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A Knight's Coat of Arms

 Knights and nobles in the Middle Ages often had a coat of arms. This was a specialsymbol that represented their family. Having a special symbol or coat of arms is oftencalled "heraldry".

How did having a coat of arms get started? 

 The rst coat of arms was used to distinguish oneknight from another. hen a knight had on his fullarmor! including plate mail and helmet! even hisfriends couldnt recogni#e him. $ecause of this!knights began to paint symbols on their shields. Theyeventually began to put the symbol on their bannerand the coat they wore over their armor. This is howit got the name "coat of arms".

The Herald 

%ach coat of arms needed to be uni&ue. However! there were so many knights that it wastough to keep track of who had what symbol. 't became the (ob of people called heralds tokeep track of the di)erent coats of arms. They made sure that new coats of arms wereuni&ue. They also kept track of who each coat of arms belonged to.

Laws 

*ver time! there became strict laws in applying for a new coat of arms. %ach new coat ofarms needed to be registered with the government. A coat of arms belonged to the familyof the knight. He would pass the coat of arms down to his eldest son.

Designing a Coat of Arms 

 The original coats of arms had fairly simple designs. As there became more and morecoats of arms! the designs became more complicated in order for each one to be uni&ue.All coats of arms have certain elements! however.

• %scutcheon + The escutcheon is the main shape of the coat of arms. 't was in the

shape of a shield! but the e,act shape could vary -see picture below.

• /ield + The eld was the background color. At rst the eld was a solid color! butlater patterns began to be used for the eld.

• 0harge + The charge is the main picture in the center of the coat of arms. 't was

usually an animal! but could be other things such as a sword or a ship.

• *rdinaries + *rdinaries were designs that appeared on the eld. They addedadditional color and uni&ueness to the coat of arms.

 1i)erent shapes used for the escutcheon or shield

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What did the color mean? 

1i)erent background colors came to have di)erent meanings. 2ed was the color of awarrior and nobility. *ther colors included blue for truth and sincerity! black for piety andknowledge! and green for hope and (oy. The colors in heraldry are called tinctures.

What did dierent charges mean? 

 The charges used as the main gure in the coat of arms had di)erent meanings as well./or e,ample! the lion stood for ma(esty and strength! the elephant f or wit and ambition!the boar for courage and ferocity! and the sun for power and glory.

Interesting Facts ao!t a Knight's Coat of Arms

• *ld /rench was used to describe the colors of the background. /or e,ample! gules-red! a#ure -blue! sable -black! and vert -green.

•  The coat of arms of %nglish King 2ichard ' has a red background and three lions. 't is

often referred to as the "arms of %ngland".

•  The designs of backgrounds have names such as bendy -diagonal stripes andlo#enge -a diamond checked pattern.

• An "achievement" in heraldry includes the shield plus other elements such as amotto! crest! supporters! helm! and coronet.

• %nglish heraldry has seven colors -tinctures including two metals -gold! silver andve colors -blue! red! purple! black! green.

http://www.ducksters.com/animals/lion.phphttp://www.ducksters.com/animals/elephant.phphttp://www.ducksters.com/animals/elephant.phphttp://www.ducksters.com/animals/lion.php