The wyvern ( / ˈ w aɪ v ər n / WY -vərn , sometimes spelled wivern ) is a type of mythical dragon with two legs , two wings , and often a pointed tail.
137-537: The wyvern in its various forms is important in heraldry , frequently appearing as a mascot of schools and athletic teams (chiefly in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada). It is a popular creature in European literature, mythology, and folklore. Today, it is often used in fantasy literature and video games. The wyvern in heraldry and folklore is rarely fire-breathing, unlike other dragons. According to
274-433: A coat of arms on a shield , helmet and crest , together with any accompanying devices, such as supporters , badges , heraldic banners and mottoes . 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, as the concept of regular, hereditary designs, constituting the distinguishing feature of heraldry, did not develop until
411-495: A crest , supporters , and other heraldic embellishments. The term " coat of arms " technically refers to the shield of arms itself, but the phrase is commonly used to refer to the entire achievement. The one indispensable element of a coat of arms is the shield; many ancient coats of arms consist of nothing else, but no achievement or armorial bearings exists without a coat of arms. From a very early date, illustrations of arms were frequently embellished with helmets placed above
548-436: A king of Mercia is Creoda , said to have been the great-grandson of Icel . Coming to power around 584, he built a fortress at Tamworth which became the seat of Mercia's kings. His son Pybba succeeded him in 593. Cearl , a kinsman of Creoda, followed Pybba in 606; in 615, Cearl gave his daughter Cwenburga in marriage to Edwin , king of Deira , whom he had sheltered while he was an exiled prince. The Mercian kings were
685-821: A Fowle in the Wings and Legs ... and doth resemble a Serpent in the Taile". John Gibbon in 1682 emphasises that it "hath but two Legs". Conversely, medievalist William Sayers proposes a more complex origin for the term. He notes that the Anglo-French guivre and its Middle English derivative ceased to retain the original sense of "venomous snake" after the Latin term was re-introduced into medieval Latin, freeing them up to take an alternative meaning. Adducing another meaning of wiver (this time Old English ) and guivre , "light javelin ", and noting partial resemblances between
822-567: A brief period of independence in the mid-10th century and in 1016, by which time it was viewed as a province with temporary independence. Wessex conquered and united all the kingdoms into the Kingdom of England . The kingdom became an earldom until 1071. Mercia's exact evolution at the start of the Anglo-Saxon era remains more obscure than that of Northumbria , Kent , or even Wessex . Mercia developed an effective political structure and
959-501: A bright violet-red or pink colour; and carnation , commonly used to represent flesh in French heraldry. A more recent addition is the use of copper as a metal in one or two Canadian coats of arms. There are two basic types of heraldic fur, known as ermine and vair , but over the course of centuries each has developed a number of variations. Ermine represents the fur of the stoat , a type of weasel, in its white winter coat, when it
1096-399: A dark red or mulberry colour between gules and purpure, and tenné , an orange or dark yellow to brown colour. These last two are quite rare, and are often referred to as stains , from the belief that they were used to represent some dishonourable act, although in fact there is no evidence that this use existed outside of fanciful heraldic writers. Perhaps owing to the realization that there
1233-553: A division of the field, which is partly metal and partly colour; nor, strictly speaking, does it prevent a field from consisting of two metals or two colours, although this is unusual. Furs are considered amphibious, and neither metal nor colour; but in practice ermine and erminois are usually treated as metals, while ermines and pean are treated as colours. This rule is strictly adhered to in British armory, with only rare exceptions; although generally observed in continental heraldry, it
1370-539: A golden three-pronged Saxon crown has been used by several units of the British Army as a heraldic device for Mercia since 1958, including the Mercian Regiment . It is derived from the attributed arms of Leofric, Earl of Mercia in the 11th century. Leofric is sometimes attributed a black, single-headed eagle instead. The wyvern , a type of dragon , came to have a strong association with Mercia in
1507-407: A grant of arms; it may be assumed without authority by anyone entitled to bear arms, together with mantling and whatever motto the armiger may desire. The crest, however, together with the torse or coronet from which it arises, must be granted or confirmed by the relevant heraldic authority. If the bearer is entitled to the ribbon, collar, or badge of a knightly order, it may encircle or depend from
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#17327879735221644-681: A heraldic visitation of the town in 1619. In Bram Stoker 's 1911 novel The Lair of the White Worm , explicitly set in Mercia (see above), the Mercian white wyvern sans legs of the Midland Railway was transformed into a monstrous beast, the eponymous worm of the title. The word "worm" is derived from Old English wyrm and originally referred to a dragon or serpent. "Wyvern" derives from Old Saxon wivere , also meaning serpent, and
1781-464: A late use of heraldic imagery has been in patriotic commemorations and nationalistic propaganda during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Since the late nineteenth century, heraldry has focused on the use of varied lines of partition and little-used ordinaries to produce new and unique designs. A heraldic achievement consists of a shield of arms , the coat of arms, or simply coat, together with all of its accompanying elements, such as
