Heraldry - online puzzles

Heraldry () is the profession or art of devising, granting and blazoning heraldic devices (also referred to as armory or armorial bearings), tracing genealogies and ruling on questions of protocol or rank. The term may also refer to traditional ceremonies and pageantry as well as the armorial devices themselves, along with their history. Heraldry also encompasses vexillology and heraldic badges.An armiger is a person, family, organisation or geographical entity that has been granted the right to bear heraldic devices, and thus may be referred to as armigerous. At minimum, the armiger is granted a coat of arms, i.e. a unique design that in paper heraldry always is depicted on an escutcheon (shield), as the central piece of any achievement.

Although the use of various devices to signify individuals and groups goes back to antiquity, both the form and use of such devices varied widely, and the concept of regular, hereditary designs, constituting the distinguishing feature of heraldry, did not develop until the High Middle Ages. It is very often claimed that the use of helmets with face guards during this period made it difficult to recognize one's commanders in the field when large armies gathered together for extended periods, necessitating the development of heraldry as a symbolic language, but there is very little actual support for this view.The beauty and pageantry of heraldic designs allowed them to survive the gradual abandonment of armour on the battlefield during the seventeenth century. Heraldry has been described poetically as "the handmaid of history", "the shorthand of history", and "the floral border in the garden of history". In modern times, individuals, public and private organizations, corporations, cities, towns, and regions use heraldry and its conventions to symbolize their heritage, achievements, and aspirations.

History

Heraldry was developed in the European High Middle Ages, closely associated with the courtly culture of chivalry, Latin Christianity, the Crusades, feudal aristocracy, and monarchy of the time.