Heraldry

In seeking research to confirm the statement, “Heraldry has been a reflection of nations’ cultures throughout history”, research suggests that the answer is yes, it certainly has, although it is much more involved than what is commonly represented. The concept of heraldry is very complex and can be broken down into certain ideas. The idea of associative signs or armorial bearings is not pinpointed to a specific time, going as far back as Biblical times (Franklyn, 2). However, the specific idea of armory as tied to the occupation of heraldry, representing certain people and rulers, having a hereditary nature, and having specific standards that govern it did not exist, or at least evidence of it did not survive, before the Crusades, with the …show more content…
Most of the beginning arms and achievements included a version of the national cross (Znamierowski, 14-15), indicating the influence of the Catholic Church over medieval society, as well as the religious motivation of liberating the Holy Land connected with the Crusades in the minds of the medieval people. Another of the most common inclusions in an achievement was something that indicated the grantee’s name, such as arrows or indications of archery for the surname Fletcher, horses for Trotter, or a variation of a fox for Fox (Fox-Davies, 5). Besides indications of profession, this was one of the most enduring inclusion of achievements There was also an indication of the feudal system in heraldry, such as how the granting of an achievement was exclusively for knights and noblemen as well as the way certain components could be arranged to indicate who the individual served or what and how much an individual might