1918-838: A monk in Rome, Æthelbald was free to establish Mercia's hegemony over the rest of the Anglo-Saxons south of the Humber . Æthelbald suffered a setback in 752, when the West Saxons under Cuthred defeated him, but he seems to have restored his supremacy over Wessex by 757. In July 2009, the Staffordshire Hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold was discovered by Terry Herbert in a field at Hammerwich, near Brownhills and close to Lichfield in Staffordshire. Lichfield functioned as
2055-572: A new football league was formed called the Mercian Regional Football League . Hits Radio Coventry & Warwickshire , a commercial radio station, was originally launched in 1980 as Mercia Sound , later becoming Mercia FM , and then Mercia . There is no authentic indigenous Mercian heraldic device, as heraldry did not develop in any recognizable form until the High Middle Ages . The saltire as
2192-409: A number is usually displayed only in documentary contexts. The Scottish and Spanish traditions resist allowing more than four quarters, preferring to subdivide one or more "grand quarters" into sub-quarters as needed. The third common mode of marshalling is with an inescutcheon , a small shield placed in front of the main shield. In Britain this is most often an "escutcheon of pretence" indicating, in
2329-525: A number of seals dating from between 1135 and 1155 appear to show the adoption of heraldic devices in England, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. A notable example of an early armorial seal is attached to a charter granted by Philip I, Count of Flanders , in 1164. Seals from the latter part of the eleventh and early twelfth centuries show no evidence of heraldic symbolism, but by the end of the twelfth century, seals are uniformly heraldic in nature. One of
2466-401: A number of ways, of which the simplest is impalement : dividing the field per pale and putting one whole coat in each half. Impalement replaced the earlier dimidiation – combining the dexter half of one coat with the sinister half of another – because dimidiation can create ambiguity between, for example, a bend and a chevron . "Dexter" (from Latin dextra , "right") means to
2603-701: A proclamation in 1419, forbidding all those who had not borne arms at the Battle of Agincourt from assuming arms, except by inheritance or a grant from the crown. Beginning in the reign of Henry VIII of England, the English Kings of Arms were commanded to make visitations , in which they traveled about the country, recording arms borne under proper authority, and requiring those who bore arms without authority either to obtain authority for them, or cease their use. Arms borne improperly were to be taken down and defaced. The first such visitation began in 1530, and
2740-574: A role in the administration of the Catholic Church in England (sponsoring the short-lived archbishopric of Lichfield , 787 to 799), and even negotiated with Charlemagne as an equal. Offa is credited with the construction of Offa's Dyke , which marked the border between Wales and Mercia. Offa exerted himself to ensure that his son Ecgfrith of Mercia would succeed him, but after Offa's death in July 796 Ecgfrith survived for only five months, and
2877-466: 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; see Line (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
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#17327879735223014-582: A silver badge by all uniformed employees. However, in 1897 the Railway Magazine noted that there appeared "to be no foundation that the wyvern was associated with the Kingdom of Mercia". It has been associated with Leicester since the time of Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster and Leicester (c. 1278–1322), the most powerful lord in the Midlands, who used it as his personal crest, and was recorded in
3151-520: A symbol of Mercia may have been in use since the time of King Offa . By the 13th century, the saltire had become the attributed arms of the Kingdom of Mercia. The arms are blazoned Azure, a saltire Or , meaning a gold (or yellow) saltire on a blue field. The arms were subsequently used by the Abbey of St Albans , founded by King Offa of Mercia. With the dissolution of the Abbey and the incorporation of
3288-477: A traditional shield under certain circumstances, and in Canadian heraldry the shield is now regularly granted. The whole surface of the escutcheon is termed the field , which may be plain, consisting of a single tincture, or divided into multiple sections of differing tinctures by various lines of partition; and any part of the field may be semé , or powdered with small charges. The edges and adjacent parts of
3425-659: A white background with endorsed wings forms the coat of arms of the Tilley family. The arms of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries depict a wyvern, symbolising disease, being overcome by Apollo , symbolising medicine. Wyvern Zilant is depicted on the coat of arms of the city of Kazan , the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan . The wyvern is a popular commercial logo or mascot , especially in Wales and what
3562-531: A window commemorating the knights who embarked on the Second Crusade in 1147, and was probably made soon after the event; but Montfaucon's illustration of the window before it was destroyed shows no heraldic design on any of the shields. In England, from the time of the Norman conquest, official documents had to be sealed. Beginning in the twelfth century, seals assumed a distinctly heraldic character;
