Portal:Heraldry

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Welcome to the Heraldry and Vexillology Portal!

Heraldry encompasses all of the duties of a herald, including the science and art of designing, displaying, describing and recording coats of arms and badges, as well as the formal ceremonies and laws that regulate the use and inheritance of arms. The origins of heraldry lie in the medieval need to distinguish participants in battles or jousts, whose faces were hidden by steel helmets.

Vexillology (from the Latin vexillum, a flag or banner) is the scholarly study of flags, including the creation and development of a body of knowledge about flags of all types, their forms and functions, and of scientific theories and principles based on that knowledge. Flags were originally used to assist military coordination on the battlefield, and have evolved into a general tool for signalling and identification, particularly identification of countries.

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The College of Arms, in London, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings. As its name suggests, it is a corporate body (founded 1484) consisting of the professional heralds who are delegated heraldic authority by the Queen for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. (Note that Scotland is not included; that country has its own heraldic authority: Lord Lyon King of Arms and his office.) The college also grants arms to citizens of other Commonwealth countries that do not have their own heraldic authorities. (Canada and South Africa have their own heraldic authorities, the Canadian Heraldic Authority and the Bureau of Heraldry, respectively.) (more...)

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Sir John Bernard Burke (January 5, 1814 - December 12, 1892) was a British officer of arms and genealogist. He was born in London, and was educated in London and in France. His father, John Burke (1787-1848), was also a genealogist, and in 1826 issued a Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the United Kingdom. This work, generally known as Burke's Peerage, has been issued annually starting in 1847. While practising as a barrister Bernard Burke assisted his father in his genealogical work, and in 1848 took control of his publications. (more...)

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Throughout most of the history of Poland, the banner of Poland was one of the main symbols of the Polish State, normally reserved for use by the head of state. Although its design changed with time, it was generally a heraldic banner, i.e., one based directly on the national coat of arms: a crowned White Eagle on a red field (Gules an eagle Argent crowned Or). A national banner is not mentioned in the current (2007) regulations on Polish national symbols, although today's presidential jack is based directly on the pre-war design for the Banner of the Republic. (more...)

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The tomb of Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou is one of the first recorded examples of hereditary armory in Europe.

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Did you know...

...that in the coat of arms of Schleswig-Holstein (pictured) the lions in the Schleswig arms allegedly face the right because Otto von Bismarck thought it impolite for them to turn their backs on Holstein?

...that Marcus Vulson de la Colombière, a French heraldist of the 17th century, was involved in a dispute with Silvester Petra Sancta over who invented the method of hatching to indicate heraldic tinctures?

...that in 1817, the previously banned coat of arms of Paris was restored to its traditional form?

...that the current flag of Bhutan was introduced after it was noticed the previous square version didn't flutter like the flag of India?

...that Puerto Rican poet Francisco Matos Paolí was arrested in 1950 because he made four speeches in favor of Puerto Rico's independence and he had a Puerto Rican Flag in his house?

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