Heraldry: A Comprehensive Introduction to its History and Principles

Introduction to Heraldry

Heraldry is both a science and a communication system. It uses a series of symbols, shapes, and colors that, when assembled according to specific rules and laws, create a "visual grammar." This grammar, when properly applied, defines a language: the language of Blazon. With this language, we can represent coats of arms or armories of families, lineages, institutions, kingdoms, and so on. To establish these armories and escutcheons, one must not only be proficient in drawing but also understand the laws and rules governing Blazon.

Key Terms in Heraldry

• Blazon: Designing weapons that can be found within the coat of arms.
• Blazon: The technique that allows us to describe a shield.
• Weapons: All those elements that are found within the coat of arms, as well as those external to it.
• Armory: Coat of arms with external adornments.

Birth and Evolution of Heraldry

Creation

This stage developed during the 11th and 12th centuries, when knights used shields to differentiate defensive weapons in tournaments or to be identified by their troops on the battlefield. Arguably, these early weapons or shields are considered "personal."

Consolidation

This took place during the 13th century, when the shields or armories of the early knights were taken by their descendants and heirs. They became "hereditary" and are called "primitive weapons or pure" (the origin of a lineage).

Development

During the 14th and 15th centuries, the first laws and treaties on coats of arms appeared. These laws were created and developed by the "heralds," who were officials in the royal service. They did not invent heraldry; they only sorted and coded it as a science.

Decline

This period includes the 16th to 19th centuries. Heraldry reached its peak in the 17th century, but thereafter, it ceased to identify the gentleman and came to represent ancient stories or lineages. It is also during this stage that there was an excessive use of external inserts.

Present

This stage encompasses the 20th and 21st centuries. There is an intention to return to the purity of the science of heraldry, giving importance to the simple and primitive, fleeing from the opulence of the previous stage.

The Coat of Arms

In heraldry, there is a fundamental element because it contains all signs, heraldic symbols, and attributes: we are referring to the coat of arms or armory. The coat of arms has its origin in "jousts" and "tournaments" in which knights took part around the 12th century. In these "games," the heraldic birth of the "coat of arms" occurs because they painted the same signs and signals that served to distinguish the gentleman, fulfilling the same mission as on the battlefield. In the 13th century, shields became hereditary, giving rise to many lineages. These are the first shields, which are called "pure."