3699-671: Is Mercia...". The British Army has made use of several regional identities in naming larger, amalgamated formations. After the Second World War, the infantry regiments of Cheshire , Staffordshire and Worcestershire were organised in the Mercian Brigade (1948–1968). Today, "Mercia" appears in the titles of two regiments, the Mercian Regiment , founded in 2007, which recruits in Cheshire, Derbyshire , Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, and parts of Greater Manchester and
3836-510: Is also credited with having originated the English crest of a lion statant (now statant-guardant). The origins of heraldry are sometimes associated with the Crusades , a series of military campaigns undertaken by Christian armies from 1096 to 1487, with the goal of reconquering Jerusalem and other former Byzantine territories captured by Muslim forces during the seventh century. While there
3973-701: Is any object or figure placed on a heraldic shield or on any other object of an armorial composition. Any object found in nature or technology may appear as a heraldic charge in armory. Charges can be animals, objects, or geometric shapes. Apart from the ordinaries, the most frequent charges are the cross – with its hundreds of variations – and the lion and eagle . Other common animals are bears , stags , wild boars , martlets , wolves and fish . Dragons , bats , unicorns , griffins , and other monsters appear as charges and as supporters . Animals are found in various stereotyped positions or attitudes . Quadrupeds can often be found rampant (standing on
4110-503: Is called barry , while a pattern of vertical (palewise) stripes is called paly . A pattern of diagonal stripes may be called bendy or bendy sinister , depending on the direction of the stripes. Other variations include chevrony , gyronny and chequy . Wave shaped stripes are termed undy . For further variations, these are sometimes combined to produce patterns of barry-bendy , paly-bendy , lozengy and fusilly . Semés, or patterns of repeated charges, are also considered variations of
4247-442: Is called an ermine. It consists of a white, or occasionally silver field, powdered with black figures known as ermine spots , representing the black tip of the animal's tail. Ermine was traditionally used to line the cloaks and caps of the nobility. The shape of the heraldic ermine spot has varied considerably over time, and nowadays is typically drawn as an arrowhead surmounted by three small dots, but older forms may be employed at
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4384-515: Is etymologically related to viper . The ultimate source for the symbolism of white dragons in England would appear to be Geoffrey of Monmouth 's fictional work, The History of the Kings of Britain (c. 1136), which recounts an incident in the life of Merlin where a red dragon is seen fighting a white dragon and prevailing. The red dragon was taken to represent the Welsh and their eventual victory over
4521-446: Is first recorded (as mydlonde-shiris ) in 1475. John Bateman, writing in 1876 or 1883, referred to contemporary Cheshire and Staffordshire landholdings as being in Mercia. The most credible source for the idea of a contemporary Mercia is Thomas Hardy 's Wessex novels. The first of these appeared in 1874 and Hardy himself considered it the origin of the conceit of a contemporary Wessex. Bram Stoker set his 1911 novel The Lair of
4658-438: Is given to the heraldic artist in depicting the heraldic tinctures; there is no fixed shade or hue to any of them. Whenever an object is depicted as it appears in nature, rather than in one or more of the heraldic tinctures, it is termed proper , or the colour of nature. This does not seem to have been done in the earliest heraldry, but examples are known from at least the seventeenth century. While there can be no objection to
4795-507: Is no evidence that heraldic art originated in the course of the Crusades, there is no reason to doubt that the gathering of large armies, drawn from across Europe for a united cause, would have encouraged the adoption of armorial bearings as a means of identifying one's commanders in the field, or that it helped disseminate the principles of armory across Europe. At least two distinctive features of heraldry are generally accepted as products of
4932-423: Is no heraldic authority, and no law preventing anyone from assuming whatever arms they please, provided that they do not infringe upon the arms of another. Although heraldry originated from military necessity, it soon found itself at home in the pageantry of the medieval tournament . The opportunity for knights and lords to display their heraldic bearings in a competitive medium led to further refinements, such as
5069-452: Is normally left to the discretion of the heraldic artist, and many different shapes have prevailed during different periods of heraldic design, and in different parts of Europe. One shape alone is normally reserved for a specific purpose: the lozenge , a diamond-shaped escutcheon, was traditionally used to display the arms of women, on the grounds that shields, as implements of war, were inappropriate for this purpose. This distinction
5206-406: Is not adhered to quite as strictly. Arms which violate this rule are sometimes known as "puzzle arms", of which the most famous example is the arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem , consisting of gold crosses on a silver field. The field of a shield, or less often a charge or crest, is sometimes made up of a pattern of colours, or variation . A pattern of horizontal (barwise) stripes, for example,
5343-522: Is really no such thing as a stain in genuine heraldry, as well as the desire to create new and unique designs, the use of these colours for general purposes has become accepted in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Occasionally one meets with other colours, particularly in continental heraldry, although they are not generally regarded among the standard heraldic colours. Among these are cendrée , or ash-colour; brunâtre , or brown; bleu-céleste or bleu de ciel , sky blue; amaranth or columbine ,
