Coat of arms
What people call a coat of arms is properly an achievement: a shield of arms with a helmet, mantling, a wreath and a crest above it, and sometimes supporters, a motto and a compartment. The shield is the essential part; the rest are accessories.
Meaning
Strictly, the arms are what is painted on the shield; the whole display is an achievement. Britannica describes it as a shield with a helmet above it, the mantling that protected the wearer’s neck from the sun, the wreath that holds mantling and crest to the helmet, and the crest itself, the device on top of the helmet. Badges, mottoes, supporters and a crown or coronet may be added. The Heraldry Society calls the shield the essential element but only one part, and Fox-Davies notes that arms must as a minimum have a shield, whereas a crest cannot lawfully exist without the arms. The name comes from the surcoat, the cloth tunic worn over armour, which repeated the bearer’s arms.
Origin and history
Heraldry began, Britannica says, when most people could not read but could recognise a bold, simple design. The Heraldry Society dates its first formal appearance to 1128, when Henry I of England gave a shield to his future son-in-law Geoffrey of Anjou at his knighting. The English heralds were made a corporation, the College of Arms, by Richard III in 1484.
The parts of an achievement
The shield carries the arms on its field. Its right and left, dexter and sinister, are the bearer’s, so dexter is on the left as you face it. Above it the helmet shows rank, says the Court of the Lord Lyon. The mantling began, in the Heraldry Society’s account, as a small cloak hung from the helm to keep off the sun, and the torse or wreath, a twist of six folds covering the join between helm and crest, may have begun as a lady’s favour. Supporters, the creatures standing on either side holding the shield, were unknown before Henry VI; they stand on the compartment, a mound such as a grassy knoll, a beach or sea waves. The motto is not part of a grant of arms in English heraldry and arms need not have one; in Scotland the motto is part of the grant.
Reading a blazon
Every coat of arms is defined by a written description, the blazon, which mixes English, Norman French and Latin. The Court of the Lord Lyon’s example is the arms of James Thomson, merchant, of Kirkcaldy: “Argent, a stag’s head cabossed proper, on a chief engrailed Gules, a mullet between two crescents of the First.” That is a silver shield with a stag’s head, cut off and shown in its natural colours, and a red band across the top with a scalloped edge, carrying a star between two crescents in silver. The colours are on the Tinctures (heraldic colours) page and the bands on the Ordinaries page.
An augmentation: Jane Lane’s horse
Arms can be added to as a reward. After Charles II’s failed attempt to regain his throne, Jane Lane, aged 25, smuggled him out of the country by riding with him disguised as her groom. When he returned in 1660 he granted her family a canton of the lions of England, and a year later a crest: a strawberry roan, her horse, holding a royal crown.
Crest is not the whole
A crest is only the device on the helmet, and arms belong to a person, not a surname; see Family crest.
Read next
- Next in HeraldryFamily crestThere is no such thing as a family crest or a coat of arms for a surname. Arms are granted to one person and pass to that person’s descendants; the crest is only the part of the arms that sits on top of the helmet.
- The same shape in Animal symbolismDeer symbolismIn Christian legend a stag with a crucifix between its antlers turned the hunters Eustace and Hubert to God; in Buddhist art two deer beside the wheel of the teaching recall the Deer Park where the Buddha first taught. Cherokee hunters asked pardon of the Little Deer, chief of the deer, for every deer they killed.
See also
Tinctures (heraldic colours), Ordinaries, Marks of cadency, Crosses in heraldry, Lion rampant, Eagle displayed.
Sources
- Coat of arms, Britannica (Internet Archive copy, 25 August 2026), Encyclopaedia Britannica, article text
- A Complete Guide to Heraldry, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, 1909 (Project Gutenberg ebook 41617), T. C. & E. C. Jack, via Project Gutenberg, Chapter V, The Component Parts of an Achievement, pp. 57–59
- About Coats of Arms, About Heraldry, The Heraldry Society, page text
- Coats of Arms Unlocked, About Heraldry, The Heraldry Society, page text
- Heraldry: The beginnings, About Heraldry, The Heraldry Society, page text
- Frequently Asked Questions, Carlisle Transportation Products (The Carlstar Group), Are the mottos associated with coats of arms always in Latin?
- Blazoning: the language of heraldry, Educational sheet, Court of the Lord Lyon, Blazon; helm
- Heraldry, Britannica (Internet Archive copy, 1 October 2026), Encyclopaedia Britannica, article text
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from curves and waves.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 10, 2026. How we research
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