About Coats of Arms

What Is a Coats of Arms? – A Brief Introduction

A coat of arms is generally a colorful emblem borne on a shield, designed according to specific rules, and used by a family, institution, or corporate body for identification in a hereditary and permanent manner.

Without a shield-shaped design, an emblem cannot be considered a coat of arms. Nevertheless, many countries use national emblems without shields, especially Asian states that lack heraldic traditions. Some European countries also fall into this category, such as former communist regimes—and even Italy to this day.

Some heraldists consider symbols depicted outside the shield—on banners, horse trappers, mantles, helmets, or seals—as coats of arms, including crests and any insignia that fulfills the function of a coat of arms, provided certain additional conditions are met.

Etymology

In many languages, the term for a coat of arms derives from the word “weapon” (Latin arma, German Wappen, French armoiries, English arms, Swedish vapen, Dutch wapen). In Hungarian, this usage appears only rarely and in late sources, for example in the Hungarian-language armorial charter issued by István Bocskai in 1606 to the Karácsony family, where the phrase “iratot fegyvert a vagy igaz Nemességnek címerét” appears. This was most likely a literal translation of Latin or German originals.

The Hungarian word címer derives from the Old French cimier, meaning “helmet crest,” used in Lorraine as well as in Poitou and Anjou. According to scholarly assumptions, it entered Hungary in the 13th century through the Neapolitan Angevin court, or was brought earlier by settlers from Lorraine in the 12th–13th centuries. Its earliest etymology can be traced back to the Greek χύμα (chyma, “young shoot, tip”) and the Latin cyma. (For example, the emblem of Geoffrey Plantagenet consisted of a sprig of broom worn on his helmet.)

In literature, heraldic-like symbols began to appear from the mid-12th century onward, although no specific term yet existed for them. The German word Wappen derives from Old High German wâfen (“weapon”), and similar etymologies appear in other European languages. Initially, wâfen also meant “sword,” which was occasionally depicted on shields. From the last decades of the 12th century, the concept of the shield and the shield-borne image can be clearly identified, at which point the term came to include both the shield and the helmet.

To express hereditary nature, the Italian word stemma was used, derived from Greek and Latin stemma, meaning “family lineage” or “genealogy.” This concept is also reflected in the German word Erbe (“inheritance”).

The History of Coats of Arms

Origins

Ancient Roots

During the decline of heraldry, heraldists often attributed ancient—Greek or Roman—origins to coats of arms. An interesting parallel can be found in ancient Sparta. Since the Corinthian helmet fully covered a Spartan hoplite’s face and their clothing was uniform-like, the decoration of the hoplon (the large shield) was always unique, allowing individual identification. Although this tradition was interrupted and heraldry did not derive directly from it, a conceptual parallel can still be observed.

In modern times, some scholars examined Arab and Levantine influences on heraldic development. During the emblematic period, Sir John Ferne and others derived heraldry from Egyptian hieroglyphs, while Romantic-era German authors traced it back to Germanic runes. All of these theories have since been proven incorrect. Only in the Polish case is it plausible that older rune-like symbols were carried forward.

The Middle Ages

The emergence of heraldry was closely linked to the rise of knighthood, knightly warfare, and the flourishing of chivalric culture. At the Council of Clermont in 1095, Pope Urban II decreed that crusaders must wear a red cross on their garments as an external sign. (It was also during the Crusades that the first military religious orders were founded in the Holy Land.)

In battle, knights wearing armor beneath their clothing required identifying symbols to distinguish them from others. This need gave rise to the use of shields and helmet crests. Upon returning home, many continued to use the insignia they had worn in the Holy Land.

The spread of heraldry was further encouraged by the development of chivalric culture and the increasing popularity of tournaments, where each participant required an individual coat of arms. Before tournaments, armorial inspections were held, during which the public could view the assembled shields and crests of the participants. Gradually, coats of arms became widespread, and their use also served as proof that the bearer was tournament-qualified and belonged to the ruling warrior class.

Shining armor and an unblemished shield became synonymous with honorable combat and knightly virtue. Being a knight was itself a great honor, and over time not only minor nobles but also high aristocrats held this status. The hereditary nature of coats of arms emerged as the clearest way to demonstrate continuity of tournament eligibility within a family. Thus, heraldry developed into a hereditary, rule-governed system of colorful emblems.

