Anna Komarinets. Encyclopedia of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table / A. Komarinets - M.: LLC "Publishing House Ast", 2001 - this article pp. 115-118

Identification marks system; later the science of drawing up and describing coats of arms.

Coats of arms and special signs on the shield and helmet, designed to help identify a knight during a battle or tournament, were traditionally perhaps the most obvious feature that distinguished a knight from other members of medieval society. It is believed that the custom of using coats of arms arose in the 12th century, when a helmet with a visor appeared, completely hiding the face, and uniform standard armor turned the knightly army into a single steel mass. All this contributed to the development of "identification marks" - heraldry. An even more urgent need for a developed coat of arms arose among the participants in the crusades, in which knights could take part. different countries. There was a need to find some system of signs and symbols that would allow - placed, for example, on a shield - to recognize knights.

Coat of arms of Arthur. Late French version

The coat of arms was called (and is called in theoretical heraldry today) special figures or symbolic images created on the basis of well-known, precisely defined rules and serving as permanent distinctive signs of an individual, clan, community or organization, as well as a city, region or an entire state.

There are known cases of using individual symbols and iconic images by famous warriors of antiquity and the Dark Ages. These signs remained the exclusive property of a certain person, while the medieval coat of arms stepped beyond the scope of a mere identification mark, as it became hereditary and acquired legal significance (when using the coat of arms in seals). End of the 12th century and the entire XIV century, the heyday of the chivalric romance, were at the same time the heyday of knightly heraldry. Literacy in those days remained the lot of only a very narrow circle, so the generally accepted language of coats of arms, emblems and symbols was of particular importance. Heraldry XIII - XIV centuries. actually took the place of the figurative language of this era, which almost everyone could speak. Therefore, it is not surprising that heraldry left its mark on almost all aspects of life in the Middle Ages.

Coats of arms adorned banners, standards and city buildings, flaunted on horse saddles. The knights who returned from the Crusades brought with them the custom of imitation of oriental luxury of clothes, and the so-called surcot, or cotte-hardie, worn over a long tunic with narrow sleeves, came into fashion. Noble persons wore clothes in colors corresponding to their coat of arms; ordinary nobles received such heraldic robes from the king or from their lords, and also wore their coat of arms colors. Under Charles V (1330 - 1380, reigned from 1364), costumes of two coat of arms came into fashion in France: the right half of the suit corresponded to one coat of arms, and the left to another. This is how the two-tone dresses and fairy dresses arose, which, starting with Mark Twain, almost every humorist and satirist made fun of, but which did not at all seem clownish to those who wore them in the 14th century.

Heraldry, or blazon (as it was called at the time of the writing of chivalric novels), appeared in the form of special knowledge precisely in the era of the Crusades. The custom of tournaments, which became widespread around the same time, and the ceremonies associated with it, also contributed to the development of the terminology of heraldry and even the so-called heraldic language. At first, very few people knew the rules of this language, moreover, with the increase in the number of personal coats of arms, these rules became very confusing. Heraldry, with its peculiar signs, figures, their endless combinations, various divisions of the coat of arms, etc., has become a very complex science. Heraldry has become so firmly established as a part of knightly culture that neither the authors themselves nor their audience could imagine the Knights of the Round Table without correctly composed heraldic emblems.

The "historical" Arthur, whose official biography is given in his chronicle by Geoffrey of Monmouth, lived in the Dark Ages, when no heraldry existed yet. Its famous dragon banner is clearly borrowed from the battle standard of the mercenary cavalry of the late Roman Empire. The emblem on Arthur's shield may have been at first a cross and/or an image of the Virgin Mary - both the Welsh Annals of Cumbria and the chronicles of Nennius mention this. Although Nennius says that he "carried this sign on his shoulder", this may be due to the confusion that arose when translating into Latin two graphically similar Welsh words "shoulder" and "shield".

From the end of the XII century. the cross and the icon of the Virgin in the coat of arms of Arthur are replaced by three crowns, which should obviously indicate his superiority over the other kings. In the XV century. with the spread of the belief that these three crowns meant the three kingdoms (North Wales, South Wales and Logria), the number of crowns in the coat of arms increased to 13 in order to represent all the kingdoms that brought the vassal oath to King Arthur. The field of Arthur's coat of arms is usually red in English sources and blue in French texts (in line with the blue field of the French royal coat of arms).

As regards the knights of the Round Table, it is clear from the texts of chivalric romances and from illustrated manuscripts that different authors disagree about the armorial emblems of their heroes to the same extent that they disagree about what the Grail is. Nevertheless, no matter what coats of arms they endowed their heroes with, these coats of arms were built in strict accordance with the rules of heraldry.

Before turning to the most famous emblems of the Knights of the Round Table, a few heraldic terms should be clarified.

Since from the very first steps in the development of coats of arms, decals were placed primarily on shields, the coat of arms itself soon acquired the shape of a shield. The surface of the coat of arms (like the surface of the shield) is called the field of the coat of arms. Ancient heraldry distinguished four colors and two metals. Shields were often decorated with gold and silver, and these metals were also transferred to the coat of arms, where they began to designate the corresponding colors. In the names below, the first is the French term, since English heraldry relied on French, as happened several centuries later with Russian heraldry.

Or - "gold" (subsequently, the same term began to denote yellow).

Argent - "silver" (subsequently, the same term began to denote white).

The colors adopted in heraldry are called tincture (this word takes into account the shade of the color). When describing the coat of arms we are talking about “enamels”, since initially paints were applied to coats of arms precisely through enamel. Ancient heraldry recognized the following enamels:

Gules (geules) - red, or worm.

Azur - blue, or azure.

Vert (sinople) - greens.

Sable - black.

In the XV century. to these primary colors, several more composite colors were added, the most common of which are purple (pourpur), ashen (in German coats of arms) and orange (tenne) (in English coats of arms). Very rarely, so-called natural colors were also used. This was done in the case when, according to special instructions, any animal (deer, fox, bull), a well-known plant or part of the human body should be depicted in the coat of arms - in the color that they actually have: brown, red, gray, pink or bodily and others. In the Middle Ages, in such cases, instead of natural ones, heralds resorted to the closest colors of heraldic tincture that matched their character. This is how gray or red deer, dogs and bulls appeared in the coats of arms; lions were depicted in gold or red, parts of the human body in red or silver.

Approximately in the middle of the XV century. a list of coats of arms was compiled “Names, coats of arms and blazons of the Knights of the Round Table” (“Les Noms, Arms et Blasons des Chevalliers et Compaignes de la Table Ronde”), which contains drawings and descriptions of 175 coats of arms of the Knights of the Round Table. The list existed as an appendix to the famous "Book of Tournaments" by King René of Anjou (c. 1455), which contained detailed instructions for arranging tournaments "according to the rules established in the days of King Uther Pendragon and King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table."

Some of the emblems in this list are directly related to the plots of chivalric novels. For example, the coat of arms of Ywain, the "Knight with a Lion" - a golden lion in an azure field, or the coat of arms of Lancelot: three scarlet bandages on the left in a silver field. The latter is a reference to the mention that Lancelot had the power of three warriors. The coats of arms of Lancelot and Ywain given here belong to the so-called vowel coats of arms. Initially, only those coats of arms were considered vowels, the emblem of which directly indicated the name of the owner; when naming a vowel emblem, the name of the owner of the coat of arms was also called. Subsequently, emblems-rebuses similar to those mentioned above began to be called vowels. The vowels also include, for example, the coat of arms of Tristan, which contains a play on words based on the name of the hero: green, golden lion.

Sometimes, as a result of a scribal error, emblems could change. So, for example, the coat of arms of Kay changed, which was originally blazoned as the Silver Head in black - the head here denoted the position of Kay at the court of King Arthur (seneschal). As a result of a mistake, the word "chief" (head - a heraldic figure, which is a wide strip in the upper part of the shield) turned into "clefs" (keys), and on the coat of arms of Kay - Seneschal, instead of the Silver head, two silver keys appeared. In some cases, a completely new character appeared as a result of an error in reading the coat of arms. A similar “double” of Sagramur the Desired was born from an incorrect reading of his coat of arms in the “Second Continuation” of “Perceval” by Chrétien de Troyes.

Since several different traditions intertwined in the Arthurian epic, its main characters, in various novels, have two or even three completely different coats of arms. Something similar happened, for example, with Gawain. In the French tradition, the shield of Gawain is the right front corner of a worm in a silver field. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Gawain was knighted by Pope Sulpicius, who also granted him a coat of arms. In the novel "Perlesvo" this coat of arms is called the shield of Judas Maccabee - a golden eagle in a scarlet field. In the appendix to the Book of Tournaments, this coat of arms is again somewhat modified: a double-headed golden eagle in a scarlet field. Another emblem of Gawain (perhaps the most famous of all) is given in the novel "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight": a golden pentagram in a scarlet field. In the Middle Ages, such a symbol was called the Seal of Solomon, or the "endless knot." The same novel says that this coat of arms is exclusively personal, received for special merits and cannot be inherited. In the XIV century. in connection with the development of tournaments, tournament weapons began to differ significantly from military weapons, and among chivalry it became customary to have a set of two shields: “war shields” of a traditional triangular shape with a family coat of arms placed on it, and a “peace shield”, a square tarch with a slot into which the spear was inserted. A personal coat of arms was placed on this shield - for tournaments and peaceful adventures. Consequently, when going in search of the Green Chapel, Gawain takes with him a shield with his personal coat of arms, the "shield of the world."

In general, going on wanderings and returning from them (this was especially true of the crusades), the knights placed special symbols on their coats of arms. Usually they were small birds, similar to swallows and depicted in profile, without a beak and without paws. These migratory birds were supposed to indicate that the knights were wandering and homeless. The coat of arms of Galahad, a perfect knight who reached the Grail, is also associated with the crusades - a red cross in a white field initially served as an identification mark for all crusaders, participants in the first crusade, launched in 1096.

It is worth mentioning another sign that is often found in chivalric novels - the white shield. With a white shield, that is, a shield with an empty field without any coats of arms and emblems or any other images, the knight entered the tournament if for some reason he wanted to remain unrecognized. In general, the descriptions of tournaments in chivalric novels are full of references to how one or another hero, in order to remain unrecognized, “changes colors”, that is, acts with a shield of other coat of arms colors. Such a "masquerade" or unwillingness to travel with his well-known shield, however, often turned into a tragedy. For example, fought without recognizing each other, Perceval and Bors, who went in search of the Holy Grail, placing migratory swallows on their shields. Only the miracle of the Grail saved them from death. In ignorance, Gawain killed in a duel his named brother Yvain the Desperate, who traveled with a white (empty) shield.

