General knowledge · Culture & customs

Heraldry

From the 12th century

Customs and symbols — the design and regulation of coats of arms

The system of hereditary emblems that grew up in 12th-century Europe, when armoured knights became unrecognisable and needed identifying marks on their shields. It has its own vocabulary, blazon, in which a coat of arms is described so precisely that an artist can redraw it from the words alone, and its own officials: in England the College of Arms, incorporated in 1484 under Richard III, and in Scotland the Court of the Lord Lyon, which is a working part of the Scottish court system. Its most famous convention is the rule of tincture — never metal on metal, nor colour on colour.

How to spot them

▸Blazon: 'Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or' and the like
▸The metals or and argent; the colours gules, azure, sable, vert and purpure; the furs ermine and vair
▸Dexter and sinister, named from the bearer's point of view, so dexter is the viewer's left
▸Kings of arms, heralds and pursuivants with names like Garter, Rouge Dragon and Bluemantle

Key facts

Or and argent are the metals; gules, azure, sable, vert and purpure the colours

Gold and silver; red, blue, black, green and purple. Ermine and vair are the furs

The rule that metal must never be laid on metal, nor colour on colour

A contrast rule for visibility at a distance, kept strictly in British practice

The arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, gold crosses on silver, are the famous exception

Deliberate 'puzzle arms' that break the contrast rule

Dexter is on the viewer's left, because the terms describe the bearer standing behind the shield

The dexter side is the side of greater honour

Incorporated in England in 1484 under Richard III; Scotland has a royal court instead (1484)

The College of Arms in London; the Court of the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh

A crescent marks the second son, a mullet the third, a martlet the fourth

The eldest son's mark is a label; the system is known as cadency

Two shields combined side by side is impalement; four in a grid is quartering

Marshalling shows marriage, inheritance or the holding of an office

Arms that pun on the bearer's name, like bows for Bowes or swallows for Arundel

Canting arms, or armes parlantes — one of the oldest jokes in the discipline

Key ideas

Blazon is a formal description language: it fixes the field, then the ordinaries and charges in order, so that any competent artist produces a legally identical coat without ever seeing the original.
Arms belong to a person, not a family or a surname; relatives differentiate theirs with cadency marks.

Quick-fire facts

•Heraldry arose in the 12th century, when closed helms made knights unidentifiable in battle and tournament
•The tinctures are two metals (or, argent), five colours (gules, azure, sable, vert, purpure) and the furs ermine and vair
•The rule of tincture forbids metal on metal or colour on colour; the arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem famously break it
•Dexter and sinister are given from the bearer's viewpoint, so dexter appears on the observer's left
•The honourable ordinaries include the cross, fess, pale, bend, chevron, saltire and pall
•The College of Arms was incorporated in 1484 by Richard III and works under the authority of the Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk
•Its officers are three kings of arms (Garter, Clarenceux, and Norroy and Ulster), six heralds and four pursuivants, with names such as Rouge Croix, Bluemantle, Rouge Dragon and Portcullis
•In Scotland heraldry is regulated by the Court of the Lord Lyon, whose rulings are enforceable in law
•Cadency marks in English practice run label, crescent, mullet, martlet, annulet, fleur-de-lis, rose, cross moline, double quatrefoil for the first to ninth sons
•A full achievement may include shield, helm, crest, mantling, wreath, motto, supporters and badges
•Attitudes of beasts include rampant (rearing), passant (walking), couchant (lying down) and, for birds, displayed (wings spread)

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Sources

College of Arms — The College of Arms: glossary and guidance on heraldry Official reference pages of England's heraldic authority; cited without URL as the site blocks automated access
Arthur Charles Fox-Davies — A Complete Guide to Heraldry