Heraldry has been called the “shorthand of history,” and “the critical desire for accuracy, which fortunately seems to have been the keynote of research” during recent times, necessitates an inquiry into the history and practice of Heraldry, which played such an important part in the life of the Middle Ages.

It is not believed that the Normans at the Conquest bore any “arms” on their shields. There are certain markings shown on the shields in the Bayeux Tapestry, but they were probably bands and bosses used for the purpose of strengthening them.

As a system, heraldry was not organised until the twelfth or thirteenth century. It was probably introduced into England from France, as all the terms used in the practice are French.

The two great factors in the extensive and almost universal practice of heraldry were the tournaments and jousts, and the Crusades. All the sovereigns of Europe, and particularly the Kings of England, encouraged the former, because of the excellent practice in the use of arms and the rigorous training they gave.

Clothed, as the combatants were, in their armour, their features concealed within the heaumes or helmets, it became a necessity for them to bear some distinctive marks or devices, either as “crests” on their helmets or as armorial bearings or “arms” upon their shields, their surcoats, their pennons and banners.

The retainers of a knight followed their master, and rallied around him, recognising him by these features, and their battle cry became, in many cases, the family motto, and has so remained until this day.

At first the crest, which was of large size, was made of leather, but later on it was made of wood or steel. Originally the devices upon the shields were few and simple, and consisted of bands fastened to the shields in various positions (Figs. 1 to 18) to strengthen them. These were termed “honourable ordinaries.” When the surface of the shield was coloured, these bands would be coloured differently. As the custom of bearing these devices became more universal, and the number of knights increased, it became necessary to add many others and to modify and differentiate in many ways the existing ones. The simplest “arms” are consequently held to be the most honourable, as they imply greater antiquity. Many devices were granted and borne in recognition of feats of arms or of important duties performed, as, in later days, the Douglas family were privileged to bear on their shield a heart (later on surmounted by a crown), in commemoration of the fact that a Douglas had the honour of bearing the heart of Robert Bruce to the Holy Land. (Fig. 21.) Often, after the performance of a particularly heroic deed on the battlefield, knights were rewarded by being granted the right to wear some suitable commemorative device upon their shields. These had a similar significance to the V.C. or D.S.O. awarded nowadays, with the additional advantage that they were hereditary.

In the Crusades, which formed the other great factor in the growth and practice of heraldry, it became necessary to distinguish the knights of different nations from one another. The English wore a white cross on the right shoulder of their cloaks. Similarly the French wore a red one, the Flemings a green one, and the warriors from the Roman States two keys crossed as in a St. Andrew’s cross or Saltire.

As a special inducement to the warriors of the West, the Pope promised that any soldier, whatever his rank or station, who slew an infidel in battle, should be declared noble, and be at liberty to adopt any device he might choose as a memento of the part he had taken in the Wars of the Cross. Hence, many devices connected with the Holy Land and the Crusades were introduced into and remain in heraldry—e.g., the scalloped shell, the palmer’s staff, bezants (gold coins of Byzantium), water bougets (leathern water-bottles), crescents, stars, scimitars, Saracens’ heads, and the numerous forms of the cross. Probably from the same source came such mythical creatures as the dragon, the wyvern, and the cockatrice.

In time, the arms of knights became hereditary. A man, on the death of his father, received proudly his father’s sword and his shield, and appreciated the dignity of thus being associated with the honourable achievements of his parent.

Before this practice had become general, a young knight commenced his knightly career with a perfectly plain (argent) shield, and he achieved or won the right to bear devices upon it; hence the arms which were displayed on it were called his achievements. The whole surface of the shield was called “the field” because he performed his deeds, recorded on the shield, on the “field of battle.”

Sometimes a knight adopted arms representing his name—e.g., the arms of Lucy were “three luce or pike”; the family of Colthurst had “a colt” as crest. These were called “canting arms,” and were obviously not granted for any feat of daring. Symbolism played a prominent part in the selection of arms and crests, for kings and leaders displayed on their shields lions and eagles—the emblems of courage and power and kingly authority. The castle was an emblem of stability, and this device was also granted to knights who successfully defended or reduced a castle.

The followers of knights and nobles adopted the habit of wearing a device called a badge, taken from the arms of their lord, and they wore costumes of the chief colours of his shield. These were called liveries, and from this is derived the modern custom of the liveries of men-servants. Most famous of these liveries were the Plantagenets—scarlet and white; the Lancastrians—blue and white; the Yorkists—blue and crimson; the Tudors—white and green. The common people, at the time when heraldry was most generally practised, were quite illiterate, but everyone could read and understand the devices of heraldry.

Among the most famous badges worn by retainers were the Planta genista, or broom plant of the Plantagenets, and the roses, red and white, of the Lancastrians and Yorkists. The Tudor family fittingly adopted as a badge a double rose, consisting of a white rose within a red one, to signify the union of the two great families. Village inns were named after a prominent device borne upon the shield of the local lord of the manor, and in this way we get such names as the Red Lion, the Blue Boar, the White Hart, the Rose and Crown, etc.

Many knights were spoken of by their badges—e.g., Henry Tudor speaks to his followers of “the wretched, bloody, and usurping boar,” meaning Richard III., one of whose badges was the boar.

The surcoat, or sleeveless coat, was adopted, worn over the armour, to lessen the discomfort caused by the sun’s rays striking directly on the armour. It became a magnificent garment of velvet or silk, elaborately embroidered with the armorial bearings in silk and gold (hence the origin of the word “coat-of-arms”).

This garment still survives in the Tabard of the Royal Heralds, on which are embroidered the arms of the sovereign.

During the reigns of Edward III. and Henry V., owing to the French Wars and their effect upon the martial population of England, heraldry was practised most extensively and had its noblest application, but during the reign of that butterfly king, Richard II., it reached its most fantastic heights.

After the reign of Edward IV., the value and importance attached to the correct practice of heraldry declined, for during the Wars of the Roses many noble families became exterminated, and Henry VII. ennobled many of the upper middle classes to take their places. To this, and the profuse creation of knights’ bannerets or baronets by James I., may be attributed the gradual decline of heraldry, and the ridiculous grants of arms made in the Georgian period contributed still further to that effect.