Coat of arms

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A coat of arms or armorial bearings (often just arms for short), in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people) and used by them in a wide variety of ways. They were once used by knights to identify them apart from enemy soldiers. Unlike seals and emblems, coats of arms have a formal description that is expressed as a blazon. In the 21st century, coats of arms still continue to be in use, in a variety of institutions, e.g. several universities have guidelines on how their coats of arms may be used and protect their use.^[1][2][3] The art of designing, displaying, describing, and recording arms is called heraldry.

Contents 1 Traditions and usage 1.1 United Kingdom 1.2 Holy See 1.3 Japan 1.4 Nordic countries 1.5 Other European countries 1.6 USA 1.7 Other non-European countries 1.8 Flags and banners 2 Gallery 3 References 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Traditions and usage

In the heraldic traditions of England and Scotland an individual, rather than a family, had a coat of arms. In those traditions coats of arms are legal property transmitted from father to son, and undifferenced arms are used only by one person at any given time. Other descendants of the original bearer could bear the ancestral arms only with some difference: usually a color change or the addition of a distinguishing charge. One such charge is the label, which in British usage (outside the royal family) is now always the mark of an heir-apparent.

Because of their importance in identification, particularly in seals on legal documents, the use of arms was strictly regulated; few countries continue in this today. This has been carried out by heralds and the study of coats of arms is therefore called "heraldry." Some other traditions (e.g. Polish) are less restrictive — allowing, for example, all members of a dynastic house or family to use the same arms, although one or more elements may be reserved to the Head of the House.^{[citation needed]}

In time, the use of coat of arms spread from military entities to educational institutes, and other establishments.^[2] According to a design institute article, "The modern logo and corporate livery have evolved from the battle standard and military uniform of medieval times".^[4]

In his book The Visual Culture of Violence in the Late Middle Ages Valentin Groebner argues that the images composed on coats of arms are in many cases designed to convey a feeling of power and strength, often in military terms.^[5] The author Helen Stuart argues that some coat of arms were a form of corporate logo.^[6] Museums on medieval coat of arms also point out that as emblems they may be viewed as a pre-cursors to the corporate logos of modern society, used for group identity formation.^[7][8]

[edit] United Kingdom

In Scotland, the Lord Lyon has criminal jurisdiction to enforce the laws of arms. In England, the use of arms is a matter of civil law regulate from the College of Arms.

Today, the term "coat of arms" or "arms" is frequently applied in two different ways. In some uses, it may indicate a full achievement of arms or heraldic achievement, which includes a variety of elements — usually a crest sitting atop a helmet, itself sitting on a shield; other common elements include supporters holding up the shield and a motto (beneath in England, above in Scotland). Some people wrongly use "coat of arms" or "arms" to refer to the escutcheon (i.e., the shield itself), or to one of several designs that may be combined in one shield. (Note that the crest is one specific part of a heraldic achievement and that "crest of arms" is a misnomer.) The "coat of arms" frequently are adorned with a device - a motto, emblem, or other mark used to distinguish the bearer from others. If a motto is a part of the achievement, it sometimes has some punning allusion to the owner's name. A device differs from a badge or cognizance primarily because it is a personal distinction, and not a badge borne by members of the same house successively.

[edit] Holy See

The Vatican has its own coat of arms, as the Coat of arms of the Holy See. Yet there is an at least 800-year-old tradition for personal Papal coat of arms that goes back to Pope Innocent III.

Some Popes have used their family shield as part of their coat of arms,but the coats of arms of Popes at times deliberately include symbols composed to indicate their ideal of life, or even elements connected with specific Pontifical programmes.^[9] A well known and widely displayed example in recent times was Pope John Paul II's coat of arms. His selection of a large letter M (for Mary) on his coat of arms was intended to express the message of his strong Marian devotion.^[10]

[edit] Japan

The Japanese equivalents, called kamon (often abbreviated "mon"), are family badges which often date back to the seventh century, and are still actively used in Japan today. The Japanese designs are distinctly different from European formats and often use floral and abstract patterns. For instance, the mon of the powerful Tokugawa Ieyasu simply consisted of three leaves.

Yet, even these simple designs often express an origin. An example in recent use is the logo of Mitsubishi corporation which started as a shipping and maritime enterprise and whose emblem is based on a water chestnut derived from its maritime history with a military naval influence. The word mitsu means the number 3 and the word hishi meaning "water chestnut" (and also pronounced bishi) originated from the emblem of the warrior Tosa Clan. The battleships of the Tosa clan had been used in the late nineteenth century in the First Sino-Japanese War to reach Korea^[11] and their name gave rise to the term Tosa class battleship. The Tosa water chestnut leaf mon was then drawn as a rhombus or diamond shape in the Mitsubishi logo.^[12][13]

[edit] Nordic countries

In the Nordic countries, provinces, regions, cities and municipalities have a coat of arms. These are posted to the borders and shown in official documents advertising the area.

[edit] Other European countries

At a national level, "coats of arms" were generally retained by European states with constitutional continuity of more than a few centuries, including constitutional monarchies like Denmark as well as old republics like San Marino and Switzerland. Since 1989, some of the ex-Communist states, such as Romania, have resumed their former arms, often with only the symbols of monarchy removed.

[edit] USA

The Great Seal of the United States is often said to be the coat of arms of the United States of America. The blazon is intentionally improper to preserve the number 13 in the symbolism. The U.S. state of Vermont, founded as the Vermont Republic, follows the American convention of assigning use of a seal for authenticating official state documents, but also has the coat of arms of Vermont. Many American social fraternities and sororities, especially college organizations, use coats of arms in their symbolism. These arms vary widely in their level of adherence to European heraldic tradition.

[edit] Other non-European countries

However, today, nearly every nation in every part of the world has its own coat of arms, in many cases emblems that do not fully conform with European heraldric traditions. Such coats of arms often combine a European form with indigenous emblems. For example the coat of arms of Kenya features a shield in the shape of shields traditionally used by the Maasai, and a motto in Swahili.

[edit] Flags and banners

Note that not all personal or corporate insignia are heraldic, though they may share many features. For example, flags are used to identify ships (where they are called ensigns), embassies and such, and they use the same colors and designs found in heraldry, but they are not usually considered to be heraldic. A country may have both a national flag and a national coat of arms, and the two may not look alike at all. For example, the flag of Scotland (St Andrew's Cross) has a white saltire on a blue field, but the royal arms of Scotland has a red lion within a double tressure on a gold field.

[edit] Gallery

Main article: Gallery of country coats of arms

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Burgher arms
• Baron and Feme

[edit] External links

• Free access to Burke's General Armory (incomplete, 1,500 British surnames), Pimbley's Dictionary of Heraldry and Blason des familles d'Europe, Grand Armorial Universel (15,000 European surnames)
• Heraldry in the SCA
• Modar's Heraldry
• A fairly recent (1995) English private coat of arms and letters patent/blazon
• Design a Coat of Arms. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved on 2007-06-08.

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