Although the coats of arms of the Arthurian list were recognized as authentic and were cited in all textbooks on heraldry until the end of the 19th century, only one of them made it to the pages of Malory's "Death of Arthur" - the coat of arms of Galahad.

Paul worked on the creation of coats of arms (according to the above-mentioned encyclopedia),

edited by Narwen (using WHP graphics - Heraldry Gallery)

HERALDY - system of identification marks;

later the science of drawing up and describing coats of arms.

Coats of arms and special signs on the shield and helmet, designed to help identify a knight during a battle or tournament, were traditionally perhaps the most obvious feature that distinguished a knight from other members of medieval society. It is believed that the custom of using coats of arms arose in the 12th century, when a helmet with a visor appeared, completely hiding the face, and uniform standard armor turned the knightly army into a single steel mass. All this contributed to the development of "identification marks" - heraldry. An even more urgent need for a developed coat of arms arose among the participants in the crusades, in which knights from different countries could take part. There was a need to find some system of signs and symbols that would allow - placed, for example, on a shield - to recognize knights.

The coat of arms was called (and is called in theoretical heraldry today) special figures or symbolic images created on the basis of well-known, precisely defined rules and serving as permanent distinctive signs of an individual, clan, community or organization, as well as a city, region or an entire state.

There are known cases of using individual symbols and iconic images by famous warriors of antiquity and the Dark Ages. These signs remained the exclusive property of a certain person, while the medieval coat of arms stepped beyond the scope of a mere identification mark, as it became hereditary and acquired legal significance (when using the coat of arms in seals). End of the 12th century and the entire XIV century, the heyday of the chivalric romance, were at the same time the heyday of knightly heraldry. Literacy in those days remained the lot of only a very narrow circle, so the generally accepted language of coats of arms, emblems and symbols was of particular importance. Heraldry XIII - XIV centuries. actually took the place of the figurative language of this era, which almost everyone could speak. Therefore, it is not surprising that heraldry left its mark on almost all aspects of life in the Middle Ages.

Coats of arms adorned banners, standards and city buildings, flaunted on horse saddles. The knights who returned from the Crusades brought with them the custom of imitation of oriental luxury of clothes, and the so-called surcot, or cotte-hardie, worn over a long tunic with narrow sleeves, came into fashion. Noble persons wore clothes in colors corresponding to their coat of arms; ordinary nobles received such heraldic robes from the king or from their lords, and also wore their coat of arms colors. Under Charles V (1330 - 1380, reigned from 1364), costumes of two coat of arms came into fashion in France: the right half of the suit corresponded to one coat of arms, and the left half to another. This is how the two-tone dresses and fairy dresses arose, which, starting with Mark Twain, almost every humorist and satirist made fun of, but which did not at all seem buffoonish to those who wore them in the 14th century.

Heraldry, or blazon (as it was called at the time of the writing of chivalric novels), appeared in the form of special knowledge precisely in the era of the Crusades. The custom of tournaments, which became widespread around the same time, and the ceremonies associated with it, also contributed to the development of the terminology of heraldry and even the so-called heraldic language. At first, very few people knew the rules of this language, moreover, with the increase in the number of personal coats of arms, these rules became very confusing. Heraldry, with its peculiar signs, figures, their endless combinations, various divisions of the coat of arms, etc., has become a very complex science. Heraldry has become so firmly established as a part of knightly culture that neither the authors themselves nor their audience could imagine the Knights of the Round Table without correctly composed heraldic emblems.

The "historical" Arthur, whose official biography is given in his chronicle by Geoffrey of Monmouth, lived in the Dark Ages, when no heraldry existed yet. Its famous dragon banner is clearly borrowed from the battle standard of the mercenary cavalry of the late Roman Empire. The emblem on Arthur's shield may have been at first a cross and/or an image of the Virgin Mary - both the Welsh Annals of Cumbria and the chronicles of Nennius mention this. Although Nennius says that he "carried this sign on his shoulder", this may be due to the confusion that arose when translating into Latin two graphically similar Welsh words "shoulder" and "shield".

From the end of the XII century. the cross and the icon of the Virgin in the coat of arms of Arthur are replaced by three crowns, which should obviously indicate his superiority over the other kings. In the XV century. with the spread of the belief that these three crowns meant the three kingdoms (North Wales, South Wales and Logria), the number of crowns in the coat of arms increased to 13 in order to represent all the kingdoms that brought the vassal oath to King Arthur. The field of Arthur's coat of arms is usually red in English sources and blue in French texts (in line with the blue field of the French royal coat of arms).

As regards the knights of the Round Table, it is clear from the texts of chivalric romances and from illustrated manuscripts that different authors disagree about the armorial emblems of their heroes to the same extent that they disagree about what the Grail is. Nevertheless, no matter what coats of arms they endowed their heroes with, these coats of arms were built in strict accordance with the rules of heraldry.

Before turning to the most famous emblems of the Knights of the Round Table, a few heraldic terms should be clarified.

Since from the very first steps in the development of coats of arms, decals were placed primarily on shields, the coat of arms itself soon acquired the shape of a shield. The surface of the coat of arms (like the surface of the shield) is called the field of the coat of arms. Ancient heraldry distinguished four colors and two metals. Shields were often decorated with gold and silver, and these metals were also transferred to the coat of arms, where they began to designate the corresponding colors. In the names below, the first is the French term, since English heraldry relied on French, as happened several centuries later with Russian heraldry.

Or - "gold" (subsequently, the same term began to denote yellow).
Argent - "silver" (subsequently, the same term began to denote white).

The colors adopted in heraldry are called tincture (this word takes into account the shade of the color). When describing the coat of arms, we are talking about “enamels”, since initially paints were applied to coats of arms precisely through enamel. Ancient heraldry recognized the following enamels:

Gules (geules) - red, or worm.
Azur - blue, or azure.
Vert (sinople) - greens.
Sable - black.

In the XV century. to these primary colors, several more composite colors were added, the most common of which are purple (pourpur), ashen (in German coats of arms) and orange (tenne) (in English coats of arms). Very rarely, so-called natural colors were also used. This was done in the case when, according to special instructions, any animal (deer, fox, bull), a well-known plant or part of the human body should be depicted in the coat of arms - in the color that they actually have: brown, red, gray, pink or bodily etc. In the Middle Ages, in such cases, instead of natural ones, heralds resorted to the colors of the heraldic tincture that were closest to them in character. This is how gray or red deer, dogs and bulls appeared in the coats of arms; lions were depicted in gold or red, parts of the human body in red or silver.

Approximately in the middle of the XV century. a list of coats of arms was compiled “Names, coats of arms and blazons of the Knights of the Round Table” (“Les Noms, Arms et Blasons des Chevalliers et Compaignes de la Table Ronde”), which contains drawings and descriptions of 175 coats of arms of the Knights of the Round Table. The list existed as an appendix to the famous "Book of Tournaments" by King René of Anjou (c. 1455), which contained detailed instructions for arranging tournaments "according to the rules established in the days of King Uther Pendragon and King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table."

Some of the emblems in this list are directly related to the plots of chivalric novels. For example, the coat of arms of Ywain, the "Knight with a Lion" - a golden lion in an azure field, or the coat of arms of Lancelot: three scarlet bandages on the left in a silver field. The latter is a reference to the mention that Lancelot had the power of three warriors. The coats of arms of Lancelot and Ywain given here belong to the so-called vowel coats of arms. Initially, only those coats of arms were considered vowels, the emblem of which directly indicated the name of the owner; when naming a vowel emblem, the name of the owner of the coat of arms was also called. Subsequently, emblems-rebuses similar to those mentioned above began to be called vowels. The vowels also include, for example, the coat of arms of Tristan, which contains a play on words based on the name of the hero: green, golden lion.

Sometimes, as a result of a scribal error, emblems could change. So, for example, the coat of arms of Kay changed, which was originally blazoned as the Silver Head in black - the head here denoted the position of Kay at the court of King Arthur (seneschal). As a result of a mistake, the word "chief" (head - a heraldic figure, which is a wide strip in the upper part of the shield) turned into "clefs" (keys), and on the coat of arms of Kay - Seneschal, instead of the Silver head, two silver keys appeared. In some cases, a completely new character appeared as a result of an error in reading the coat of arms. A similar “double” of Sagramur the Desired was born from an incorrect reading of his coat of arms in the “Second Continuation” of “Perceval” by Chrétien de Troyes.

Coat of arms of Kai: early	Coat of arms of Kai: late

Since several different traditions intertwined in the Arthurian epic, its main characters, in various novels, have two or even three completely different coats of arms. Something similar happened, for example, with Gawain. In the French tradition, the shield of Gawain is the right front corner of a worm in a silver field. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Gawain was knighted by Pope Sulpicius, who also granted him a coat of arms. In the novel "Perlesvo" this coat of arms is called the shield of Judas Maccabee - a golden eagle in a scarlet field. In the appendix to the Book of Tournaments, this coat of arms is again somewhat modified: a double-headed golden eagle in a scarlet field. Another emblem of Gawain (perhaps the most famous of all) is given in the novel "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight": a golden pentagram in a scarlet field. In the Middle Ages, such a symbol was called the Seal of Solomon, or the "endless knot." The same novel says that this coat of arms is exclusively personal, received for special merits and cannot be inherited. In the XIV century. in connection with the development of tournaments, tournament weapons began to differ significantly from military weapons, and among chivalry it became customary to have a set of two shields: “war shields” of a traditional triangular shape with a family coat of arms placed on it, and a “peace shield”, a square tarch with a slot into which the spear was inserted. A personal coat of arms was placed on this shield - for tournaments and peaceful adventures. Consequently, when going in search of the Green Chapel, Gawain takes with him a shield with his personal coat of arms, the "shield of the world."