5480-423: Is similar to vair in pale, but diagonal. When alternating rows are reversed as in counter-vair, and then displaced by half the width of one bell, it is termed vair in point , or wave-vair. A form peculiar to German heraldry is alternate vair , in which each vair bell is divided in half vertically, with half argent and half azure. All of these variations can also be depicted in the form known as potent , in which
5617-452: Is sometimes found. Three additional furs are sometimes encountered in continental heraldry; in French and Italian heraldry one meets with plumeté or plumetty , in which the field appears to be covered with feathers, and papelonné , in which it is decorated with scales. In German heraldry one may encounter kursch , or vair bellies, depicted as brown and furry; all of these probably originated as variations of vair. Considerable latitude
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5754-564: Is the use of a limited palette of colours and patterns, usually referred to as tinctures . These are divided into three categories, known as metals , colours , and furs . The metals are or and argent , representing gold and silver, respectively, although in practice they are usually depicted as yellow and white. Five colours are universally recognized: gules , or red; sable , or black; azure , or blue; vert , or green; and purpure , or purple; and most heraldic authorities also admit two additional colours, known as sanguine or murrey ,
5891-524: Is typically depicted resting upon its legs and tail, but may be depicted with its claws in the air and only supported by its tail. On occasion, a wyvern may be depicted as wingless and with its tail nowed . A silver ( argent ) wyvern formed the crest of the Borough of Leicester as recorded at the heraldic visitation of Leicestershire in 1619: "A wyvern sans legs argent strewed with wounds gules, wings expanded ermine." The term "sans legs" may not imply that
6028-502: The Oxford English Dictionary , the word is a development of Middle English wyver (attested fourteenth century), from Anglo-French wivre (cf. French guivre and vouivre ), which originate from Latin vīpera , meaning "viper", "adder", or "asp". The concluding " –n " had been added by the beginning of the 17th century, when John Guillim in 1610 describes the " wiverne " as a creature that "partake[s] of
6165-461: The Battle of Winwaed , in which Penda in turn lost the battle and his life. The battle led to a temporary collapse of Mercian power. Penda's son Peada , who had converted to Christianity at Repton in 653, succeeded his father as king of Mercia; Oswiu set up Peada as an under-king; but in the spring of 656 he was murdered and Oswiu assumed direct control of the whole of Mercia. A Mercian revolt in 658 threw off Northumbrian domination and resulted in
6302-520: The Bayeux Tapestry , illustrating the Norman invasion of England in 1066, and probably commissioned about 1077, when the cathedral of Bayeux was rebuilt, depicts a number of shields of various shapes and designs, many of which are plain, while others are decorated with dragons, crosses, or other typically heraldic figures. Yet no individual is depicted twice bearing the same arms, nor are any of
6439-415: The High Middle Ages . It is 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 little support for this view. The perceived beauty and pageantry of heraldic designs allowed them to survive
6576-558: The Kingdom of Rohan , otherwise known as the Mark (a name cognate with Mercia ). The Mercian dialect is the basis of Tolkien's language of Rohan, and a number of its kings are given the same names as monarchs who appear in the Mercian royal genealogy, e.g., Fréawine, Fréaláf and Éomer (see List of kings of the Angles ). The first kings of Mercia were pagans, and they resisted the encroachment of Christianity longer than other kingdoms in
6713-604: The Nebra sky disc , is also thought to serve as a heraldic precursor. Until the nineteenth century, it was common for heraldic writers to cite examples such as these, and metaphorical symbols such as the "Lion of Judah" or "Eagle of the Caesars", as evidence of the antiquity of heraldry itself; and to infer therefrom that the great figures of ancient history bore arms representing their noble status and descent. The Book of Saint Albans , compiled in 1486, declares that Christ himself
6850-552: The Norman Conquest in 1066. The name 'Mercia' is a Latinisation of an Old English word derived from the Mercian Old English , Merce , meaning "borderland". The dialect thrived between the 8th and 13th centuries and was referred to by John Trevisa , writing in 1387: For men of the est with men of the west, as it were undir the same partie of hevene, acordeth more in sownynge of speche than men of
6987-410: The fess , the pale , the bend , the chevron , the saltire , and the pall . 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 ,
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#17327879735227124-604: The griffin can also be found. In the Bible , the Book of Numbers refers to the standards and ensigns of the children of Israel , who were commanded to gather beneath these emblems and declare their pedigrees. The Greek and Latin writers frequently describe the shields and symbols of various heroes, and units of the Roman army were sometimes identified by distinctive markings on their shields. At least one pre-historic European object,
