What is heraldry?

Question:According to The Oxford Dictionary of Local and Family History:

"heraldry. The origins of heraldry are obscure but can be dated to the second quarter of the 12th century. The rules and terminology of heraldry were laid down during the 13th century. The Heralds were incorporated as a College of Arms by Richard III in 1484. Their county surveys—known as Heralds' Visitations—began in 1530 and continued until the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Many of the records of county visitations have been published by the Harleian Society or by county record societies"

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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: According to The Oxford Dictionary of Local and Family History:

"heraldry. The origins of heraldry are obscure but can be dated to the second quarter of the 12th century. The rules and terminology of heraldry were laid down during the 13th century. The Heralds were incorporated as a College of Arms by Richard III in 1484. Their county surveys—known as Heralds' Visitations—began in 1530 and continued until the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Many of the records of county visitations have been published by the Harleian Society or by county record societies"

This answer was provided by Enquire, a 24-hour, live question answering and enquiry service offered by public librarians across England and Scotland in collaboration with partners in the United States. If you liked our answer and would like us to help you find another, you can chat with one of us right now by clicking on Enquire on the People’s Network site at http://www.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk

Heraldry in its most general sense encompasses all matters relating to the duties and responsibilities of officers of arms.[1] To most, though, heraldry is the practice of designing, displaying, describing, and recording coats of arms and badges. Historically, it has been variously described as "the shorthand of history"[2] and "the floral border in the garden of history."[3] The origins of heraldry lie in the need to distinguish participants in combat when their faces were hidden by iron and steel helmets.[4] Eventually a system of rules developed into the modern form of heraldry.

The system of blazoning arms that is used today was developed by the officers of arms since the dawn of the art. This includes a description of the escutcheon (shield), the crest, and, if present, supporters, mottoes, and other insignia. An understanding of these rules is one of the keys to sound practice of heraldry. The rules do differ from country to country, but there are some aspects that carry over in each jurisdiction.

Though heraldry is nearly 900 years old, it is still very much in use. Many cities and towns in Europe and around the world still make use of arms. Personal heraldry, both legally protected and lawfully assumed, has continued to be used around the world. Heraldic societies thrive to promote understanding of and education about the subject.

Origins and history

Shields of Magister Militum Praesentalis II. Page from the Notitia Dignitatum, a medieval copy of a Late Roman register of military commandsAncient warriors often decorated their shields with patterns and mythological motifs. These symbols could be used to identify the warriors bearing them when their faces were obscured by helmets. Army units of the Roman Empire were identified by the distinctive markings on their shields, although these were not heraldic in the medieval and modern sense, as they were associated with units, not individuals or families.[5]

Three soldiers on the Bayeux Tapestry bearing pre-heraldic shields.At the time of the Norman conquest of England, modern heraldry had not yet been developed. The knights in the Bayeux Tapestry carry shields, but there appears to have been no system of hereditary coats of arms. The beginnings of modern heraldic structure were in place, but would not become standard until the middle of the 12th century.[6] By this time, coats of arms were being inherited by the children of armigers (persons entitled to use a coat of arms) across Europe. Between 1135 and 1155, seals show the general adoption of heraldic devices in England, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy.[7] In Britain the practice of using marks of cadency arose to distinguish one son from another, and was institutionalized and standardized by John Writhe in the 15th century.

The tomb of Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou is one of the first recorded examples of hereditary armory in Europe. The same shield shown here is found on the tomb effigy of his grandson, William Longespee.In the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, heraldry became a highly developed discipline, regulated by professional officers of arms. As its use in jousting became obsolete, coats of arms remained popular for visually identifying a person in other ways—impressed in sealing wax on documents, carved on family tombs, and flown as a banner on country homes. The first work of heraldic jurisprudence, De Insigniis et Armiis, was written in the 1350s by Bartolus de Saxoferrato, a professor of law at the University of Padua.[8]

From the beginning of heraldry, coats of arms have been executed in a wide variety of media, including on paper, painted wood, embroidery, enamel, stonework and stained glass. For the purpose of quick identification in all of these, heraldry distinguishes only seven basic colors[9] and makes no fine distinctions in the precise size or placement of charges on the field.[10] Coats of arms and their accessories are described in a concise jargon called blazon.[11] This technical description of a coat of arms is the standard that must be adhered to no matter what artistic interpretations may be made in a particular depiction of the arms.

The idea that each element of a coat of arms has some specific meaning is unfounded. Though the original armiger may have placed particular meaning on a charge, these meanings are not necessarily retained from generation to generation. Unless the arms incorporate an obvious pun on the bearer's name, it is difficult to find meaning in them.

Changes in military technology and tactics made plate armour obsolete and heraldry became detached from its original function. This brought about the development of "paper heraldry" that only existed in paintings. Designs and shields became more elaborate at the expense of clarity. The 20th century's taste for stark iconic emblems made the simple styles of early heraldry fashionable again.