It is worth mentioning another sign that is often found in chivalric novels - the white shield. With a white shield, that is, a shield with an empty field without any coats of arms and emblems or any other images, the knight entered the tournament if for some reason he wanted to remain unrecognized. In general, the descriptions of tournaments in chivalric novels are full of references to how one or another hero, in order to remain unrecognized, “changes colors”, that is, acts with a shield of other coat of arms colors. Such a "masquerade" or unwillingness to travel with his well-known shield, however, often turned into a tragedy. For example, fought without recognizing each other, Perceval and Bors, who went in search of the Holy Grail, placing migratory swallows on their shields. Only the miracle of the Grail saved them from death. In ignorance, Gawain killed in a duel his named brother Yvain the Desperate, who traveled with a white (empty) shield.

Although the coats of arms of the Arthurian list were recognized as authentic and were cited in all textbooks on heraldry until the end of the 19th century, only one of them made it to the pages of Malory's "Death of Arthur" - the coat of arms of Galahad.

Anna Komarinets. Encyclopedia of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

(A. Komarinets - M.: LLC "Publishing House Ast", 2001, pp. 115-118)

This material was kindly provided by Narwen

(administrator of the site "GRAIL: Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table"

Illustrations coats of arms of knights (except for the coat of arms of Gawain with a pentagram) were developed by Paul (according to the above-mentioned encyclopedia),
edited by Narwen (using graphics WHP - Heraldry Gallery

Seal of Ivan III the Great

Each state has its own symbols that reflect its internal structure: power, territory, natural features and other priorities. One of the symbols of the state is the coat of arms.

The coat of arms of each country has its own history of creation. There are special rules for drawing up a coat of arms drawing, this is done by a special historical discipline of HERALDY, which developed back in the Middle Ages.

Coat of arms history Russian Empire quite interesting and unique.

Officially, Russian heraldry begins with the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov (XVII century). But the forerunner of the emblem was the personal seals of the Russian tsars, so the primary sources of the Russian emblem should be sought in the 15th century, during the reign of Ivan III the Great. Initially, on the personal seal of Ivan III, George the Victorious was depicted, striking a snake with a spear - a symbol of Moscow and the Moscow principality. double-headed eagle was adopted on the state seal after the wedding in 1472 of Ivan III the Great with Sophia (Zoya) Paleolog, niece last emperor Byzantium Constantine Palaiologos. It symbolized the transfer of the heritage of the fallen Byzantium. But before Peter I, the Russian coat of arms was not subject to heraldic rules; Russian heraldry was developed precisely during his reign.

History of the coat of arms double-headed eagle

The eagle in the coat of arms originates from Byzantium. Later he appeared on the coat of arms of Russia. The image of an eagle is used in the coats of arms of many countries of the world: Austria, Germany, Iraq, Spain, Mexico, Poland, Syria, USA. But the double-headed eagle is present only on the coats of arms of Albania and Serbia. The Russian double-headed eagle has undergone many changes since its appearance and formation as an element of the state emblem. Let's consider these steps.
As mentioned above, coats of arms appeared in Russia a long time ago, but they were only drawings on the seals of the kings, they did not obey heraldic rules. Due to the lack of chivalry in Russia, coats of arms were not very common.
Until the 16th century, Russia was a disparate state, so the state emblem of Russia was out of the question. But under Ivan III (1462-
1505) his seal acted as a coat of arms. On its front side there is a horseman piercing a snake with a spear, and on the reverse side there is a double-headed eagle.
The first known images of a double-headed eagle date back to the 13th century BC. - This is a rock image of a double-headed eagle grabbing two birds with one stone. This was the coat of arms of the Hittite kings.
The double-headed eagle was a symbol of the Median kingdom - an ancient power in the territory of Asia Minor under the Median king Cyaxares (625-585 BC). Then the double-headed eagle appeared on the emblems of Rome under Constantine the Great. After the foundation in 330 of the new capital - Constantinople - the double-headed eagle became the state emblem of the Roman Empire.
After the adoption of Christianity from Byzantium, Russia began to experience a strong influence of Byzantine culture, Byzantine ideas. Along with Christianity, new political orders and relations began to penetrate Russia. This influence especially intensified after the marriage of Sophia Paleolog and Ivan III. This marriage had important consequences for the monarchical power in Moscow. As a spouse, the Grand Duke of Moscow becomes the successor of the Byzantine emperor, who was considered the head of the entire Orthodox East. In relations with small neighboring lands, he already bears the title of Tsar of All Russia. Another title, "autocrat", is a translation of the Byzantine imperial title autocrator; Initially, it meant the independence of the sovereign, but Ivan the Terrible gave it the meaning of the absolute, unlimited power of the monarch.
From the end of the 15th century, the Byzantine coat of arms appeared on the seals of the Moscow sovereign - a double-headed eagle, it is combined with the former Moscow coat of arms - the image of George the Victorious. Thus, Russia confirmed the continuity from Byzantium.

From IvanIII to PetraI

Great State Seal of Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich (the Terrible)

The development of the Russian emblem is inextricably linked with the history of Russia. The eagle on the seals of John III was depicted with a closed beak and looked more like an eaglet. Russia of that time was still an eaglet, a young state. In the reign of Vasily III Ioannovich (1505-1533), the double-headed eagle is depicted already with open beaks, from which tongues protrude. At this time, Russia was strengthening its position: the monk Philotheus sent a message to Vasily III with his theory that "Moscow is the Third Rome."

In the reign of John IV Vasilyevich (1533-1584), Russia won victories over the Astrakhan and Kazan kingdoms, annexed Siberia. The power of the Russian state is also reflected in its coat of arms: the double-headed eagle on the state seal is crowned with a single crown with an eight-pointed Orthodox cross above it. Front side of the seal: on the chest of the eagle there is a carved German shield with a unicorn - the personal sign of the king. All symbols in the personal symbolism of John IV are taken from the Psalter. Reverse side of the seal: on the chest of the eagle is a shield with the image of St. George the Victorious.

On February 21, 1613, Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov was elected king by the Zemsky Sobor. His election put an end to the unrest that took place in the period after the death of Ivan the Terrible. The eagle on the coat of arms of this period spreads its wings, which means a new era in the history of Russia, which at that time becomes a single and rather strong state. This circumstance is immediately reflected in the coat of arms: instead of an eight-pointed cross, a third crown appears above the eagle. The interpretation of this change is different: a symbol of the Holy Trinity or a symbol of the unity of Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians. There is also a third interpretation: the conquered Kazan, Astrakhan and Siberian kingdoms.
Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov (1645-1676) ends the Russian-Polish conflict with the conclusion of the Andrusovo truce with Poland (1667). The Russian state becomes equal in rights with other European states. During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, the eagle receives symbols of power: scepter and power.

Great State Seal of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich

At the request of the tsar, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Leopold I sent his king of arms Lavrenty Hurelevich to Moscow, who in 1673 wrote the essay “On the Genealogy of the Russian Grand Dukes and Sovereigns, showing the existing, through marriages, affinity between Russia and the eight European powers, that is Caesar of Rome, the kings of English, Danish, Gishpansky, Polish, Portuguese and Swedish, and with the image of these royal coats of arms, and in the middle of their Grand Duke St. Vladimir, at the end of the portrait of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. This essay marked the beginning of the development of Russian heraldry. The wings of the eagle are raised up and fully opened (a symbol of the complete assertion of Russia as a powerful state; its heads are crowned with three royal crowns; on the chest is a shield with the Moscow coat of arms; in its paws is a scepter and orb.

Lavrenty Khurelevich in 1667 for the first time gave an official description of the Russian coat of arms: “The double-headed eagle is the coat of arms of the sovereign Grand Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of All Great and Small and White Russia, the autocrat, His Royal Majesty of the Russian kingdom, on which three corunas are depicted, signifying the three great Kazan, Astrakhan, Siberian glorious kingdoms, submitting to the God-protected and highest of His Tsar's Majesty the most merciful Sovereign and command ... on the Persians the image of the heir; in pasonkteh, a scepter and an apple, and they reveal the most merciful Sovereign, His Royal Majesty the Autocrat and Possessor.

From Peter I to Alexander II

Coat of arms of Peter I

Peter I ascended Russian throne in 1682. During his reign, the Russian Empire became equal among the leading powers of Europe.
Under him, according to heraldic rules, the coat of arms began to be depicted in black (before that, it was depicted in gold). The eagle has become not only an adornment of state papers, but also a symbol of strength and power.
In 1721, Peter I assumed the imperial title, and instead of royal crowns, imperial crowns began to be depicted on the coats of arms. In 1722, he established the King of Arms office and the position of King of Arms.
The state emblem under Peter I underwent other changes: in addition to changing the color of the eagle, shields with coats of arms were placed on its wings
Great principalities and kingdoms. On the right wing there were shields with coats of arms (from top to bottom): Kiev, Novgorod, Astrakhan; on the left wing: Vladimir, Siberian, Kazan. It was under Peter I that a set of attributes of the coat of arms eagle developed.
And after Russia's entry into the "spaces of Siberia and Far East» The double-headed eagle began to symbolize the inseparability of European and Asian Russia under one imperial crown, since one crowned head looks to the west, the other to the east.
The era after Peter I is known as the era of palace coups. In the 30s of the XVIII century. immigrants from Germany dominated the leadership of the state, which did not contribute to the strengthening of the country. In 1736, Empress Anna Ioannovna invited a Swiss by birth, a Swedish engraver I.K.

Before late XVIII in. there were no special changes in the design of the coat of arms, but during the time of Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine the Great, the eagle looked more like an eagle.

Coat of arms of Catherine I

Pavel I

Coat of arms of Russia with the Maltese cross

After becoming emperor, Paul I immediately tried to modify the Russian coat of arms. By decree of April 5, 1797, the double-headed eagle becomes an integral part of the coat of arms of the imperial family. But since Paul I was the master of the Order of Malta, this could not but be reflected in the state emblem. In 1799, Emperor Paul I issued a decree on the image of a double-headed eagle with a Maltese cross on its chest. The cross was placed on the chest of the eagle under the Moscow coat of arms ("the root coat of arms of Russia"). Also, the emperor is making an attempt to develop and introduce a complete coat of arms of the Russian Empire. At the upper end of this cross was placed the crown of the Grand Master.
In 1800, he proposed a complex coat of arms, on which forty-three coats of arms were placed in a multi-field shield and on nine small shields. However, they did not manage to accept this coat of arms before Paul's death.
Paul I was also the founder of the Great Russian coat of arms. The Manifesto of December 16, 1800 gives its full description. The large Russian emblem was supposed to symbolize the internal unity and power of Russia. However, the project of Paul I was not implemented.
Alexander I, having become emperor in 1801, abolished the Maltese cross on the state emblem. But under Alexander I, on the coat of arms, the wings of an eagle are widely spread to the side, and the feathers are lowered down. One head is more tilted than the other. Instead of a scepter and an orb in the paws of an eagle, new attributes appear: a torch, thunderbolts (thunder arrows), a laurel wreath (sometimes a branch), a lictor bundle intertwined with ribbons.

