Heraldry

Q. What is it

A. The science and art that deals with the use, display and regulation of hereditary symbols which individuals, institutions and corporations employ to distinguish themselves. These symbols, which originated as identification devices on shields, are called armorial bearings.

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Q. Isn't that armoury

A. Strictly defined, heraldry denotes anything which was the duty of a herald, and only that part of his work dealing with armorial bearings was correctly termed armoury. Colloquially, however, heraldry has come to mean the same thing.

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Q. When did it come into being

A. The origins of banners and standards are lost in the mists of time, but the adoption of symbolic devices as a means of individual identification spread throughout the nobility of Europe in the 13th century and was soon taken on by corporations and institutions.

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Q. So they are hereditary: who inherits the arms

A. All male descendants of the first person to whom arms were granted may bear them. Younger sons add small symbols, called 'marks of cadency', to their arms and crests.

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Q. Why do so many coats of arms look so tacky

A. Heraldic art has reflected the changes of fashion. As heraldry became more florid and less utilitarian its artistic quality generally declined. In the 18th and 19th centuries the tendency was for over-ornate work, but in the 20th century the art of heraldry had something of a renaissance.

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Q. What are the principal devices

A. In the design of arms a wide variety of symbols are used, depicted and arranged according to a series of conventions. The principal vehicle for displaying the heraldic devices is the shield. The crest, a subsidiary device, emerged in the late 14th century. The shield is surmounted by helm and crest, and the latter is usually placed within a wreath or coronet. The type and position of the helm indicates the rank of the bearer. In the late 15th century great nobles, and later certain corporations, were allowed 'supporters', animals on either side of their shields to support them.

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This whole display is called 'an achievement of arms'.

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Q. And the terminology

There are literally hundreds of terms - usually a mixture of English and old French - far too many to list in full here. However, here are some:

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Tinctures - hues used in heraldry, which are denoted 'colours', 'metals' and 'furs': the common colours are gules (red), azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple); rarer ones are murrey (sanguine), tenn� (an orangey colour) and bleu celeste (sky blue); the metals are or (gold, often represented by yellow) and argent (silver, invariably depicted as white); the furs are ermine (black spots on white) and variations such as erminois (black spots on gold) and vair (small symbolic squirrel pellets)

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Charges - the symbols; the principal charges are 'ordinaries', which are geometrical shapes such as the pale (a broad vertical strip), the fess (a horizontal strip) and the bend (a diagonal strip); other charges are 'animate', that is beasts, monsters, humans, birds, fish, reptiles and insects; or 'inanimate', which includes almost everything else

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The field - the background of the shield; this is 'charged' with the charges, and it can be plain, patterned (chequered), sem� (strewn with little charges) or divided by a line or lines following the direction of the ordinaries; a shield divided into halves vertically is 'per pale', horizontally, 'per fess' and diagonally, 'per bend dexter' (from upper right) or 'per bend sinister' (from upper left); the dividing lines may be embattled (crenellated), wavy or indented (zigzag); the top area of the field is 'the chief' and the bottom 'the base'

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For a full list of heraldic terms go to http://www.heraldica.org/topics/glossary/

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For more on Phrases & Sayings click here

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By Simon Smith