinister);
chief: the upper portion of the field;
chevron: an angled stripe with the point upwards, possibly representing the rafters of a house;
saltire: a diagonal cross;
bordure: the edge of the field.

Each of the above ordinaries is commonly said to take up one-third of the field in theory, though in practice they are usually made somewhat narrower.

Less widespread are the flaunches, pall and pile (a tapered pale, pointed at the bottom). The quarter, i.e. an upper quadrant of the field, occurs rarely as an ordinary, but its diminished version the canton is frequently found, usually as a mark of distinction (showing that the bearer has no blood relationship to the bearers of the arms without the canton); it theoretically occupies the first third of the chief.

Ordinaries may appear in parallel series, in which case English blazon gives them a different name: pallets, bars (diminutives of the fess), bendlets, chevronels. French blazon makes no such distinction: une fasce, deux fasces.

Unless otherwise specified an ordinary is drawn with straight lines, but each may be indented (zigzag), embattled (like battlements), wavy, engrailed (scalloped with points outward) or invected (opposite of engrailed), among rarer variants.

Marshalling

Two or more coats of arms are often combined in one shield; such combination, called marshalling may express inheritance from different families, a sovereign's assertion of various claims, or the occupation of an office by a specific person for the time being. The principal modes of marshalling are:

by impalement: the shield is divided into right and left halves;
by quartering: the shield is divided into quadrants;
with an inescutcheon: a smaller shield appears in front of the main shield.

When more than four coats are to be marshalled, the principle of quartering may be extended to two rows of three (quarterly of six) and even further; a few lineages have accumulated hundreds of quarters, though such a number is usually displayed only in documentary contexts. Some traditions have a strong resistance to allowing more than four quarters, and resort instead to subquartering.

Impaled or quartered shield are read by rows, beginning at the dexter chief – the top right corner of the shield as seen by its holder (the viewer's top left). The first coat normally represents the highest title claimed, or the paternal inheritance.

Around the shield

The shield is the core of a composition called the achievement, which may be quite elaborate.

Helm and crest

All coats of arms may be displayed with a helm or helmet, which sits over the shield and carries the crest. The form of the helmet may vary with the rank of the armiger.

The crest stands atop the helm, usually on a torse (wreath) of twisted cloth in the two principal colours of the coat of arms, sometimes within a coronet (which is simpler than most coronets of rank). Often but not exclusively an animal, crests were used to identify a knight at the joust and were, therefore, at first, a sign of the superior rank expected of participants in medieval tournaments. Since Tudor times, however, crests have been granted with all English coats of arms. A woman does not display a crest (just as no woman would have fought in a medieval tournament). The crest rests on the helm, as it would have done in real life, or it may be illustrated directly above the shield without a helm. Crests are often shown alone (without shield or helm) on stationery and the like; the torse or crest-coronet must be included in such display.

The helm if present is practically always, in present times, adorned with a mantling or lambrequin (though some medieval examples lack it), originally a cloth worn as partial protection against heating by sunlight. Typically its outer surface is of the principal colour and the inner of the principal metal of the shield (although there are cases of multi-coloured mantlings), but in the case of royalty and nobility it is often of gold or scarlet on the outside and ermine inside (blazoned, e.g., gules doubled ermine). The mantling is conventionally depicted with a ragged edge, as if damaged in combat.

Clergy, like women, and for the same reason (their non-participation in combat), traditionally do not display a helm or crest. Higher clergy, such as bishops or abbots, may display appropriate headwear (the mitre) above the shield, similar to the display by peers of their coronets. Lower clergy often use clerical hats with tassells appropriate to their seniority: this practice began in the Roman Catholic church but was subsequently adopted by some Anglican clergy. The Chief Herald of Ireland has granted Father William Richardson the crest A dexter hand couped at the wrist Gules holding a crown of thorns Proper, but this is often shown beside the shield, the only item above the shield being the historical tasselled hat of a priest.

Motto

An armorial motto is a phrase or collection of words intended to describe the motivation or intention of the armigerous person or corporation, sometimes also forming a pun as in the Neville motto Ne vile velis (wish nothing vile). It is often claimed by members of a family as well. A motto is a usual component in an achievement of arms, typically on a scroll under the shield, or else above the crest as in Scots heraldry. A motto may be in any language; Latin is the most frequent.

Supporters and other additions

An armiger may be entitled, depending upon their rank, to several other items:

Peers of the realm, senior members of British orders of knighthood and some corporate bodies have supporters on either side of the shield. Often these can have local significance (such as the Fisherman and the Tin miner granted to Cornwall County Council) or a historical link (such as the lion of England and unicorn of Scotland on the two variations of the Royal Arms in Great Britain).

