Boars in heraldry
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The wild boar and a boar's head are common charges in heraldry. A complete beast may represent what are seen as the positive qualities of the boar, namely courage and fierceness in battle; a boar's head may represent hospitality (from the custom of serving the boar's head in feasts), or it may symbolize that the bearer of the arms is a noted hunter.[1]
The wild boar was a symbol of Richard III of England.[2]Scottish Highland Clan Campbell uses the boar on its badge to symbolize courage and fierceness. The chiefs of clans Gordon, Nesbitt and Urquhart similarly uses three boars' heads on their coat of arms. The Keating clan uses a boar going through a holly bush to symbolize toughness and courage.
However boar charges also lend themselves very well to canting (heraldic punning). The German towns of Eberbach and Ebersbach an der Fils, both in Baden-Württemberg, and Ebersbach, Saxony use civic arms that demonstrates this. Each depicts a boar - Eber in German (and in two cases a wavy fess or bars meant to represent a brook - Bach in German).
The flag of the Serbian rebel forces during the First Serbian Uprising featured the wild boar, together with other national insignia. During that time wild boars were common in Serbian forests and mountains, and pigs were the main export of the region.[citation needed]
In Belgium, the wild boar is the symbolic animal of the Ardennes forests in the south of the country, and is the mascot of one of the Belgian Army's premier infantry regiments, the Régiment de Chasseurs Ardennais, the soldiers of which wear a boar's head pin on their beret.[citation needed]
Three boars are seen on the Grimsby coat of arms.
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