Heraldry facts for kids
Heraldry is the art and science of designing and using a coat of arms. The study of coats of arms is also called armory. The practice of using distinct markings on a person's shield started in the Middle Ages, when a knight's helmet covered his face, making everybody look the same in battle. At first, only knights and nobility had coats of arms, but in the Middle Ages, some cities started using heraldry too. By the end of the Middle Ages, other people began using coats of arms, now called burgher arms, which means they belong to a commoner and not a member of the nobility. An official in charge of approving and recording coats of arms is called a herald. The related study of flags is called vexillology.
Heraldry is described in English using a specialised jargon called Blazon which is based on French words. Heraldry uses only bold, bright colors, called tinctures, with special names. Gold, for instance, is called Or. This word is often capitalised to distinguish it from the conjunction or. Silver and white are sometimes treated as different colors, but in English Blazon both are called argent. Some combinations of colors represent furs, and these have names that are only used in heraldry. There are a number of geometric shapes, called ordinaries, that are used in heraldry, and each of these has a special name too. The shield may be divided in a number of ways, usually following the lines of the ordinaries.
| Tinctures | ||||||
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| Argent | Azure | Gules | Vert | Purpure | Sable | |
| Metals |  |
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Furs |  |
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| Or | Argent | Ermine | Vair | Vairy (Or/gules) | ||
| Divisions |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party per fess | Party per pale | Party per bend sinister | Quarterly | Quarterly with a heart |
| Ordinaries |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief | Pale | Fess | Bend | Bend sinister | Chevron | |
| Ordinaries | .svg) |
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| Cross | Saltire | Pall | Flaunches | Pile | Bordure |
| Variations |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barry (of eight) | Paly (of eight) | Bendy (of eight) | Chevronny | Chequy | Lozengy | Gyronny |
Images for kids
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The German Hyghalmen Roll was made in the late 15th century and illustrates the German practice of repeating themes from the arms in the crest. (See Roll of arms).
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Enamel from the tomb of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, one of the earliest depictions of modern heraldry.
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Two pursuivants wearing tabards, Windsor Castle, 2006.
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German heraldry has examples of shields with numerous crests, as this arms of Saxe-Altenburg featuring a total of seven crests. Some thaler coins display as many as fifteen.
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Coat of Arms of the Turiec county in Slovakia.
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Military coat of arms, depicting a red locomotive.
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Reverse of the Narmer Palette, circa 3100 BC. The top row depicts four men carrying standards. Directly above them is a serekh containing the name of the king, Narmer.
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Fresco depicting a shield of a type common in Mycenaean Greece.
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Vase with Greek soldiers in armor, circa 550 BC.
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A reconstruction of a shield that would have been carried by a Roman Legionary.
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Shields from the "Magister Militum Praesentalis II". From the Notitia Dignitatum, a medieval copy of a Late Roman register of military commands. However, it is likely the art on the shields are made to fit the era and not from the original.
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The death of King Harold, from the Bayeux Tapestry. The shields look heraldic, but do not seem to have been personal or hereditary emblems.
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See also
In Spanish: Heráldica para niños