Nicholas I

Coat of arms of Nicholas I

The reign of Nicholas I (1825-1855) was emphatically firm and resolute (the suppression of the Decembrist uprising, limiting the status of Poland). Under him, from 1830, the armorial eagle began to be depicted with sharply raised wings (this remained so until 1917). In 1829, Nicholas I was crowned the kingdom of Poland, therefore, since 1832, the coat of arms of the Polish kingdom has been included in the Russian coat of arms.
At the end of the reign of Nicholas I, the head of the department of heraldry, Baron B.V. Kene, tried to give the coat of arms the features of Western European heraldry: the image of the eagle should have become more strict. The coat of arms of Moscow was supposed to be depicted in a French shield, the rider should have been turned, according to heraldic rules, to the left side of the viewer. But in 1855, Nicholas I died, and Kene's projects were implemented only under Alexander II.

Large, Medium and Small coats of arms of the Russian Empire

Large State Emblem of the Russian Empire 1857

The large state emblem of the Russian Empire was introduced in 1857 by decree of Emperor Alexander II (this is the idea of ​​Emperor Paul I).
The large coat of arms of Russia is a symbol of the unity and power of Russia. Around the double-headed eagle are the coats of arms of the territories that are part of the Russian state. In the center of the Great State Emblem is a French shield with a golden field, on which a double-headed eagle is depicted. The eagle itself is black, crowned with three imperial crowns, which are connected by a blue ribbon: two small ones crown the head, a large one is located between the heads and rises above them; in the paws of an eagle - a scepter and orb; on the chest is depicted "the coat of arms of Moscow: in a shield scarlet with gold edges, the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious in silver weapons and an azure volk on a silver horse." The shield, on which an eagle is depicted, is topped with the helmet of the holy Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky, around the main shield is a chain and the order of St. Andrew the First-Called. On the sides of the shield there are shield holders: on the right side (on the left of the viewer) - the holy Archangel Michael, on the left - the Archangel Gabriel. The central part under the shadow of a large imperial crown and the state banner above it.
To the left and right of the state banner, on the same horizontal line with it, six shields are depicted with the combined coats of arms of the principalities and volosts - three to the right and three to the left of the banner, almost creating a semicircle. Nine shields crowned with the coats of arms of the Grand Duchies and kingdoms and the coat of arms of His Imperial Majesty are the continuation and most of the circle that the combined coats of arms of the principalities and volosts began. Coats of arms counterclockwise: Astrakhan kingdom, Siberian kingdom, Family coat of arms of His Imperial Majesty, combined coats of arms of the Grand Principalities, coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Finland, coat of arms of Chersonis-Tauride, coat of arms of the Polish kingdom, coat of arms of the Kazan kingdom.
The upper six shields from left to right: the combined coats of arms of the principalities and regions of the Great Russian, the combined coats of arms of the principalities and regions of the South-Western, the combined coats of arms of the Baltic regions.
At the same time, the Middle and Small state emblems were adopted.
The average state coat of arms was the same as the Bolshoi, but without state banners and six coats of arms above the canopy; Small - the same as the Middle, but without a canopy, images of saints and the family coat of arms of His Imperial Majesty.
adopted by decree Alexander III dated November 3, 1882. The Great State Emblem differed from that adopted in 1857 in that it added a shield with the coat of arms of Turkestan (became part of Russia in 1867), the coats of arms of the principalities of Lithuania and Belarus were combined into one shield.
The large state emblem is framed by laurel and oak branches - a symbol of glory, honor, merit (laurel branches), valor, courage (oak branches).
The Great State Emblem reflects "the triune essence of the Russian idea: For the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland." Faith is expressed in the symbols of Russian Orthodoxy: many crosses, the holy Archangel Michael and the holy Archangel Gabriel, the motto "God bless us", an eight-pointed Orthodox cross over the state banner. The idea of ​​an autocrat is expressed in the attributes of power: a large imperial crown, other Russian historical crowns, a scepter, an orb, a chain of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.
The Fatherland is reflected in the coat of arms of Moscow, the coats of arms of Russian and Russian lands, in the helmet of the Holy Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky. The circular arrangement of the coats of arms symbolizes equality between them, and the central location of the coat of arms of Moscow symbolizes the unity of Russia around Moscow, the historical center of the Russian lands.

Conclusion

The modern coat of arms of the Russian Federation

In 1917, the eagle ceased to be the coat of arms of Russia. The coat of arms of the Russian Federation is known, the subjects of which were autonomous republics and other national entities. Each of the republics, subjects of the Russian Federation, had its own national emblem. But there is no Russian coat of arms on it.
In 1991 there was a coup d'etat. Democrats headed by BN Yeltsin came to power in Russia.
On August 22, 1991, the white-blue-red flag is re-approved as the State Flag of Russia. On November 30, 1993, President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin signs a decree "On the State Emblem of the Russian Federation". The double-headed eagle is again the coat of arms of Russia.
Now, as before, the double-headed eagle symbolizes the power and unity of the Russian state.

The invention and use of all kinds of signs and symbols is characteristic of man. The custom of choosing for oneself or for one's kind and tribe a special distinguishing sign has very deep roots and is widespread throughout the world. It comes from the tribal system and a special worldview, characteristic of all peoples in the primitive period of their history.

Generic signs and symbols are called totems; they are the closest relatives of coats of arms. The term "totem" comes from North America, and in the language of the Ojibwe Indians, the word "ototem" means the concept of "his kind." The custom of totemism consists in the election by a clan or tribe of some animal or plant as the progenitor and patron, from which all members of the tribe are descended. This custom existed among ancient peoples, however, even today it is accepted among tribes leading a primitive way of life. The ancient Slavs also had totems - sacred animals, trees, plants - from the names of which some modern Russian surnames are supposed to come. Among the Asian peoples of Turkic and Mongolian origin, there is a similar custom "tamga". Tamga is a sign of tribal affiliation, an image of an animal, bird or weapon, accepted by each tribe as a symbol, which is depicted on banners, emblems, burned on the skin of animals, and even applied to the body. There is a legend among the Kirghiz that tamgas were assigned to individual clans by Genghis Khan himself, along with "uraniums" - battle cries (which were also used by European knights, which is why they then ended up on coats of arms in the form of mottos).

The prototypes of coats of arms - various symbolic images placed on military armor, banners, rings and personal items - were used in antiquity. In the works of Homer, Virgil, Pliny and other ancient authors, there is evidence of the use of such signs. Both legendary heroes and real historical figures, such as kings and generals, often had personal emblems. So, the helmet of Alexander the Great was decorated with a sea horse (hippocampus), the helmet of Achilles - an eagle, the helmet of the king of Numibia Masinissa - a dog, the helmet of the Roman emperor Caracalla - an eagle. The shields were also decorated with various emblems, for example, the image of the severed head of the Gorgon Medusa. But these signs were used as decoration, arbitrarily changed owners, were not inherited and were not subject to any rules. Only some emblems of the islands and cities of the ancient world were constantly used - on coins, medals and seals. The emblem of Athens was an owl, Corinth - Pegasus, Samosa - a peacock, the islands of Rhodes - a rose. In this one can already see the beginnings of state heraldry. Most ancient civilizations had some elements of heraldry in their culture, for example, a system of seals or stamps, which in the future will be inextricably linked with heraldry. In Assyria, the Babylonian Empire, and in ancient Egypt, seals were used in the same way as in medieval Europe- to certify documents. These signs were extruded in clay, carved in stone and imprinted on papyrus. Already in the third millennium BC, there was a "coat of arms" of the Sumerian states - an eagle with a lion's head. The emblem of Egypt was a snake, Armenia - a crowned lion, Persia - an eagle. Subsequently, the eagle will become the coat of arms of Rome. The "coat of arms" of Byzantium was actually a double-headed eagle, later borrowed by some European states, including Russia.

The ancient Germans painted their shields in different colors. Roman legionnaires had emblems on their shields, by which it was possible to determine their belonging to a certain cohort. Roman banners - vexilla (hence the name of the science of flags - vexillology) were decorated with special images. To distinguish between legions and cohorts, the troops also used badges - signa - in the form of various animals - an eagle, a boar, a lion, a minotaur, a horse, a she-wolf and others, which rushed ahead of the troops on long poles. From these figures, often related to the history of the city of Rome, military units were sometimes named.

So, various systems of insignia and emblems existed always and everywhere, but heraldry proper as a special form of symbolism arose in the process of the development of the feudal system in Western Europe.

The bright and colorful art of heraldry developed in the gloomy times of the decline of culture and economy, which came in Europe with the death of the Roman Empire and the establishment of the Christian religion, when feudalism arose and a system of hereditary aristocracy developed. Several factors contributed to the appearance of coats of arms. First of all - feudalism and the crusades, but they gave birth to the destroying and life-giving fire of war. It is believed that the coats of arms appeared in the 10th century, but it is difficult to find out the exact date. The first coats of arms depicted on the seals attached to documents date back to the 11th century. The oldest official seals are placed on the marriage contract of 1000, concluded by Sancho, Infante of Castile, with Wilhelmina, daughter of Gaston II, Viscount of Bearn. It should be borne in mind that in the era of total illiteracy, the use of a coat of arms for signature and for denoting ownership was the only way for many to certify a document with their name. Such an identification mark was understandable even to an illiterate person (it is quite possible that coats of arms appeared first on seals, and only then on weapons and clothes).

Undoubted evidence of the existence of heraldry appears only after the Crusades. The earliest such evidence is a French enamel drawing from the grave of Geoffroy Plantagenet (died 1151), Count of Anjou and Maine, depicting Geoffroy himself with a coat of arms, where on an azure field there are supposedly four rearing golden lions (the exact number of lions is difficult to determine due to the position , in which the shield is drawn). The earl was the son-in-law of Henry I, King of England, who ruled from 1100-1135, who, according to the chronicle, granted him this coat of arms.

The first English king to have a personal coat of arms was Richard I the Lionheart (1157-1199). His three golden leopards have been used since then by all the royal dynasties of England.

