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Heraldry
History of Heraldic Banners and the
Coat of Arms.
The art of describing coats-of-arms,
otherwise known as achievements or armorial bearings, is called
Heraldry. This ancient art was derived from the need to differentiate
between opponents in battles or joists, and the desire to describe their
equipment and shields.
A “blazon” is the official written description of a coat-of-arms. When
you draw a particular coat-of-arms you emblazon it. Blazons have a
distinct set of regulations so that the coat-of-arms will always turn
out consistent, no matter who draws it. The first thing the blazon
described is the background color (tinctures) or landscape. It then goes
on to describe the exact placement and colors of the objects (charges)
on the shield. The placement of the objects is described moving from top
to bottom and from dexter to sinister. These descriptions are from the
shield bearers, not the observers, perspective. Thus, dexter is the left
portion of the shield, even though it means right in Latin, and likewise
sinister is the right portion, even though it means left.
There may be different interpretations of the blazon, but it is
considered authentic if it correctly includes all the required elements.
A good analogy for this is the letter “A,” you can print it a variety of
ways using different fonts but it still remains an “A”. One example of
this is the shape of the shield. Although they may differ dramatically,
the same coat of arms is used.
While there are no exact regulations when it comes to the colors used,
traditionally bold, vibrant colors are preferred.
A coat-of-arms is commonly called a crest, however in traditional
heraldry a crest is just part of the full coat-of –arms. When describing
a full coat of arms, a crest is the term for the symbol affixed to a
helmet. Crests will sometimes be used alone, most often when there is
insufficient space to produce the entire coat-of-arms. This might have
been what began the confusion of the two terms.
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