7261-404: The herald , originally a type of messenger employed by noblemen, assumed the responsibility of learning and knowing the rank, pedigree, and heraldic devices of various knights and lords, as well as the rules governing the design and description, or blazoning of arms, and the precedence of their bearers. As early as the late thirteenth century, certain heralds in the employ of monarchs were given
7398-459: The label , and flaunches . Ordinaries may appear in parallel series, in which case blazons in English give 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. Unless otherwise specified an ordinary is drawn with straight lines, but each may be indented, embattled, wavy, engrailed, or otherwise have their lines varied. A charge
7535-621: The 14th century. It lists a number of peoples, such as the Hwicce , who have now vanished, except for reminders in various placenames. The major subdivisions of Mercia were as follows: After Mercia was annexed by Wessex in the early 10th century, the West Saxon rulers divided it into shires modelled after their own system, cutting across traditional Mercian divisions. These shires survived mostly intact until 1974, and even today still largely follow their original boundaries. The term "midlands"
7672-474: The 1950s, seeing active service in the 1956 Suez Crisis . Heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology , together with the study of ceremony , rank and pedigree . Armory, the best-known branch of heraldry, concerns the design and transmission of the heraldic achievement . The achievement, or armorial bearings usually includes
7809-466: The 19th century. The Midland Railway , which used a white (silver) wyvern sans legs (legless) as its crest, having inherited it from the Leicester and Swannington Railway , asserted that the "wyvern was the standard of the Kingdom of Mercia", and that it was "a quartering in the town arms of Leicester". The symbol appeared on numerous stations and other company buildings in the region, and was worn as
7946-568: The Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. Mercian rulers remained resolutely pagan until the reign of Peada in 656, although this did not prevent them joining coalitions with Christian Welsh rulers to resist Northumbria. The first appearance of Christianity in Mercia, however, had come at least thirty years earlier, following the Battle of Cirencester of 628, when Penda incorporated the formerly West Saxon territories of Hwicce into his kingdom. The conversion of Mercia to Christianity occurred in
8083-689: The Anglo-Saxon invaders, symbolised by the white dragon. The philologist and Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey has suggested that the Middle Kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's Farmer Giles of Ham , a story dominated by a dragon, is based on Mercia, the part of England where Tolkien grew up. This dragon, Chrysophylax , though mostly hostile, eventually helps Giles found a realm of his own, the Little Kingdom. Shippey states further that "the Mark",
8220-575: The Diocese of Mercia became the Diocese of Lichfield . There has been a diocese based in the city ever since. For a brief period between 787 and 799 or 803 the diocese was an archbishopric . The current bishop, Michael Ipgrave , is the 99th since the diocese was established. At the end of the 9th century, following the invasions of the Vikings and their Great Heathen Army , Danelaw absorbed much of
8357-721: The Mediterranean, with a notable example being the Egyptian goddess Wadjet . The oldest creatures outright referred to as "winged dragons" are Helios 's chariot steeds, which aid Medea . In British heraldry, the term "wyver" first appears in Great Roll in 1312, and is derived from the Old French "wyvre", meaning "serpent". The term "dragon" appears by the following century. Afterwards, four-legged dragons become increasingly popular in heraldry and become distinguished from
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#17327879735228494-654: The Mercian king Beornwulf (who had overthrown Ceolwulf in 823) at Ellendun . The Battle of Ellendun proved decisive. At this point, Mercia lost control of Kent , Sussex , Surrey , and possibly also Essex . Beornwulf was slain while suppressing a revolt amongst the East Angles, and his successor, a former ealdorman named Ludeca (reigned 826–827), met the same fate. Another ealdorman, Wiglaf , subsequently ruled for less than two years before Egbert of Wessex drove him out of Mercia. In 830 Wiglaf regained independence for Mercia, but by this time Wessex had clearly become
8631-721: The West Midlands, and the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry , founded in 1992 as part of the Territorial Army . In 1967, the police forces of Herefordshire , Shropshire and Worcestershire were combined into the West Mercia Constabulary , which changed its name to West Mercia Police in 2009. Telephone directories across the Midlands include a large number of commercial and voluntary organisations using "Mercia" in their names, and in 2012
8768-574: The White Worm in a contemporary Mercia that may have been influenced by Hardy, whose secretary was a friend of Stoker's brother. Although 'Edwardian Mercia' never had the success of 'Victorian Wessex', it was an idea that appealed to the higher echelons of society. In 1908 Sir Oliver Lodge, Principal of Birmingham University , wrote to his counterpart at Bristol , welcoming a new university worthy of "...the great Province of Wessex whose higher educational needs it will supply. It will be no rival, but colleague and co-worker with this university, whose province
8905-554: The accession of Æthelbald in 716 the Mercians conquered the region around Wroxeter , known to the Welsh as Pengwern or as "The Paradise of Powys". Elegies written in the persona of its dispossessed rulers record the sorrow at this loss. The next important king of Mercia, Æthelbald, reigned from 716 to 757. For the first few years of his reign he had to face two strong rival kings, Wihtred of Kent and Ine of Wessex . But when Wihtred died in 725, and Ine abdicated in 726 to become