"WHO HERE IS SORRY AND POOR WILL BE RICH THERE!"

The Crusades, which lasted from 1096 to 1291, constituted an entire era in European history. The beginning of this two-hundred-year war was provoked by the Turks, who had established themselves in Palestine - fanatical Muslims, who, armed with their irreconcilable religion, began to desecrate the shrines of Christianity and put obstacles in the way of Christians who wanted to make a pilgrimage to Palestine and Jerusalem. But the true reasons lay deeper and consisted in the centuries-old confrontation between Europe and Asia, which continues to this day. The Asian tribes, united under the banner of Islam, began a grandiose expansion, as a result of which they conquered Syria, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa, Spain, threatened Constantinople and were already approaching the very heart of Europe. In 711, an Arab army of 7,000 men led by Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to European continent. Thus began the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (the rock on the Spanish coast has since been called Mount Tariq, or in Arabic - Jabal-Tariq, which in Spanish pronunciation turned into Gibraltar). By 715, almost the entire Iberian Peninsula was in Muslim hands. In 721, the Umayyads, who ruled a vast caliphate from 661-750, crossed the Pyrenees, invaded Spain, and began their conquest of southern France. They captured the cities of Narbonne and Carcassonne. Thus, new strongholds arose for attacks on Aquitaine and Burgundy. The ruler of the Franks, Charles from the Carolingian family (689-741), defeated the Arabs when they reached the Loire. This happened in 732 at the Battle of Poitiers. The victory earned him the nickname Martell - "hammer", because he stopped the advance of Muslims in Western Europe. But the Arabs held power in Provence for several decades. The military expansion of the Muslim conquerors contributed to the penetration of Arab art and philosophy into Europe in a short period of their heyday. Arab culture gave impetus to the development of medicine and natural sciences in Western Europe. In Byzantium, the Muslims were smashed by Emperor Leo III the Isaurian. The further spread of Islam was stopped by the beginning political disintegration of the Muslim world, until then strong and terrible by its unity. The caliphate was divided into parts that were at enmity with each other. But in the XI century, the Seljuk Turks launched a new offensive to the West, stopping under the very walls of Constantinople.

By that time, the lands of Western Europe were divided between secular and church feudal lords. The feudal system was strengthened, replacing the communal one with its military democracy. The oppression and impoverishment of the people intensified - there were practically no free tillers left, the peasants were enslaved and taxed. The feudal lords invented more and more taxes, competing in extortions with the church - the largest feudal owner, whose greed knew no bounds. Life became unbearable, which is why the population of Europe, impatiently awaiting the end of their torment in connection with the end of the world promised by the Church and the onset of paradise on Earth, was in a state of religious exaltation, expressed in the desire for all kinds of spiritual exploits and in readiness for Christian self-sacrifice. The flow of pilgrims increased. If the Arabs in the past treated them tolerantly, now the Turks began to attack pilgrims and destroy Christian churches. The Roman Catholic Church decided to take advantage of this, hatching plans for world domination, for which, first of all, it was necessary to subjugate the breakaway eastern - Byzantine - church and increase its income by acquiring new feudal possessions - dioceses. In the latter, the interests of the church and the feudal lords completely coincided, since there were no more free lands and peasants sitting on them, and according to the rule of "majorate" the land was inherited from the father only to the eldest son. So the call of Pope Urban II to protect the Holy Sepulcher fell on fertile ground: the oppressive socio-economic conditions in Europe led to the emergence of many desperate people who had nothing to lose and who were ready to go on a risky journey to the ends of the world in search of adventure, wealth and the glory of the "warriors of Christ." In addition to large feudal lords driven by aggressive motives, the idea of ​​​​a campaign to the East was taken up by numerous small feudal knights (junior members of feudal families who could not count on receiving an inheritance), as well as merchants of many trading cities, hoping to destroy their main competitor in trade with the rich East - Byzantium . But the greatest enthusiasm was, of course, experienced by the common people, brought to despair by poverty and deprivation. Huge masses of people were inspired by the speech of Pope Urban in Clermont on November 24, 1095 and vowed to go to war against the infidels for the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher and the Holy Land. They sewed crosses on their clothes, cut out of matter (often taken from the clothes of the priests themselves, who called the masses to the feat), which is why they got the name "crusaders". To the cries of "So God wants!" many set out straight from the Plain of Clermont, following the pope's propaganda call: "The land you inhabit has become cramped with your numbers. Hence it comes that you bite each other and fight with each other ... Now your hatred, enmity will cease and internecine strife will slumber. Take the path to the Holy Sepulcher, uproot that land from the wicked people and subjugate it to yourself... Whoever is woeful and poor here will become rich there!".

The first crusade took place in 1096, but coats of arms could well have appeared a little earlier. The problem is that the first documentary evidence of coats of arms appeared at least two hundred years after their appearance. Perhaps the close connection between the crusades and the birth of heraldry is explained by the fact that it was during this period that the use of emblems became widespread. This required the creation of an ordered system of symbolic images as a means of communication, because the coat of arms served as an identification mark that carried some information about the owner and was clearly distinguishable from a distance.

Since the 12th century, armor has become more and more complex, the helmet covers the entire face of the knight, he himself is dressed in armor entirely, from head to toe. In addition, with some differences, all the armor was of the same type, so it became impossible to identify the knight not only from a distance, but also close up. This situation gave impetus to the mass use of the coat of arms as an identification mark. In addition to the coat of arms depicted on the shield, additional emblems gradually appeared, which were designed to help the knights recognize each other at a distance and in the heat of battle: the pommel (kleinod) - an ornament from animal horns and bird feathers fixed on the top of the helmet (this element received development during knightly tournaments), as well as heraldic pennants and standards. The combination of two types of generic signs - a shield and a pommel - later formed the material basis of the coat of arms.

But back to the crusades. Much in heraldry indicates that it took shape during the conquest of the East by the Crusaders. Here are the signs. The term enamel, which denotes heraldic colors, is of Eastern origin. The word comes from the Persian "mina", meaning the blue color of the sky (the first enamels were of blue color). The unique technique of enamel painting came to Europe from Persia, Arabia and Byzantium. It was in this way - by applying enamel - that steel armor, shields and special armorial boards were painted, which the heralds exhibited at tournaments. The blue color or azure - "azur" - was brought to Europe from the East - its very modern name ultramarine (overseas blue) reminds of this. The heraldic name "azur" comes from the Persian "azurk" - blue. From here comes the name of lapis lazuli (lapis lazuli), a stone found mainly in Afghanistan, from which this paint is obtained. The name of the red color - "gyulz" (gueulez) - came from the purple-dyed furs with which the crusaders sheathed their marching clothes around the neck and sleeves (in the "Rules of Heraldry" section, it will be said that heraldic figures were often made from pieces of fur stuffed with on the shield). The name comes from the word "gul" - red, in Persian, denoting the color of a rose. The origin of the green color - "vert", also called "sinople", probably comes from dyes produced in the East. The orange color, more commonly found in English heraldry, is called "tenne" - from the Arabic "henne". This was the name of the vegetable yellow-red dye, known to us as henna. It is an ancient custom among Asiatic and Arabian chieftains to henna the mane, tail, and belly of their war horses, and the right hand that holds the weapon. In general, the inhabitants of the East dye their hair and nails with henna. Eastern origin has the name of a shield with a special semicircular cutout from one or both edges, where a spear is inserted. This shield is called "tarch" - just like its Arabic prototype.

Two important details of the heraldic design - the baptism and the burlet - owe their origin to the crusades. In the first crusade, dozens of knights died every day from the heat, as their steel armor became hot in the sun. The Crestons had to borrow from the Arabs a method used by the inhabitants of the desert to this day: in order to escape from the hot sun and prevent the helmet from heating up, the Arab and Persian warriors used a piece of cloth thrown over the head and shoulders and fixed on the head with a hoop of woven camel hair intertwined with silk threads. The so-called kufya is still an integral part of the Arab costume. It is from her that the lambrequin or lambrequin ("lambrequin", from the Latin "lambellum" - a piece or a piece of matter), as well as a burlet (from the French "burrelet" - a wreath) comes from. The namet is an obligatory part of the coat of arms, and is depicted as a cape with fluttering ends, attached to the helmet with a burlet or crown. The basting is either whole, with an ornamentally carved edge (especially in early coats of arms) or excised, with long, whimsically intertwined flaps (probably, the basting cut with saber blows indicated the courage of the owner of the coat of arms - a participant in the hottest fights).

During the crusades, European feudal lords, who were well known to everyone in their homeland, joined a huge international army and, against the general background, lost their usually pronounced external individuality, which is why they had the need to somehow distinguish themselves from the mass of the same knights , demonstrate their national, tribal and military affiliation. The conquests of the crusaders were always accompanied by terrible robbery and robbery, so the rule was established according to which the knight who first broke into any house of the city taken was declared the owner of everything that was in it. The knights had to somehow mark the loot in order to protect it from the encroachments of comrades-in-arms. With the advent of coats of arms, this problem was solved by nailing a shield with the coat of arms of its new owner to the door of the house. Not only individual crusaders, but also major military leaders had such a need: the inhabitants of the houses and quarters taken by their detachments hung out the banners of these troops in order not to be plundered by other feudal lords. It should be noted here that conflicts over the division of booty, skirmishes and disputes over the honor of taking this or that city arose among the crusaders constantly. You can also add that all the crusades were very poorly organized. In the preparation of military operations, complete confusion reigned, and during the battles there was a general dump. All their strife, greed, deceit and cruelty, from which Europe groaned, the secular and church feudal lords brought with them to the East. Later, this (as well as the traditionally treacherous policy of Byzantium) will lead to the collapse of the crusader movement and the expulsion of Europeans from the occupied territories, but for now there is a need to somehow streamline the situation. An example was before my eyes: Arab warriors used shield emblems, usually consisting of inscriptions or drawings of flowers and fruits. This custom, like many others, was adopted by the crusaders and became one of the foundation stones of the emerging heraldry.

The consequence of the crusades was the extinction of many noble families in Europe, all male representatives of which died during the campaigns. Noble families, whose roots go back to the era of the conquest of Rome by barbarian tribes, simply disappeared. As a result, European monarchs for the first time were forced to favor the nobility, creating a new aristocracy. Coats of arms played the most important role in this, since often the only basis for claiming nobility and documentary evidence of noble origin was a coat of arms brought from the Holy Land.

