Coats of Arms Explained

So when I deployed we had these people come on board who where from the Coat of Arms College who started a company to look up people's families so I asked for mine to be looked. I gave them my name and they got back to me in about a month after looking. Turns out my Ancestors fought at the battle of Hastings earning honors and a minor Nobility and were Woodsman and Game Wardens before that. My family's Coat was a azure shield divided by the metal with two falcons on the azure. Closed Helmet and a hound atop it, and the words Virtue Semper Virte. So I wanted to do some more digging and turns out my family already knew this and had an old book with the same coat of arms on it.

So, few things: Heralds were originally messengers from the king, but it was useful for them to know who they were talking to, so they got to know the various arms and then over time that became their main job. Or at least in England. Also, the Collage of Arms in the video is for England (and Wales) only: Scotland (Lord Lyon King of Arms) and (Northern) Ireland (Norroy and Ulster King of Arms) have their own.

Hi. I'm from the Netherlands. In my country we distinguish two kinds of heraldry achievements. First that of nobility. With that comes the socalled Blue Book, a formal registry of every noble family and persons of rank within these families. Secondly we have "patriciaat". These are families of merit who gained the right to wear a coat of arms and everything that comes to it. They are registered in the socalled Red Book. My family has gained the right to bear a heraldry achievement by... similarity in name with the family who originally bore this heraldry achievement! Go figure: our family name being the same as their's gave us that right (which came of in the 20th century no less). The coat of arms is a silver shield on the shield a red griffon facing to the right. Between it's upper paws it carries a pole, which is actually a socalled (crossbow)bolt. And that's our family name. There is also the top helmet and the blanket that waves around it. The original Bolts were professional mercenaries who's speciallity it was to set fire within fortified structures by means of firing fiery Bolts. Our family were just simple peasant folk who came up in the world by means of hard work and craftyness. But still, it's kinda cool to be bearer of a heraldry achievement that dates back to at least 1558!

This video is of very good quality how do you have so few subs you deserve a lot more

This is a very helpful video! Something I think should be pointed out, however, is that the rule of tinctures isn't really a rule but rather a design suggestion that is often advised. Historically it was broken very often, and the insistence of it's importance is more modern. Some heraldic traditions still don't hold it as very important.

Going to use this as a guide for my next Crusader Kings 3 campaign

Since the USA doesn't observe the law of arms, you'll often see people buying plaques and things with "their family crest" on it, when in fact it is the arms of some family of the same name but to which they have no right. There's even a shop in Walt Disney World where you can buy items with coats-of-arms on them that the sellers will tell you are "your" coat-of-arms. Very few Americans realize that coats-of-arms are granted to individuals, and are not always hereditary. And even when they are hereditary, sharing a name doesn't mean you are related, or that your relationship branched off after the arms were granted. Of course, since the USA doesn't observe the law of arms, anyone can display any arms they want here, but it really displays ignorance to do so.

Very few talk about heraldry on Youtube, sow I am always happy when someone do! Thankful that you did, and for the most part I really liked your video. The only thing that should have been clarified more, is that you are talking mostly about english heraldry traditions. Which for the most part is very different from the majority of Continental European heraldry. Even in the UK heraldry traditions varies between Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Since English is the lingua franca nowadays, the confusion grows when people only reads English literature on heraldry. But hope you will make more, I for my part will happily check out the rest of your videos!

I had a heraldry phase a few years ago and this taught me some stuff I wasn’t aware of back then. The tips about spotting fraudulent achievements were especially helpful. There’s a weirdly obsessive yet misinformed fascination with heraldry where I’m from so if it comes up in conversation, I’ll send your video their way. Your channel is underrated, by the way!

After my father retired, he took a part time job at the College of Arms working as a researcher for Clarenceux King of Arms. He absolutely loved the work.

to be honest I actually started out as an eye-roller, but you are indeed hitting all the heraldic nails on the head. spread that rule of tincture, brother! subscribed

I've been an amateur herald (and student of the art) for 27 years.. I could pick a few nits, but you are generally very accurate. Well done!

Excellent. As a graphic designer - I have always been fascinated by these designs. Thanks for the education.

As a writer, I felt like this is important if you write about noble families. My characters are part of a noble family and it is based on a Cornish noble family (possibly the Edgecumbes).

The lions on the shields doing Michael Jackson’s thriller dance hundreds of years before the song released is scary

This explains the Gould arms very well, thank you. Side note, the motto translates to "Be It Not Unto Us", which I've further "translated" to "Not My Problem". ;)

I agree. Although, you speak of "Britain" only, but it was an European tradition in every country. At least I know the same for most of Europe, not sure how far around.

The specifics often varied a lot by region as well. For example, in Poland, basically every family in a region shared a coat of arms they could all use—very practical when like half the population was considered “technically nobility” regardless of actual wealth or status—and basically all of said arms used the same red & white color scheme, making a Polish army displaying full heraldic arms more uniform than its neighbors. Meanwhile in a lot of German territories, they HAD an equivalent of the rule of tinctures, but sable/black was considered a “semi-metal” and useable on top of either metals or colors (more modern colors like bleu celeste are sometimes treated as semi-metals too), and they used two entirely different styles of helmet instead of the position of the visor to denote the noble/middle-class (burghur) divide. And the Catholic Church basically treated the specific violation of the rule of tinctures of putting or/gold/yellow & argent/silver/white together, a special trademark they could hand out in achievements of arms as a sign of Papal approval, hence the Papal States/Vatican City and Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem flags having yellow on white.

I can see why there was a college built to keep track of this mountain of do's and don'ts.

Mantling is 'torn' if the bearer has seen battle... not just decorative. Royal helmets face forward, not to the side. The divisions and charges can also be used to denote standing within the family, eg first son, second son etc