Portal:Heraldry

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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.

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

edit

Selected biography

John Philip Brooke Brooke-Little, CVO, FSA, FHS, (6 April 1927 –13 February 2006) was an influential and popular writer on heraldic subjects and a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London, England. In 1947, while still a student, Brooke-Little founded the "Society of Heraldic Antiquaries." This organization is now known as The Heraldry Society and is recognized as one of the leading learned societies in its field. He also served as the society's chairman for 50 years until 1997 and then as its President. (more...)

Archive

edit

Selected coat of arms

The coat of arms of Germany displays a black eagle (the Bundesadler "Federal Eagle", formerly Reichsadler "Imperial Eagle") on a yellow shield (Or, an eagle displayed sable). The current official design is due to Tobias Schwab (1887–1967) and was introduced in 1928. It is a re-introduction of the coat of arms of the Weimar Republic (in use 1919–1935) adopted by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1950. The Weimar Republic had re-introduced the medieval coat of arms of the Holy Roman Emperors, in use during the 13th and 14th centuries, before Sigismund of Luxemburg adopted the double-headed eagle beginning in 1433. The single-headed Imperial Eagle (on a white background, Argent, an eagle displayed sable) had also been used by the German Empire during 1889–1918, based on the earlier coat of arms of Prussia. (more...)

Archive

edit

Selected flag

The Royal Standard of Scotland, also known as the Banner of the King of Scots or more commonly the Lion Rampant of Scotland, is the Scottish Royal Banner of Arms. Used historically by the King of Scots, the Royal Standard of Scotland differs from Scotland's national flag, The Saltire, in that its correct use is restricted by an Act of the Parliament of Scotland to only a few Great Officers of State who officially represent The Sovereign in Scotland. It is also used in an official capacity at Royal residences in Scotland when the Sovereign is not present.

The earliest recorded use of the Lion rampant as a Royal emblem in Scotland is by Alexander II in 1222. This emblem occupied the shield of the Royal coat of arms of the ancient Kingdom of Scotland which, together with a Royal banner displaying the same, was used by the King of Scots until the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James VI acceded to the thrones of the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Ireland. The Lion Rampant of Scotland can be seen today in the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom. (more...)

Archive

edit

Selected picture

Pursuivants in procession to St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle for the 2006 service of the Order of the Garter: Peter O'Donoghue, Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary (left), Alastair Bruce of Crionaich, Fitzalan Pursuivant of Arms Extraordinary (right).

Archive

Did you know...

...that Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera once served on the committee that designed the Buddhist flag (pictured) in 1885?

...that Indonesia's first flag flown was fashioned by its first first lady Fatmawati?

...that a bumerke is a house mark with relation to coats of arms as it was frequently used instead of them and used with a shield as a frame work for the mark?