So, the accumulation in one place of many feudal lords from different countries (an unusual situation for Europe), the international nature of the crusader army, the need to identify each other and (in conditions of illiteracy and language barriers) to assert their own name, as well as the characteristics of weapons, the method of warfare and borrowing many inventions of Eastern civilization - all this became the reason for the emergence and design of heraldry.

The coat of arms owes to knightly tournaments no less than to the crusades. Tournaments appeared before the Crusades. In any case, there is a mention of military games that took place in 842 in Strasbourg during the negotiations between Charles the Bald and Louis the German. Tournaments probably took shape in France in the middle of the 12th century and then spread to England and Germany. In some chronicles, the French baron G. de Prelly is called the inventor of tournaments, but most likely he only developed the first rules for tournaments.

Tournaments have long become an integral part of Western European life. Only knights with an impeccable reputation were allowed to participate in them. Violation of the knightly code threatened with terrible shame. Around 1292, new, safer rules for tournaments were introduced - "Statutum Armorum". Only blunt weapons could be used. Each knight was allowed only three squires. In duels, special spears were now used, which easily break on impact. It was forbidden to fight out of turn, to injure the enemy's horse, to strike otherwise than in the face or chest, to continue the fight after the enemy raised his visor, to act as a group against one. Violators were deprived of weapons, horses and imprisoned for up to three years. Special tournament armor appeared so massive that the knight and his horse could hardly bear their weight. The horses themselves from the 13th century also dressed in armor. Just like the shields of the knights, horse blankets had heraldic coloring. Two more important details should be mentioned. The knight had to be clearly visible from above, from the stands, especially during the general fight. That is why the already mentioned pommel appeared (or at least became widespread) - figures fixed on the top of the helmet, made of light wood, leather and even papier-mâché (later - from more expensive materials). The famous German errant knight of the 14th century, Ulrich von Liechtenstein, who took part in several tournaments dressed as the legendary King Arthur, introduced the fashion for complex pommel: he wore a helmet decorated with the figure of Venus, holding a torch in one hand, and an arrow in the other. Tents or tents in which the knights prepared for competitions, stored weapons and rested between battles (the crusaders used the same tents on campaigns), will also be reflected in the art of heraldry in the future - they will turn into a heraldic mantle and a canopy tent.

Tournaments have evolved from wild bloody battles into colorful theatrical performances, where formalities have become increasingly important, and the fight itself has become less important and more conventional. For example, in the "Tournament of the World", held in Windsor Park in England in 1278, swords made of parchment-covered whalebone and silver plated, boiled leather helmets and light wood shields were used. For certain achievements in the competition, the knight received points (for example, bonus points were awarded for a knocked down pommel). The winner was determined by the crowned persons, the oldest knights or specially appointed judges (often heralds), sometimes the issue of the winner was decided by the ladies in whose honor the knights fought. Tournaments were traditionally imbued with an emphatically reverent attitude towards women, which was almost the basis of the knightly code. The award to the winner in the tournament was given from the hands of the lady. The knights performed adorned with some kind of badge received from their ladies. Sometimes the ladies brought their knights tied with a chain - the chain was considered a symbol of special honor and was given only to the elite. In every contest, the last blow was delivered in honor of the lady, and here the knights especially tried to distinguish themselves. After the tournament, the ladies led the winner to the palace, where they disarmed him and arranged a feast in his honor, where the hero occupied the most honorable place. The names of the winners were entered into special lists, their exploits were passed on to their descendants in the songs of the minstrels. The victory in the tournament also brought material benefits: sometimes the victor took away the horse and weapons from the enemy, took him prisoner and demanded a ransom. For many poor knights, this was the only way to earn a living.

From Friday to Sunday, when tournaments were allowed by the church, there were fights every day, and in the evenings dances and festivities were held. There were several types of competitions: horse races, when the knight had to knock the enemy out of the saddle with a blow of a spear; sword fight; throwing spears and arrows; the siege of wooden castles built specifically for tournaments. Another way to show courage besides the tournament was to "protect the passages". A group of knights announced that in honor of their ladies they would defend a place from everyone. So, in 1434, at Orbigo, in Spain, ten knights defended the bridge from sixty-eight rivals for a month, having spent more than seven hundred fights. In the 16th century foot fights with short spears, maces and axes became popular. In Europe, only persons of noble birth were allowed to participate in tournaments. In Germany, the requirements were more liberal: sometimes, in order to get permission, it was enough to refer to an ancestor who took part in a jousting tournament. We can say that the main pass to the tournament was the coat of arms, proving the high origin of the owner and his position in the tribal hierarchy. For connoisseurs, such as the heralds, the presented coat of arms contained all the necessary information. That is why emblems were the most important part of tournament etiquette, which became so numerous that it was time to put things in order in this area.

Heralds systematized knowledge about coats of arms, developed general principles and the rules for their compilation and recognition, and ultimately created the science of "coat of arms" or "heraldry"
There are two options for the origin of the terms "heraldry" and "herald": from the late Latin heraldica (from heraldus - herald), or from the German Herald - spoiled Heeralt - a veteran, as they called people in Germany in the Middle Ages who had a reputation as valiant and brave warriors who were invited as guests of honor and judges at various celebrations, and, in particular, at tournaments. These veterans were supposed to preserve the customs of chivalry, develop the rules of tournaments, and also monitor their observance.
The predecessors of heralds were representatives of several related professions, whose duties were combined and specified, which led to the appearance of heralds in the classical sense of the word - heralds, courtiers and wandering minstrels, as well as the veterans mentioned above.
Heralds or parliamentarians were used even in ancient armies, as they are still used today - for negotiations with the enemy, for the announcement of decrees and various kinds of announcements.

Minstrels (French menestrel, from medieval Latin ministerialis) are called medieval singers and poets. In any case, this term acquired such a meaning in France and England at the end of the Middle Ages. Initially, in all feudal states, ministerials were people who were in the service of a lord and performed some special duty (ministerium) with him. Among them were poets-singers, unlike their wandering brothers in the craft, who were constantly at the court or a high-ranking person. In France in the 12th century, minstrels were sometimes called the servants of the king in general, and sometimes his court poets and singers. The function of court minstrels was to sing and glorify the exploits of their feudal lords. And from here it’s not far to the function of stewards of court ceremonies and, in particular, knightly tournaments. It is likely that the wandering minstrels, whose art was in demand at the courts of European feudal lords, gained experience in recognizing the coats of arms that constantly surrounded them. The oldest known herald poet was Konrad of Würzburg, who lived in the 13th century. The functions of veterans, who by the nature of their activities were directly related to the coats of arms, have already been said.

It is possible that representatives of all three professions were called at a certain historical moment by one common term - heralds. One way or another, but the spread of knightly tournaments contributed to the emergence of special officials who were supposed to announce the opening of the tournament, develop and observe the ceremonial of its holding, and also announce all the fights and the names of their participants. This required special knowledge - the herald had to know well the genealogy of the noble families, whose representatives took part in the battles, and be able to recognize the coats of arms of the knights who had come to the tournament. So gradually the profession of heralds acquires a purely heraldic character, and heraldry itself is born at tournaments.

The French name of heraldry - "blason" - comes from the German "blasen" - "blow the horn" and is explained by the fact that when the knight drove up to the barrier that protected the tournament venue, he blew the horn to announce his arrival. Then the herald came out and, at the request of the tournament judges, described the coat of arms of the knight aloud as proof of his right to take part in the tournament. From the word "blasen" comes the French "blasonner", the German "blasoniren", the English "blazon", the Spanish "blasonar" and the Russian word "blazon" - that is, to describe the coat of arms. The heralds created a special jargon to describe coats of arms (and today used by specialists in heraldry), based on Old French and medieval Latin, since chivalry itself, like many things connected with it - the chivalric code, weapons developments, tournaments and, finally, heraldry - originates from France, or rather from the empire of Charlemagne (747-814), inhabited by Franco-Germanic tribes. Much of the heraldic terminology is denoted by quasi-French, obsolete words. During the Middle Ages, French was used by the ruling classes in most of Western Europe, so the rules of heraldry had to be drawn up in that language. However, some heraldic terms are so ornate that they seem deliberately designed to puzzle the uninitiated. The special terms developed by the heralds will be discussed below.

It is assumed that the Russian word "coat of arms" is borrowed from the Polish "herb" and is found in many Slavic and German dialects (herb, erb, irb) in the meaning of heir or inheritance. The Slavic name of this identification mark directly indicates its hereditary character. The English term "coat of arms", denoting the coat of arms, comes from the name of a special item of clothing "surcoat" - a linen or silk cape that protects the knight's armor from the sun and rain (the word "knight" comes from the German "ritter" - rider).

So, coats of arms are becoming increasingly important in the countries of Western Europe. In England, since the 12th century, heralds have been held in high esteem at the court of kings. Edward III (1312-1377) established a heraldic college that functions to this day (this institution - "The College of Arms" - is located in London on Queen Victoria Street). In France, Louis VII (1120-1180) established the duties of heralds and ordered all royal regalia to be decorated with fleur-de-lis. Under the French king Philip II Augustus (1165-1223), heralds begin to dress in a knight's dress with the coat of arms of the owner and entrust them with some duties in tournaments. The duties of the heralds are precisely formulated by the middle of the 14th century. The title of herald becomes honorary, it is raised only after any battle, tournament or ceremony. To do this, the sovereign poured a goblet of wine (sometimes water) on the head of the initiate and gave him the name of the city or fortress associated with the initiation ceremony, which the herald kept until he received the next highest degree - the title of armory king (fr. "roi d" armes ", German. "Wappenkoenig") The duties of the herald were divided into three main groups: 1) they were charged with declaring war, making peace, offering to surrender the fortress, and the like, as well as counting those killed and wounded during a battle or tournament and assessing the valor of knights; 2) they were required to be present at all solemn ceremonies - at the coronation or burial of the sovereign, at the elevation to knighthood, ceremonial receptions, etc. 3) they were assigned purely heraldic duties - the compilation of coats of arms and genealogies.
The work of the heralds was paid very well, there was a tradition not to let the sent herald go without a gift, so as not to show disrespect to the sovereign who sent him.

Each state was divided into several heraldic brands, which were under the supervision of one "arms king" and several heralds. For example, France in 1396 was divided into eighteen such marks. In Germany in the 14th century, individual provinces also had their own heralds.
True, from the 18th century, heralds lose their medieval significance, but do not disappear without a trace, and are still used at solemn ceremonies - coronations, marriages, etc.