If the bearer has the title of baron or higher (or hereditary knight in some countries), he or she may display a coronet of rank above the shield, usually below the helm in British heraldry, often above the crest (if any) in Continental heraldry.

Some orders of knighthood are denoted by a collar or similar band surrounding the shield. (When the arms of a knight and his wife are shown in one achievement, the insignia of knighthood surround the husband's arms only, and the wife's arms are customarily surrounded by a meaningless ornamental garland of leaves for visual balance.)

Certain offices of state are denoted by a staff, sceptre or sword, typically shown crossed in saltire behind the shield; the keys of Saint Peter are shown behind the Pope's personal arms, and some bishops have their crozier (usually vertical).

National styles

It is often possible to guess the country of origin of a coat of arms. Four broad styles are readily distinguished, which we may conveniently call German, Gallo-British, Mediterranean and Eastern (though it can be argued that later heraldries, such as South Africa, have national styles):

Chevrons and five-pointed stars are popular in France and Britain, rare elsewhere.
Saltires are most popular in Spain and Scotland.
A plain field with a charged chief is a typically Scottish composition.
A shield divided into two dissimilar coats, one above the other, is probably Italian.
A shield with a checkerboard of tiny coats, with a single coat on a smaller shield in the center, almost certainly belongs to a high-ranking German noble.
Bordures and to a lesser extent orles are much used in Spain and Portugal as a place for charges – almost a form of marshalling.
A large fraction of Hungarian arms consist of some animal standing on a green hill against a blue sky.
Trees are most often seen in Mediterranean arms.
A purely geometric coat of arms is relatively unlikely to be Mediterranean (a conspicuous exception being Or four pallets gules for the County of Barcelona).
Crests are often not displayed at all in French and Mediterranean armory, but very important in Germany. A shield with three or more crested helms is usually German. Certain types of crests, too, are typically German, such as a pair of horns or a tall hat in the tinctures of the shield.

Modern heraldry

Heraldry continues to flourish today. Institutions, companies, and members of the public may obtain officially recognized coats of arms from governmental heraldic authorities. This typically has the force of a registered trademark. The first recorded corporate coat of arms was granted to the Drapers' Company of the City of London in 1438 (see Coat of Arms of The Drapers Company). However, many users of modern "heraldic" designs do not register with heraldic authorities, and some designers do not follow the rules of heraldic design at all.

In Scotland the control of heraldry is fully legal and the Lord Lyon King of Arms retains powers (including imprisonment, fines and defacing bogus arms) which he does not hesitate to use. His office has no equivalent in England, is pre-heraldic and is closer to that of the Earl Marshal than that of Garter Principal King of Arms.

Other active heraldic authorities include: Cronista Rey de Armas (Spain). the Chief Herald of Ireland; the Canadian Heraldic Authority; and the Bureau of Heraldry (South Africa).

Some people who have interests in heraldry as a hobby participate in the Society for Creative Anachronism and other such medieval revivals, or in micronationalism. Many more people see heraldry as a part of their national, and even personal, heritage, as well as a manifestation of civic and national pride.

External links

Authorities

Canada - The Canadian Heraldic Authority
Eire - The Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland
England, Wales, and Northern Ireland - The College of Arms
Flanders, Belgium - Flemish Heraldic Council
New Zealand - New Zealand Herald of Arms Extraordinary
Scotland - The Court of the Lord Lyon
South Africa - Bureau of Heraldry
Sweden - National Board of Heraldry, The National Archive
United States Army - The United States Army Institute of Heraldry

Societies

Heraldry-generating software

Blazon (non commercial)

Other

Heraldry | National symbols

Origins and history

Rights and wrongs

Shield and lozenge

Tinctures

Divisions of the field

Charges

Ordinaries

Marshalling

Around the shield

Helm and crest

Motto

Supporters and other additions

National styles

Modern heraldry

Suggested Reading

General

United Kingdom

Mainland European

See also

External links

Authorities

Societies

Heraldry-generating software

Other

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Heraldry

Origins and history

Rights and wrongs

Shield and lozenge

Tinctures

Divisions of the field

Charges

Ordinaries

Marshalling

Around the shield

Helm and crest

Motto

Supporters and other additions

National styles

Modern heraldry

Suggested Reading

General

United Kingdom

Mainland European

See also

External links

Authorities

Societies

Heraldry-generating software

Other