9042-403: The antiquity of heraldry. The development of the modern heraldic language cannot be attributed to a single individual, time, or place. Although certain designs that are now considered heraldic were evidently in use during the eleventh century, most accounts and depictions of shields up to the beginning of the twelfth century contain little or no evidence of their heraldic character. For example,
9179-484: The appearance of another son of Penda, Wulfhere , who ruled Mercia as an independent kingdom (though he apparently continued to render tribute to Northumbria for a while) until his death in 675. Wulfhere initially succeeded in restoring the power of Mercia, but the end of his reign saw a serious defeat by Northumbria. The next king, Æthelred , defeated Northumbria in the Battle of the Trent in 679, settling once and for all
9316-409: The arms of a married couple, that the wife is an heraldic heiress (i.e., she inherits a coat of arms because she has no brothers). In continental Europe an inescutcheon (sometimes called a "heart shield") usually carries the ancestral arms of a monarch or noble whose domains are represented by the quarters of the main shield. In German heraldry , animate charges in combined coats usually turn to face
9453-404: The artist's discretion. When the field is sable and the ermine spots argent, the same pattern is termed ermines ; when the field is or rather than argent, the fur is termed erminois ; and when the field is sable and the ermine spots or , it is termed pean . Vair represents the winter coat of the red squirrel , which is blue-grey on top and white underneath. To form the linings of cloaks,
9590-612: The authority of the Earl Marshal ; but all of the arms granted by the college are granted by the authority of the crown. In Scotland Court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms oversees the heraldry, and holds court sessions which are an official part of Scotland's court system. Similar bodies regulate the granting of arms in other monarchies and several members of the Commonwealth of Nations , but in most other countries there
9727-435: The base. The other points include dexter chief , center chief , and sinister chief , running along the upper part of the shield from left to right, above the honour point; dexter flank and sinister flank , on the sides approximately level with fess point; and dexter base , middle base , and sinister base along the lower part of the shield, below the nombril point. One of the most distinctive qualities of heraldry
9864-651: The border people"; Latin : Merciorum regnum ) was one of the three main Anglic kingdoms founded after Sub-Roman Britain was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy . It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlands of England . The royal court moved around the kingdom without a fixed capital city. Early in its existence Repton seems to have been
10001-494: The borough of St Albans the device was used on the town's corporate seal and was officially recorded as the arms of the town at an heraldic visitation in 1634. The saltire is used as both a flag and a coat of arms. As a flag, it is flown from Tamworth Castle , the ancient seat of the Mercian Kings, to this day. The flag also appears on street signs welcoming people to Tamworth , the "ancient capital of Mercia". It
10138-416: The centre of the composition. In English the word "crest" is commonly (but erroneously) used to refer to an entire heraldic achievement of armorial bearings. The technical use of the heraldic term crest refers to just one component of a complete achievement. The crest rests on top of a helmet which itself rests on the most important part of the achievement: the shield. The modern crest has grown out of
10275-401: The crusaders: the surcoat , an outer garment worn over the armor to protect the wearer from the heat of the sun, was often decorated with the same devices that appeared on a knight's shield. It is from this garment that the phrase "coat of arms" is derived. Also the lambrequin, or mantling, that depends from the helmet and frames the shield in modern heraldry, began as a practical covering for
10412-532: The descendants of the various persons depicted known to have borne devices resembling those in the tapestry. Similarly, an account of the French knights at the court of the Byzantine emperor Alexius I at the beginning of the twelfth century describes their shields of polished metal, devoid of heraldic design. A Spanish manuscript from 1109 describes both plain and decorated shields, none of which appears to have been heraldic. The Abbey of St. Denis contained
10549-405: The development of "landscape heraldry", incorporating realistic depictions of landscapes, during the latter part of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth century. These fell out of fashion during the mid-nineteenth century, when a renewed interest in the history of armory led to the re-evaluation of earlier designs, and a new appreciation for the medieval origins of the art. In particular,
10686-471: The development of elaborate tournament helms, and further popularized the art of heraldry throughout Europe. Prominent burghers and corporations, including many cities and towns, assumed or obtained grants of arms, with only nominal military associations. Heraldic devices were depicted in various contexts, such as religious and funerary art, and in using a wide variety of media, including stonework, carved wood, enamel , stained glass , and embroidery . As