Centuries after the appearance of coats of arms, the first scientific work on heraldry and armorials proper, the earliest of which seems to be the "Zuricher Wappenrolle" compiled in Zurich in 1320.

In France, Jacob Bretex at the end of the 13th century describes tournaments and the coats of arms of their participants. But the earliest work outlining the rules of heraldry is considered to be the monograph of the Italian jurist Bartolo, whose "Tractatus de insigniis et armis" was published in 1356.
Berry, chief herald of France at the court of Charles VII (1403-1461), traveled all over the country on the instructions of the king, visiting castles, abbeys and cemeteries, studying images of coats of arms and compiling genealogies of ancient noble families. Based on his research, he compiled the work "Le registre de noblesse". After him, the French heralds began to keep regular genealogical records. A similar task was received from the kings in the period from Henry VIII (1491-1547) to James II (1566-1625) by English heralds, who carried out the so-called "heraldic visits" - inspection trips around the country in order to census noble families, register coats of arms and verify their eligibility . It turned out that most of the old coats of arms that appeared before 1500 were appropriated by the owners without permission, and not granted by the king. It was not difficult to invent a simple coat of arms. The situation in which three unrelated nobles had the same emblems was not uncommon, but only proved that these emblems were adopted by them arbitrarily. When a dispute arose between the owners of identical coats of arms on this basis, each appealed to the king as the last resort. It is noteworthy that when the dispute was resolved, the nobleman, forced as a result to abandon his coat of arms, consoled himself by inventing a new one for himself.
The materials collected during the "heraldic visits" formed the basis of English genealogy and heraldry.

CITY ARMS

At the heart of the city and state emblems are the seals of the feudal lords, which certify the authenticity of the documents sent by them from their possessions. The family coat of arms of the feudal lord, thus, passed first to the seal of the castle, and then to the seal of the lands belonging to him. With the emergence of new cities and the formation of new states, the requirements of the time and legal norms led to the creation of coats of arms, either completely new, not borrowed from the family coats of arms of the nobility, but bearing symbolic images indicating local attractions, historical events, the economic profile of the city, or mixed. An example is the coat of arms of Paris, in which a ship and an azure field with golden lilies adjoin. The ship symbolizes, on the one hand, the island de la Cité on the Seine River, which lies in the very center of the city, in the form of a ship, and on the other hand, trade and trading companies, the main component of the urban economy. An azure field with golden lilies is an old emblem of the Capetian dynasty, under whose patronage Paris was.

From the end of the 13th and during the 14th centuries, heraldry penetrated into all areas of public life, and heraldic terminology became commonly used in the cultural strata of society. Heraldry is becoming fashionable in literature, art, and everyday life. Coats of arms appear everywhere, from knightly armor to the collars of your favorite dogs. The knights who returned from the crusades began, imitating the luxurious clothes of the eastern rulers, to wear special coats of arms, matching the colors of their coats of arms and decorated with embroidered coats of arms and mottos. Servants and squires receive clothes with the coat of arms of their masters, ordinary nobles put on a dress with the coats of arms of their seniors, noble ladies begin to wear dresses with images of two coats of arms: on the right - the coat of arms of their husband, on the left - their own. Under the French king Charles V the Wise (1338-1380), clothes painted half in one, half in another color came into fashion. From the nobles and their squires, this fashion passed to the representatives of the urban estates. Thus, heraldry becomes an important component of the culture of Western Europe.

Along with individual heraldry, in the Middle Ages, other areas of heraldry were developed - urban and corporate, including church. City artisans and merchants created guilds, registered as "legal entities" and supplied with coats of arms, respectively. It was customary for the members of the guild to wear the heraldic colors of their association - special liveries. So, for example, members of the London Butcher's Company wore white and blue liveries, bakers wore olive green and chestnut colors, wax candle merchants wore blue and white liveries. The Furriers Company of London was allowed to use ermine fur in its coat of arms, although according to medieval norms, this heraldic color could only be used by royal and noble families as a sign of their exclusivity and superiority. On corporate coats of arms were placed mainly tools.

Similar coats of arms, called vowels - "armes parlantes", in which the name of the craft was conveyed by heraldic symbols, are received by many workshops and guilds. For example, here is how the coats of arms of the workshops of Ghent, one of the largest craft centers of the Middle Ages, looked like: coopers depicted a working tool and a tub on the shield of their coat of arms, butchers - a bull, fruit merchants - a fruit tree, barbers - a razor and scissors, shoemakers - a boot, fishmongers - fish, shipbuilders - a ship under construction. The goldsmiths' workshop of Paris received from King Philip VI (1293-1350) a coat of arms depicting royal golden lilies, combined with a golden cross and the emblems of their craft - golden sacral vessels and crowns, with the motto "In sacra inque coronas". Apothecaries depict scales and a lancet on their coats of arms, nailers - hammer and nails, charioteers - wheels, playing card makers - symbols of card suits. In addition, images of the patron saints of the respective crafts were found in corporate coats of arms. The French king Louis XIII, wishing to raise the importance of the merchants, granted coats of arms to six merchant guilds of Paris, in which the ship from the Parisian city coat of arms was adjacent to the symbols of the corresponding crafts and mottos.

Wishing to imitate the aristocracy, wealthy citizens used family signs like coats of arms, although they were not official. But the French government, in need of money, decided to turn the spreading fashion to its advantage and allowed everyone to acquire coats of arms, but for a fee. Moreover, greedy officials even obliged the townspeople to acquire coats of arms. As a result of the introduction in 1696 of a tax on the right to have a personal coat of arms, the treasury began to receive significant income, since a huge number of coats of arms were registered. But as a result of this, the value of coats of arms in France has fallen dramatically - the incredibly prolific coats of arms have depreciated.

Educational institutions have also used coats of arms for centuries. Universities often received the coat of arms of their founders, such as Christ's College, Cambridge, founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort. Eton College received its coat of arms in 1449 from its founder, King Henry VI (1421-1471), a devout hermit whose failure to rule was one of the causes of the Wars of the Scarlet and White Roses. The three white lilies on this coat of arms symbolize the Virgin Mary, in whose honor the college was founded. Many private and commercial firms today strive to obtain a coat of arms, since the presence of such a coat of arms gives the company solidity and reliability. For example, the well-known English trading company Herrods received a coat of arms relatively recently.

From the first days of its existence, the church claimed the highest and absolute power in this world, therefore it appropriated all the attributes of secular power, including coats of arms. The coat of arms of the papacy in the 14th century was the crossed gold and silver keys of the Apostle Peter - "allowing" and "binding", tied with a gold cord, on a scarlet shield under the papal tiara. These symbols have received various interpretations, which we will not dwell on here. Let's just say that the coat of arms indicates the rights received by Peter to "decide" and "bind" all the affairs of the church and that these rights were inherited from him by his successors - the popes. This coat of arms is today the official coat of arms of the Vatican, but each pope receives his own coat of arms, in which the keys and tiara frame the shield. For example, the current Pope John Paul II has a coat of arms that he received when he was Archbishop of Krakow from the hands of Archbishop Bruno Haim, a specialist in heraldry. The cross and the letter "M" on the coat of arms symbolize Christ and the Virgin Mary. It should be said that placing any inscriptions in the coat of arms, except for mottos, is considered bad form, but the author of the coat of arms is justified, referring to the traditions of Polish heraldry (which will be discussed later), where runic letters were originally used. Indeed, the letter "M" resembles a rune of a similar design.

The flag of the Vatican depicts the small coat of arms of the city-state, in which there is no scarlet shield, but this color is transferred to the cord that binds the keys. Obviously, the colors of the keys are chosen for the flag - gold and silver.

Church, former the largest feudal lord Middle Ages, early began to use coats of arms for practical purposes - to identify and demonstrate the territorial affiliation of church organizations. Coats of arms have been found on the seals of abbeys and bishops since the 12th century. The most common symbols of church heraldry are the keys of St. Peter, the eagle of St. John and other signs symbolizing various saints, details of church life, and a wide variety of crosses. In the UK, there are certain rules for the coats of arms of church leaders, showing their status in the church hierarchy. For example, the coats of arms of archbishops and bishops are decorated with miters (the coat of arms of the Pope is crowned with a tiara), and on the coats of arms of priests of a lower rank, special hats of different colors are placed, in accordance with their status, equipped with multi-colored cords and tassels. A dean, for example, might have a black hat with two purple single cords with three red tassels on each. The priests of the Roman Catholic Church are not under the jurisdiction of the official heraldic authorities, but the coats of arms they use have been regulated by a special decree since 1967. For example, the coat of arms of a Catholic archbishop may contain a green hat with two green single cords, each with ten green tassels.

At the heart of all the state emblems of European countries lay the family emblems of the ruling dynasties. On many modern European state emblems, in one form or another, there are lions and eagles - traditional symbols of power and statehood.

On the coat of arms of Denmark - three azure leopards on a golden field decorated with scarlet hearts - this is how the coat of arms of King Knud VI Valdemarsson looked around 1190. Along with the English, this emblem can be considered the oldest European national emblem. On the large royal coat of arms of Sweden, lions support the shield and are also present in the second and third quarters of the shield. Around 1200, the ruler of Norway got his own coat of arms, which depicts a crowned lion of St. Olaf holding a battle ax in his front paws. The lion of the Finnish coat of arms gradually formed towards XVI century. On the arms of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, a lion also settled - the old emblem of the Dukes of Burgundy. On the coat of arms of the Netherlands - a golden lion with a silver sword and a bunch of arrows in its paws. This is the union emblem of the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, which gained independence in 1609. The republican coat of arms as a whole survived after the creation of the kingdom in 1815. The coat of arms took its modern form in 1917, when, at the initiative of Prince Consort Heinrich of Mecklenburg (1876-1934), the royal crown on the head of a lion was replaced with a regular one, a mantle with a canopy and shield-holder lions appeared. By decision of the Congress of Vienna, which established a new European order after the collapse of the Napoleonic empire, the Netherlands gained independence. The son of the last stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, William VI of Orange, became King of the Netherlands under the name of William I. But the southern provinces of the Netherlands decided to defend their own independence. In 1830, an uprising took place in Brabant, and since then the Brabantian golden lion in a black field has been perceived as a symbol of the independence of the union of the southern provinces. In 1831, the Kingdom of Belgium was proclaimed, the coat of arms of which was the coat of arms of Brabant. The coat of arms of Luxembourg was approved by King William I of the Netherlands in 1815, since he was also the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. The lion can also be seen on other state emblems. In international state heraldry, the lion is adjacent to another symbol of supreme power - the eagle. It can be seen on the emblems of Austria, Albania, Bolivia, Germany, Indonesia, Iraq, Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Poland, Syria, USA, Chile and many other countries. Unfortunately, the volume of this article does not allow us to pay attention to each of them, so here we will consider only some examples.

