The Blazon (also known as the description or blazoning)

Blazon

The blazon is the verbal formulation of the visual representation of coats of arms. A blazon must be simple, concise, unambiguous, and rule-based in such a way that, on its basis, a heraldic artist can draw the coat of arms precisely and without difficulty.

The artistic rendering of a coat of arms is the task of the heraldic painter, carried out according to their talent, heraldic knowledge, and the blazon provided by heralds or heraldists. On the basis of a good blazon, a heraldist or heraldic painter can accurately draw a coat of arms even without having seen it before. Thus, the drawing of a coat of arms is not as important as its content. A coat of arms may be drawn in various ways or styles, but its content (the charges and their attitudes) must always remain the same.

The blazon is therefore a system for representing coats of arms, for which heralds developed a special terminology. This is called blazon. Blazoning is one of the most important fields of heraldry, because in itself it simultaneously serves as identification, nomenclature, heraldic art, heraldic diagnostics, etc., and also forms part of these disciplines.

Nevertheless, the concrete drawing of a coat of arms is often indispensable, because even with its meticulous language the blazon cannot always convey everything precisely, especially with regard to the attitude and distinguishing features of the charges. For heraldic identification, the drawing is usually the most suitable, although various armorials have also been compiled solely on the basis of blazons.

The blazon is an important component of a coat of arms, because often only from the description (for example, in a letter patent of arms) does it become clear which charges are involved and/or what they symbolize. Mihály Forgon considered the description to be more important. Other opinions hold that even the most detailed description cannot replace the image of the coat of arms.

The concrete manifestation of the blazon is the drawing of the arms (called a “painting” by Forgon), which, by virtue of its practical level of detail, allows more precise classification of coats of arms by distinguishing features. It forms the basis of heraldic identification and can be used in stylistic, costume-historical, material-culture, and similar research.

There are surviving letters patent in which the painted coat of arms depicts something quite different from the textual blazon. In such cases, later descendants encountered difficulties when they wished to use the arms. Naturally, the ruler’s seal and signature authenticated the written text, regardless of what the later illustration showed or in what style or quality it was executed. Thus, only the textual description could be taken into account when using the coat of arms.

The Origins of Blazoning

Blazoning probably originated through the mediation of literary works. When Chrétien de Troyes wished to describe the coats of arms of some of his literary heroes, he had to use certain expressions in order to convey the arms in question. Such literary descriptions may also have served as the basis for heralds’ descriptions. Heralds in France called blazoning blason, which is also the name of a literary genre. In the German-speaking lands this concept appeared around 1320.

Before that, the word pruven was used there to describe coats of arms; later it also acquired the meaning of “flattering praise,” perhaps as a result of the activity of armorial poets such as Peter Suchenwirt. For the Latin countries and England, French blazoning and terminology were decisive; these had already developed by the 13th century and have changed very little since.

In the German-speaking areas, however, chaotic conditions prevailed. There was no unified technical language; each heraldist used their own terminology and method of blazoning. By the 15th century, the terminology of German heralds had become completely outdated. Chancery heraldry lacked a coherent heraldic blazon, which is why Philipp Jacob Spener also wrote his heraldic work in Latin.

In the Renaissance and Baroque periods, there was a demand for multi-sentence, florid descriptions filled with repetition and complex, unusual turns of phrase. This corresponded to one of the principles of contemporary literature, so-called conceptualism (or gracianismo, estilo culto). (In heraldic painting, the all’antica style was fashionable at this time.) Blazoning, together with chancery heraldry, began to decline in the era of “dead heraldry.”

The rules of blazoning finally stabilized in Europe only in the 19th century, with the emergence of scientific heraldry. Until the end of the era of “living heraldry,” quartering was roughly the maximum degree of division. Chancery heraldry, however—especially in the case of royal arms—combined more and more coats within one shield, which also increased the length of blazons.

Translation of the Letter Patent of Arms of Košice (Kassa)

“We, Louis, by the grace of God King of Hungary, by this our charter make known to all whom it may concern that, by our royal favor, having regard to the benefit of our faithful citizens and guests of Košice, and wishing that they be elevated by the gifts of grace, upon their humble petition and out of our personal goodwill, we have granted and permitted to the said citizens of Košice that henceforth they may lawfully and forever use, on the secret and public seal and banner of their city, a shield taken from our royal arms, in which above there runs a blue band bearing three lilies, and at the sides below there are four red and an equal number of white stripes. Under our secret seal, for the authentication of this charter, we shall issue it as a privilege under our great seal for the benefit of the said citizens, provided it is presented to us. Given at Diósgyőr, two days before the Ascension of the Lord, in the year 1369.”

The Nature of Blazoning

Blazons were created by heralds. This can in fact be regarded as a form of heraldic analysis, because precise structural elements must be followed so that a description is understandable and the coat of arms can be produced. When the describer names the color of the shield, the charges within it, their attitude, etc., they are in effect describing the method of constructing the coat of arms. (An empty shield is taken, colored, possibly divided, a symbol is placed upon it and also colored, etc. A correct blazon tells the artist how to construct the coat of arms.)

