Heraldic Pages
Heraldry is the science of recording genealogies (that is, the pedigrees
of families or individuals) and of blazoning (drawing) coats-of-arms (which
are sometimes called armorial bearings). This science originated, of course,
in the middle ages, when knights and noblemen took delight in choosing brilliant
symbols for themselves.
The crook-backed Duke of Gloucester who became Richard III, for example,
was represented by a hog (`Thou elvish-mark'd, abortive, rooting hog', Shakespeare`s
Queen Margaret calls him, rather nastily; strictly speaking, his sign was
a boar).
The arms chosen might form a pun on the bearer's name: a Baron Stagcastle,
for example, would be very tempted to choose for his arms the symbols of
a stag and a castle. (If you have a suitable name you can invent a coat-of-arms
of that kind for yourself; but you will not be able to make public use of
it - paint it on the door of your car, for example - since the only official
coats-of-arms are those approved by the Heralds' College or College of Arms.)
The shields
Because the shield was an important part of the equipment of a medieval
knight or nobleman it became the practice to use a shield as the shape within
which a coat-of-arms is displayed. The various shapes of shield (or escutcheon)
accepted in heraldry are as follows;
The two sides of a shield are referred
to as the Dexter or right-hand side and the Sinister or left-hand side (these
are Latin words). But Beware - this is left and right from the point of
view of the man carrying the arms, not from that of a person looking at
them.
Quartering
When two families intermarried their coats-of-arms were combined - which
means that some armorial bearings are very complicated indeed. The business
of disposing the various parts of the separate coats-of-arms in the new
family shield is known as quartering. (If our imaginary Baron Stagcastle
had married a member of Richard III's family, room would have been found
in one quarter of his shield for the hog.)
Tinctures
The color of the shield is known as the Tincture, and each tincture has
its own heraldic name: it can be argent, which is silver; or - gold; azure
- blue; gules - red; sable - black; vert - green; purpure - purple; tenne
- orange; sanguine - murrey (a dark red or reddish brown, the color of a
mulberry).
Charges & ordinaries
The signs and symbols used on the
coat-of-arms (the hog, the stag, the castle and so on) are called charges,
and these are divided into honourable (and subordinate) ordinaries, which
consist of lines and geometrical forms; and common ordinaries, which include
all representations of natural objects (like Richard's hog and the Baron's
stag).
Hatchments
A hatchment is a board painted with the family arms. It used to be hung
outside a house when its owner had died (and in some parts of the country
this practice was kept up until late in the last century).
DOWNLOADS
There are a few downloads in this area. Most of which are shields that I drew myself and
coloured. You will find these numbered from 1 to 5 and there is a sheet of base drawings which I used whilst designing
the shields. If you wish to make your own shields then use this sheet to make things somewhat easier.
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