Heraldry, coats of arms, crests and mottoes

Coats of arms have their origins in the Middle Ages when there was a need to identify your friends and foes on the battlefield. They were designs painted on a knight’s shield and the coat (called a surcoat) that went over his armour.

A knight’s head was invisible, being protected by a helmet, to the top of which was added a unique crest; this enabled the knight to be identified even more easily. It also made him look taller and more frightening, as the wood or leather crest was often in the form of a monster or mythical beast.

Originally, knights were able to choose the designs for their own coats of arms. However, their increasing use led to regulation of the practice to the extent that, as far as English ones were concerned, Coats of Arms could only be granted by the Crown and they all, both existing and recently granted, had to be registered with the College of Arms. Similar regimes were adopted in other countries.

Mottoes are thought to have their origins in war cries. They were added to many Coats of Arms and, in most areas, they were written on the scroll placed below the Coat of Arms or crest but, in Scotland, they were placed above.

The words used in the motto are often in Latin or Norman French, and they usually represent an aspiration or attitude of the bearer of the heraldic device. Sometimes they combined this with a clever pun on the family name (per se valens for the Percevals). Although, it is possible that it is the motto that gave rise to the family name.

Heraldry arose from the duties of heralds, which included, amongst other things, the recording of individual coats of arms and insignia. The complexity of these designs has led to heralds using a very precise and arcane language to provide the descriptions of coats of arms.

The use of Coats of Arms spread from the knight to his family and descendants, and to those that fought under him. Today, long established schools often use the Coats of Arms of their founders, and livery companies, universities, fraternities, armed forces and nations all proudly display their own emblems.

To bring matters up to date, most businesses place a logo on their office stationery and products, but how many people realise that these logos have their origins in the historic need to identify a knight on horseback in battle in full armour and wielding a weapon in anger?

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