The Austrian three-stripe (red-white-red) shield was the coat of arms of the Dukes of Babenberg, who ruled this country until 1246. His image appeared on the seals of the dukes in the 20-30s of the XIII century. Earlier, in the second half of the 12th century, the image of a black eagle, a very common heraldic emblem, first appeared on the seal of the first Austrian Duke Henry II of Babenberg. The Austrian knights, led by Duke Leopold V, set off on the third crusade under a flag with a black eagle. Soon, in 1282, Austria came under the rule of the new Habsburg dynasty, whose family coat of arms was a red lion in a golden field. From 1438 to 1806, the Habsburgs almost continuously occupied the throne of the Holy Roman Empire, whose emblem was traditionally a double-headed eagle. He became the coat of arms of Austria, and later the Austrian Empire (1804) and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1868). The same eagle can be seen on the shield of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

Plants can be seen at the base of the coat of arms of Great Britain. These are unspoken (silent) mottos or symbols of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. In different versions of the coat of arms, they can be depicted both separately and collected in one fantastic plant, a kind of hybrid consisting of the Tudor rose, the Caledonian thistle of Scotland, the Irish clover shamrock and the Welsh onion.

The Tudor rose was formed from the scarlet rose of the Lancasters and the white rose of the Yorks, who fought among themselves for the English throne. After the "War of the Scarlet and White Roses", which lasted from 1455 to 1485, the founder of the new dynasty, Henry VII (1457-1509), united the emblems of the warring houses into one. Shamrock joined the "hybrid" rose and thistle in 1801 with the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

The rose, thistle, shamrock, and bow illustrate another area of ​​heraldry. A variety of badges attached to clothes that could symbolize a particular person, country or some concept appeared even before the coats of arms, in antiquity, and in the Middle Ages gained great popularity. With the development of heraldry, these badges began to acquire a heraldic character. The badge, as a rule, represented one main emblem of the family coat of arms, many of which were very complex and consisted of many details. These badges were designed to show that their owners belong to the environment of a person or to a whole family. During the War of the Scarlet and White Rose, many soldiers, especially foreign mercenaries, dressed in the heraldic colors of their master. For example, at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, the soldiers of the Earl of Richmond's army wore white and green jackets, the soldiers of Sir William Stanley's army wore red, and so on. In addition, they wore the personal badges of their commanders. It was the prototype of a military uniform. In all modern armies, along with elements of heraldry, there are special badges. The owner of the coat of arms could have several badges, as well as arbitrarily change them at will.

Apart from Western Europe, only Japan by the 12th century had developed a similar heraldic system called "mon". In some European languages, this is erroneously translated as "coat of arms", although it is not a coat of arms in the European sense of the word. As an example, we can consider the emblem of the imperial family - a 16-petal chrysanthemum. Similar signs were also placed on helmets, shields and breastplates of armor, but unlike coats of arms, they were never depicted so large that they could be recognized from a distance. If such identification was required, "mon" was displayed on the flags. Just like the European coat of arms, "mon" is used in art - for decorating clothes, furniture, and interiors. Just like in European royal families, the younger members of the Japanese imperial family had a chrysanthemum image modified according to certain rules. Just like in Europe, in Japan, "mon" was required to be legalized. Both hereditary heraldic systems arose independently of each other, but their similarity is not surprising, since feudal societies developed along the same lines. Like European, Japanese heraldry survived the era of chivalry and is widely used in our time.

SOME CONSIDERATIONS

In Europe, as well as in the USA and other former colonies, heraldry continues to live, despite the fact that feudalism is a thing of the past, and the coats of arms themselves play a purely decorative role. But in these countries, heraldry, which has a long history, has become a good tradition and has largely been democratized. Many people who have no relation to the nobility for a long time, having found the owner of the coat of arms among their ancestors, are in a hurry to decorate their homes with a coat of arms with a certificate in a beautiful frame. As a result, new coats of arms are constantly appearing. In many countries there are official heraldic societies involved in the development and approval of coats of arms, genealogical research. The large number and solid status of these organizations testifies to the real need of society for heraldry, which today is not a mossy fragment of history, but a part of modern culture. Obviously, while there are people who are interested in the past of their kind, interest in coats of arms will also remain - witnesses of cruel wars, heroic crusades and luxurious jousting tournaments (to be convinced of this, it is enough to familiarize yourself with the short and, of course, incomplete list of national and international heraldic organizations, which you can not even read, but just skim through your eyes).

Unfortunately, the present and future of heraldry is not so optimistic in Russia, where there is practically no ground for its existence. In addition, the old Russian heraldry is not very rich in material: it includes several thousand noble and several hundred provincial and city coats of arms, most of which appeared at about the same time and in one place - in the corresponding administrative institution, that is, in the Senate department of heraldry. "The general coat of arms of the noble families of the All-Russian Empire", which by 1917 amounted to 20 volumes, contained only about 6 thousand coats of arms with total number There are about 50 thousand noble families. Of course, this is a drop in the bucket compared to the resources of European heraldry. Although various kinds of emblems were used by the Slavs in antiquity, real emblems appeared in Russia five hundred years later than in Europe, and not because of practical necessity, but as a beautiful toy from the West. Therefore, not having time to take root, Russian heraldry was carried away by the whirlwinds of history.

In the process of creating site materials, the question sometimes arose - how detailed should they be? What to talk about in general terms, and what to consider in detail? The degree of detail was determined by common sense, because the purpose of the site is to give the reader only a general idea of ​​heraldry, which is to some extent reflected in its title. "Excursion to Heraldry", of course, cannot claim to be complete coverage of this vast area, since only the basic principles are stated here, illustrated by some examples. Nevertheless, the authors believe that these materials may be of interest to those who have just begun to be interested in heraldry and are in need of basic information on this topic.
The efforts of modern heraldry as an auxiliary scientific discipline are aimed at studying coats of arms, namely, at identifying their owners, clarifying the history of their origin and establishing the time of their creation. For serious historical research, of course, more detailed information and more reliable sources will be required than the Excursus to Heraldry. But in order to understand what a coat of arms is, what it consists of, what its main elements mean and what its main elements are called, and, finally, in order to try to create a coat of arms on your own, guided by the principles outlined and focusing on the examples given, you can successfully use our review. In any case, the authors hope that they have mentioned here all the main points necessary for the first steps towards the practical study of heraldry.

List of some foreign heraldic organizations:

• AUSTRALIA: The Heraldry Council of Australia; The Heraldry Society (Australian ranch); The Heraldry Society of Australia Heraldry Australia Inc.
• AUSTRIA: Heraldisch-Genealogische Gesellschaft.
• ENGLAND & WALES: The College of Arms; The Heraldry Society; Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies.
• BELGIUM: Heraldique et Genealogique de Belgique; Musees Royaux d "Art et d" Histoire; L "Office Genealogique et Heraldique de Belgigue.
• HUNGARY: Magyar Heraldikai es Geneologiai Tarsasag.
• GERMANY: Der Herold; Genealogisch-Heraldische Gesellschaft; Wappen Herold; Deutsche Heraldische Gesellschaft.
• DENMARK: Heraldisk Selskab, Koebenhavn; Dansk Genealogisk Institute;Nordisk Flaggskrift.
• IRELAND: The Chief Herald of Ireland's Office; The Heraldry Scoiety of Ireland.
• ITALY: Aradico Collegio; Instituteo Italiano di Genealogia ed Araldica.
• CANADA: Canadian Heraldic Authority; Heraldry Society of Canada.
• LUXEMBOURG: Conseil Heraldique de Luxembourg.
• NETHERLANDS: Koninklijk Nederlands Genootschap voor Geslact en Wapenkunde; Central Bureau voor Genealogy.
• NORWAY: Heraldisk Forening Norsk; Norsk Vapenring; Norsk Slekthistorik Forening; Kunstindustrimuseet i Oslo; middelalderforum; Universitetet i Oslo, Historisk Institute; Universitetet i Oslo Ethnografisk Museum.
• NEW ZEALAND: The Heraldry Society of New Zealand; The Heraldry Society (New Zealand Branch).
• POLAND: Heraldic Records Archive.
• PORTUGAL: Institutio Portuges de Heraldica.
• SCANDINAVIAN SOCIETY: Societas Heraldica Scandanavica.
• USA: New England Historic Genealogical Society; North American Institute of Heraldic and Flag Studies; American College of Heraldry; The Augustan Society Inc.; Genealogical and Heraldic Institute of America; National Genealogical Society.
• FINLAND: Heraldica Scandanavia; Suomen Heraldinen Seura; Finlands National Committe for Genealogi och Heraldik; Genealogiska Samfundet and Finland; Heraliske Sallskapet and Finland.
• FRANCE: Federation des Societes de Genealogie, d "Heraldique et de Sigillographie; La Societe Franeaise D" Heraldique et de Sigillographie; La Societe du Grand Armorial de France.
• SCOTLAND: Lord Lyon King of Arms, and the Court of Lord Lyon; The Heraldry Society of Scotland; The Scottish Genealogical Society.
• SWITZERLAND: Heraldische Schweizersche Gesellschaft.
• SWEDEN: Swedish state herald: Clara Neveous, Riksarkivet - Heraldiska sektionen; Svenska Heraldiska Foreningen (Heraldry Society of Sweden); Heraldiska Samfundet; Skandinavisk Vapenrulla (SVR); Svenska Nationalkommitten for Genealogi och Heraldik; Voestra Sveriges Heraldiska Saellskap; Riddarhuset; Genealogiska Foereningen Genealogical Society).
• South Africa: The State Herald; Bureau of Heraldry; The Heraldry Society of Southern Africa.
• JAPAN: The Heraldry Society of Japan.
• INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: Academie Internationale d "Heraldique; Confederation Internationale de Genealogie et d" Heraldique; International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Studies; International Fellowship of Armorists (Heraldry International); International Genealogical Institute; Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.