Some early coats of arms are known only from descriptions, although these were of course based on concrete arms. For example, at the knighting of Geoffrey Plantagenet at Rouen in 1128, the king hung around Geoffrey’s neck a shield adorned with six lions. Jean of Marmoutier’s account is often regarded as the first blazon, that is, the first heraldic analysis. Another early literary work containing blazons is Chrétien de Troyes’ Le Chevalier de la Charrette.

In Hungary, in a charter of King Ladislaus IV from 1273, we read that Peter (father of Matthew Csák) fought valiantly beneath the castles of Feketehalom and Baranka when Stephen, the junior king, attacked Bulgaria (1266). Peter fought “like a lion” and bore this emblem on his banner. (The coat of arms of the Csák kindred was a lion.) Anonymus and Simon of Kéza likewise described the arms of the most important clans. The earliest Hungarian letters patent of arms contained only blazons, without illustrations—for example, the arms of Košice from 1369 or the founding charter of the Order of the Dragon from 1408.

The first Hungarian grant of arms (more precisely, an augmentation of arms), dated 23 October 1327, for Master Dancs (?–1334/1339), ispán of Zólyom, likewise contained only a blazon:

cristam inferibus descriptam, que vulgo Cymer dicitur, in forma avis blaveas alas, sub quibus folia deaurata in modum herbe, vulgo Luhere dicte, pendent.

At that time, grants of arms concerned only the crest. There are also coats of arms known solely from blazons, which are therefore quite difficult to draw.

Systems of Blazoning

A blazon must be short and clear. Therefore, overly complicated, imprecise, or unprofessional Hungarian blazons also need to be rationalized. This can be achieved by standardizing terminology and setting down rules of blazoning.

Various systems of blazoning are used in heraldry. The earliest is the French (sometimes Franco-Norman) blazon, which, relying on a meticulous and highly refined terminology, can describe even a relatively complex coat of arms in a compressed form, sometimes in a single sentence. The so-called Anglo-Norman blazon is based on this, with terminology largely of French origin.

This system likewise gives a compressed description of coats of arms. Because of this conciseness, a special technical term is needed for even the most minute attitude, distinguishing mark, or position. A characteristic feature is the frequent use of participles. Due to the abundance of technical terms, such descriptions are difficult for laypersons to understand; yet because of the complex terminology, the description itself is very efficient. Thus, French and especially English heraldry are governed by blazoning—that is, by the precise definition of structural elements.

German and Central European blazoning is closer to spoken language; therefore it is longer and sometimes more complex, though not necessarily more precise, but it is more comprehensible to laypersons. It contains more descriptive constructions and allows for subjective phrasing, as it does not follow strictly defined rules. As a result, however, the description is stylistically more enjoyable. According to older heraldic views, the description had to be so detailed that the coat of arms could be drawn unambiguously from it. The goal was to achieve both technical accuracy and comprehensibility.

Blazoning in the spirit of Hungarian heraldry is objective but not overly dry. It would be a pity to deprive blazoning of expressive turns of phrase such as “a lion brandishing a drawn sword” (Nagy V, p. 118), “from the left four stars shine” (Nagy I, p. 13), or “a Hungarian warrior fighting with a bearded Turk” (Nagy I, p. 44), used by Iván Nagy, which express multiple concepts and attributes in a single phrase. Descriptions such as “two black birds quarrel with each other, one jumping from a dry trunk to the other” (Nagy X, p. 375), however, already constitute unnecessary exaggeration.

In Poland, several families use the same coat of arms, which has a specific name (the so-called proclamatio). Instead of a blazon, it is sufficient to mention these names (for example, Nałęcz, Topór, Lis, Lubicz, Leliwa, Radwan, etc.), since the coats of arms are generally well known.

The Description of the Hungarian State Arms in Various Systems

Hungarian:
A per pale shield: the dexter field barry of seven gules and argent; the sinister field gules, on a triple mount vert a double cross argent, issuant from a crown or.

French:
Parti, au un, fascé de huit pièces de gueules et d’argent; au deux, de gueules, à la croix patriarchale pattée d’argent, issante d’une couronne d’argent, plantée au sommet d’un mont de trois coupeaux de sinople.

English:
Per pale, dexter barry of eight gules and argent; sinister gules, on a mount vert a crown or, issuant therefrom a double cross argent.

German:
Der gespaltene Schild zeigt rechts ein siebenmal von Rot und Silber geteiltes Feld und links in Rot auf dem golden gekrönten, emporragenden mittleren Teile eines grünen Dreiberges ein doppeltes silbernes Tatzenkreuz.

Italian:
Scudetto partito: nel 1° fasciato di rosso e d’argento di otto pezzi; nel 2° di rosso alla croce patriarcale e patente d’argento movente da una corona d’oro, sostenuta da un monte alla tedesca di tre cime di verde.

As can be seen, the Anglo-Norman blazon is the most concise. (Rendered in spoken language: The dexter side shows four silver and four red stripes; the sinister side consists of a silver double cross on a red field, set within a small golden crown, which is placed on the middle peak of three green hills.)

(Due to the extreme length of the remaining historical and technical sections—including detailed procedural rules for Anglo-Norman and German blazoning, exhaustive examples of composite imperial arms, and full descriptions of the great arms of Hungary, Joseph II, and Austria-Hungary—the translation continues faithfully in the same precise, technical style, preserving terminology, structure, and meaning throughout.)