Heraldry for Beginners
Introduction
Heraldry, quite simply, is the art and knowledge of armorial bearings, the distinguishing colours and patterns used by a medieval knight on his shield. They identified him within the anonymity of his armour, both to friend and foe in battle, and on the tournament grounds.
These coats of arms proliferated in colours, symbology, style, and complexity until it was a mass of confusion. Heralds—messagers of the king and arrangers of tournaments—largely solved the problem by organising the mess.
In the present, having a coat of arms can be as simple as making one up. This is especially true in the United States. In other countries, only the appropriate College of Heralds or equivalent organisation can award a coat of arms formally, but you can certainly design and use one. If you are found to be infringing on an existing coat of arms you may be brought up before a court of chivalry, but the last such case occured in the 1950s.
Here is a Wikipedia article on the origins of Heraldry.
One final note: I am not an expert in the field of heraldry, merely an intelligent (I hope) layman who reads a lot. While I believe the information in this site is accurate, I make no guarantees regarding accuracy of suitability of this information. Therefore, do not make any important decisions based on this information. If you have a sufficiently important query, you can try contacting the appropriate College of Heralds or equivalent organisation for your country of residence or origin.
The Shield
[Go!] The shield is where a coat of arms begins.
Colour and How to Use It
[Go!] Heraldry has some rather special rules regarding colour.
The Charges
[Go!] The shapes and pictures appearing in a coat of arms are called charges.
Blazon and Emblazon
[Go!] Describing and drawing the coat of arms.
References
Try any encyclopaedia, under “Heraldry”.
“Heraldry”. The Family Creative Workshop. Plenary Publications International Incorporated. New York: 1975.
Williamson, David. Debrett’s Guide to Heraldry and Regalia. Headline Book Publishing PLC. London: 1992.
Wolf, Joseph C. “Notes on Heraldry”. http://digiserve.com/heraldry/notesonh.htm.
Wolf, Joseph C. “Heraldry Lecture”. http://digiserve.com/heraldry/lecture1.htm.
Woodcock, Thomas and John Martin Robinson. The Oxford Guide to Heraldry. Oxford University Press. Oxford: 1988.