Following the Crusades, coats of arms most likely emerged in the mid-12th century in the regions of Anjou and Maine. The earliest armorial seals appeared in the second third of the 12th century in France, England, and Germany. French sigillographer G. Demay concluded, based on the study of equestrian seals, that heraldry had already become fashionable in France between 1150 and 1190.

The First Coats of Arms

The earliest heraldic design is generally considered to be the checkered shield borne—together with a checkered horse trapper—by Waleran de Beaumont (1104–1166), Count of Meulan and Worcester, on his seal between 1136 and 1138. He likely inherited it through his mother, Isabel de Vermandois, from the French House of Vermandois. His brother Raoul (†1153), Count of Vermandois, used a checkered banner on his seal between 1130 and 1135, and a checkered shield also appears on his seal of 1146. Over time, through family connections, the checkered shield spread widely in England.

Another possible origin is associated with Geoffrey Plantagenet (1113–1151), Count of Anjou and Maine. A mid-12th-century funerary plaque preserved in Le Mans depicts him with a shield bearing rampant lions and a helmet also surmounted by a lion. His knighting in Rouen in 1128 was recorded by Jean de Marmoutier, a Cluniac monk, between 1170 and 1180. According to this account, King Henry I of England hung a shield adorned with six golden lions around Geoffrey’s neck during the ceremony.

Although Jean de Marmoutier’s chronicle is often considered unreliable, the hereditary nature of the lion emblem is supported by the fact that the same lion shield appears on the tomb of Geoffrey’s illegitimate son, William de Longespée, Earl of Salisbury, in Salisbury Cathedral.

Coats of Arms in Hungary – Early Usage

Inheritance may also have been encouraged by the high cost of knightly equipment, which, together with the coat of arms, passed to heirs.

The Helmet Crest

For a time, the helmet crest played an even more important role than the shield. According to a charter dated 7 April 1326, issued by King Charles I of Hungary, the term címer originally referred to the helmet crest rather than the shield. Only later did it acquire its modern meaning.

The earliest Hungarian armorial grants were crest grants, and from the 13th century many so-called helmet seals are known, depicting only the helmet and crest. In 1332, Kolos, royal page, received permission to bear a helmet crest, and Thomas Szécsényi, Judge Royal (1349–1354), also used a helmet seal.

From around 1180, the shield became the primary bearer of heraldic symbols, while banners gradually lost their identifying role. By the mid-13th century, the shield had become the central element of heraldry.

Coats of Arms in Hungary

The earliest records of coats of arms in Hungary are preserved on the seals of members of the Árpád dynasty around 1190. These were soon adopted by high officeholders, and distinct family arms gradually emerged, possibly deriving from ancient clan totems. Banner lords displayed their arms on their banderia, under which their troops marched. The importance of heraldic banners increased particularly during the Angevin period.

From the 13th century onward, major towns also began to use coats of arms, and charters issued by villagers and authenticated with armorial seals are also known. From the 14th century, numerous armorial tombstones survive, and civic heraldic symbols often became goldsmith’s marks, blacksmith’s marks, or house signs. From the reign of King Sigismund onward, the use of coats of arms became widespread among the lesser nobility.

Among Hungarian counties, Somogy was the first to receive an armorial charter, granted in 1498 by King Vladislaus II.

Types of Coats of Arms

The true (borne) coat of arms developed in the 12th century during the age of knighthood. The “painted” version is a copy of the borne arms and survives on charters, seals, and building façades.

Private Arms

  • Noble arms, including family arms (Geschlechterwappen)

  • Marital arms (Heiratswappen)

  • Burgher arms

  • Peasant arms

Official Arms

  • State arms

  • County arms

  • Municipal arms

  • Official or office arms (Amtswappen)

  • Corporate arms

  • Guild arms

  • Associational arms

  • Community arms (Gemeinschaftswappen)

Further Categories

  • Ancestral or assumed arms (Urwappen)

  • Granted arms (Briefwappen)

The right to bear arms and the conditions of their use are governed by heraldic law.

Source: Wikipédia