The rules of heraldry

Shield and lozenge
The main focus of modern heraldry is the armorial achievement, or coat of arms. The central element of a coat of arms is the escutcheon.[12] In general the shape of shield employed in a coat of arms is irrelevant. The fashion for shield shapes employed in heraldic art has generally evolved over the centuries. There are times when a particular shield shape is specified in a blazon. These almost invariably occur in non-European contexts such as the coat of arms of Nunavut[13] and the former Republic of Bophuthatswana,[14] though North Dakota provides an even more unusual example[15] and the state of Connecticut specifies a "rococo" shield.[16]

Traditionally, as women did not go to war, they did not use a shield. Instead their coats of arms were shown on a lozenge—a rhombus standing on one of its acute corners. This continues to hold true in much of the world, though some heraldic authorities make exceptions.[17] In Canada the restriction against women bearing arms on a shield has been completely eliminated. Noncombatant clergy have also made use of the lozenge as well as the cartouche – an oval – for their display.

Tinctures

Main article: Tincture (heraldry)
Tinctures are the colors used in heraldry, though a number of patterns called "furs" and the depiction of charges in their natural colors or "proper" are also regarded as tinctures, the latter distinct from any color such a depiction might approximate. Since heraldry is essentially a system of identification, the most important convention of heraldry is the rule of tincture. To provide for contrast and visibility, metals (generally lighter tinctures) must never be placed on metals, and colors (generally darker tinctures) must never be placed on colors. Where a charge overlays a partition of the field, the rule does not apply. Like any rule, this admits exceptions, the most famous being the gold crosses on white chosen as the arms of Godfrey of Bouillon when he was made King of Jerusalem.[18]

The names used in English blazon for the colors and metals come mainly from French and include Or (gold), Argent (white), Azure (blue), Gules (red), Sable (black), Vert (green), and Purpure (purple). A number of other colors are occasionally found, typically for special purposes.[19]

Certain patterns called "furs" can appear in a coat of arms, though they are (rather arbitrarily) defined as tinctures, not patterns. The two common furs are ermine and vair. Ermine represents the winter coat of the stoat, which is white with a black tail. Vair represents a kind of squirrel with a blue-gray back and white belly. Sewn together, it forms a pattern of alternating blue and white shapes.[20]

Heraldic charges can be displayed in their natural colors. Many natural items such as plants and animals are described as proper in this case. Proper charges are very frequent as crests and supporters. Overuse of the tincture "proper" is viewed as decadent or bad practice.

Divisions of the field.

Ordinaries.Main article: Division of the field
The field of a shield in heraldry can be divided into more than one tincture, as can the various heraldic charges. Many coats of arms consist simply of a division of the field into two contrasting tinctures. Since these are considered divisions of a shield the rule of tincture can be ignored. For example, a shield divided azure and gules would be perfectly acceptable. A line of partition may be straight or it may be varied. The variations of partition lines can be wavy, indented, embattled, engrailed, nebuly, or made into myriad other forms.[21]

Ordinaries
Main article: Ordinary (heraldry)
In the early days of heraldry, very simple bold rectilinear shapes were painted on shields. These could be easily recognized at a long distance and could be easily remembered. They therefore served the main purpose of heraldry—identification.[22] As more complicated shields came into use, these bold shapes were set apart in a separate class as the "honorable ordinaries." They act as charges and are always written first in blazon. Unless otherwise specified they extend to the edges of the field. Though ordinaries are not easily defined, they are generally described as including the cross, the fess, the pale, the bend, the chevron, the saltire, and the pall.[23]

There is a separate class of charges called sub-ordinaries which are of a geometrical shape subordinate to the ordinary. According to Friar, they are distinguished by their order in blazon. The sub-ordinaries include the inescutcheon, the orle, the tressure, the double tressure, the bordure, the chief, the canton, the label, and flaunches.[24]

Ordinaries may appear in parallel series, in which case English blazon gives them different names such as pallets, bars, bendlets, and chevronels. French blazon makes no such distinction between these diminutives and the ordinaries when borne singly.

The study of coats of arms and the crests and mottoes associated with them.
http://www.rarebooks.nd.edu/digital/hera...
http://www.heraldica.org/
http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/About/...

omg does she have to copy all in wikipedia?

It a system or practice in which inherited symbols, or devices, called charges are displayed on a shield, or escutcheon(another term use for heraldry), for the purpose of identifying individuals or families.

so basically its like use to emblem on peoples armors or clothes to prove that they are a member of a group and thus it functions as an identification for a person in the same manner that we have surnames nowadays.

To answer the question, this is the definition of Heraldry :-

Heraldry, or Armory, is the art which teaches the true use of arms, and consists of two parts, Blazon or Blazonry, and Marshalling.
Blazonry is the explication of arms in apt and significant terms.
Marshalling is the orderly disposing of sundry coat armours pertaining to distinct families, marshalled on account of descent, marriage, alliance, gifts of the sovereign, adoption,etc. To this branch of the science may also be added an account of the different degrees of nobility, the orders of knighthood, and tables of precedency.