10823-446: The dexter is on the left side, and the sinister on the right. The placement of various charges may also refer to a number of specific points, nine in number according to some authorities, but eleven according to others. The three most important are fess point , located in the visual center of the shield; the honour point , located midway between fess point and the chief; and the nombril point , located midway between fess point and
10960-539: The dominant power in England. Circa 840 Beorhtwulf succeeded Wiglaf. In 852, Burgred came to the throne, and with Ethelwulf of Wessex subjugated North Wales . In 868 Danish invaders occupied Nottingham . The Danes drove Burgred from his kingdom in 874 and Ceolwulf II took his place. In 877 the Danes seized the eastern part of Mercia, which became part of the Danelaw . Ceolwulf, the last king of Mercia, left with
11097-443: The earliest known examples of armory as it subsequently came to be practiced can be seen on the tomb of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou , who died in 1151. An enamel, probably commissioned by Geoffrey's widow between 1155 and 1160, depicts him carrying a blue shield decorated with six golden lions rampant. He wears a blue helmet adorned with another lion, and his cloak is lined in vair. A medieval chronicle states that Geoffrey
11234-436: The escutcheon are used to identify the placement of various heraldic charges; the upper edge, and the corresponding upper third of the shield, are referred to as the chief; the lower part is the base. The sides of the shield are known as the dexter and sinister flanks, although these terms are based on the point of view of the bearer of the shield, who would be standing behind it; to the observer, and in all heraldic illustration,
11371-399: The field. The Rule of tincture applies to all semés and variations 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. These are considered divisions of a shield, so the rule of tincture can be ignored. For example,
11508-568: The fifth bishop to operate in Mercia. This controversial figure was given land by King Wulfhere to build a monastery at Lichfield . Evidence suggests that the Lichfield Gospels were made in Lichfield around 730. As in other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the many small monasteries established by the Mercian kings allowed the political/military and ecclesiastical leadership to consolidate their unity through bonds of kinship. For knowledge of
11645-504: The former Mercian territory. Danelaw at its height included London, all of East Anglia and most of the North of England. The final Mercian king, Ceolwulf II , died in 879 with the kingdom appearing to have lost its political independence. Initially, it was ruled by a lord or ealdorman under the overlordship of Alfred the Great , who styled himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons". The kingdom had
11782-548: The frontier between Northumbria and the inhabitants of the Trent river valley . Although its earliest boundaries remain obscure, a general agreement persists that the territory that was called "the first of the Mercians" in the Tribal Hidage covered much of south Derbyshire , Leicestershire , Nottinghamshire , Northamptonshire , Staffordshire and northern Warwickshire . The earliest person named in any records as
11919-475: The fur is termed gros vair or beffroi ; if of six or more, it is menu-vair , or miniver. A common variation is counter-vair , in which alternating rows are reversed, so that the bases of the vair bells of each tincture are joined to those of the same tincture in the row above or below. When the rows are arranged so that the bells of each tincture form vertical columns, it is termed vair in pale ; in continental heraldry one may encounter vair in bend , which
12056-683: 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, regions, and other entities use heraldry and its conventions to symbolize their heritage, achievements, and aspirations. Various symbols have been used to represent individuals or groups for thousands of years. The earliest representations of distinct persons and regions in Egyptian art show
12193-457: The hegemony which his predecessor had exercised over the southern English, and he did this so successfully that he became the greatest king Mercia had ever known. Not only did he win battles and dominate Southern England , but also he took an active hand in administering the affairs of his kingdom, founding market towns and overseeing the first major issues of gold coins in Britain; he assumed
12330-402: The helmet and the back of the neck during the Crusades, serving much the same function as the surcoat. Its slashed or scalloped edge, today rendered as billowing flourishes, is thought to have originated from hard wearing in the field, or as a means of deadening a sword blow and perhaps entangling the attacker's weapon. The spread of armorial bearings across Europe gave rise to a new occupation:
12467-464: The heraldry of other European countries, where two-legged dragon creatures are simply called dragons. The wyvern frequently features in modern fantasy fiction, such as Fourth Wing , though its first literary appearances may have been in medieval bestiaries . The wyvern is a frequent charge in English heraldry and vexillology , also occasionally appearing as a supporter or crest . A wyvern
12604-494: The internal composition of the Kingdom of Mercia, we must rely on a document of uncertain age (possibly late 7th century), known as the Tribal Hidage – an assessment of the extent (but not the location) of land owned (reckoned in hides ), and therefore the military obligations and perhaps taxes due, by each of the Mercian tribes and subject kingdoms by name. This hidage exists in several manuscript versions, some as late as
12741-568: The kingdom passed to a distant relative named Coenwulf in December 796. In 821 Coenwulf's brother Ceolwulf succeeded to the Mercian kingship; he demonstrated his military prowess by his attack on and destruction of the fortress of Deganwy in Gwynedd . The power of the West Saxons under Egbert (King of Wessex from 802 to 839) grew during this period, however, and in 825 Egbert defeated
12878-567: The last was carried out in 1700, although no new commissions to carry out visitations were made after the accession of William III in 1689. There is little evidence that Scottish heralds ever went on visitations. In 1484, during the reign of Richard III , the various heralds employed by the crown were incorporated into England's College of Arms , through which all new grants of arms would eventually be issued. The college currently consists of three Kings of Arms, assisted by six Heralds, and four Pursuivants , or junior officers of arms, all under
13015-604: The latter part of the 7th century, and by the time of Penda's defeat and death, Mercia was largely surrounded by Christian states. Diuma , an Irish monk and one of Oswiu's missionaries, was subsequently ordained a bishop – the first to operate in Mercia. Christianity finally gained a foothold in Mercia when Oswiu supported Peada as sub-king of the Middle Angles, requiring him to marry Oswiu's daughter, Alchflaed, and to accept her religion. Decisive steps to Christianise Mercia were taken by Chad (Latinised by Bede as Ceadda ),
13152-409: The left hind foot). Another frequent position is passant , or walking, like the lions of the coat of arms of England . Eagles are almost always shown with their wings spread, or displayed. A pair of wings conjoined is called a vol . In English heraldry the crescent , mullet , martlet , annulet , fleur-de-lis , and rose may be added to a shield to distinguish cadet branches of a family from
13289-640: The location of an important royal estate. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , it was from Repton in 873–874 that the Great Heathen Army deposed the King of Mercia. Slightly earlier, King Offa seems to have favoured Tamworth . It was there where he was crowned and spent many a Christmas. For 300 years (between 600 and 900), known as Mercian Supremacy or the "Golden Age of Mercia", having annexed or gained submissions from five of
13426-419: The long-disputed control of the former kingdom of Lindsey . Æthelred was succeeded by Cœnred , son of Wulfhere; both these kings became better known for their religious activities than anything else, but the king who succeeded them in 709, Ceolred , is said in a letter of Saint Boniface to have been a dissolute youth who died insane. So ended the rule of the direct descendants of Penda. At some point before
13563-399: The main purpose of heraldry: identification. As more complicated shields came into use, these bold shapes were set apart in a separate class as the "honourable 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 ,
13700-430: The name implies, the usual number of divisions is four, but the principle has been extended to very large numbers of "quarters". Quarters are numbered from the dexter chief (the corner nearest to the right shoulder of a man standing behind the shield), proceeding across the top row, and then across the next row and so on. When three coats are quartered, the first is repeated as the fourth; when only two coats are quartered,
13837-684: The name of the West Saxon king. Æthelred had married Æthelflæd ( c. 870 – 12 June 918), daughter of Alfred the Great of Wessex ( r. 871–899 ), and she assumed power when her husband became ill at some time in the last ten years of his life. After Æthelred's death in 911 Æthelflæd ruled as "Lady of the Mercians", but Alfred's successor as King of the Anglo-Saxons, Edward the Elder ( r. 899–924 ), took control of London and Oxford , which Alfred had placed under Æthelred's control. Æthelflæd and her brother continued Alfred's policy of building fortified burhs , and by 918 they had conquered
13974-478: The newly unified Northumbria, but bretwalda , or high king, over the southern kingdoms. When another Northumbrian king, Oswald , arose and again claimed overlordship of the south, he also suffered defeat and death at the hands of Penda and his allies – in 642 at the Battle of Maserfield . In 655, after a period of confusion in Northumbria, Penda brought 30 sub-kings to fight the new Northumbrian king Oswiu at
14111-685: The next, representing a particular person or line of descent. The medieval heralds also devised arms for various knights and lords from history and literature. Notable examples include the toads attributed to Pharamond , the cross and martlets of Edward the Confessor , and the various arms attributed to the Nine Worthies and the Knights of the Round Table . These too are readily dismissed as fanciful inventions, rather than evidence of
14248-453: The north with men of the south, therfore it is that Mercii, that beeth men of myddel Engelond, as it were parteners of the endes, understondeth better the side langages, northerne and southerne, than northerne and southerne understondeth either other... J. R. R. Tolkien is one of many scholars who have studied and promoted the Mercian dialect of Old English and introduced various Mercian terms into his legendarium – especially in relation to
14385-601: The occasional depiction of objects in this manner, the overuse of charges in their natural colours is often cited as indicative of bad heraldic practice. The practice of landscape heraldry, which flourished in the latter part of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth century, made extensive use of non-heraldic colours. One of the most important conventions of heraldry is the so-called " rule of tincture ". To provide for contrast and visibility, metals should never be placed on metals, and colours should never be placed on colours. This rule does not apply to charges which cross
14522-401: The older, undulating pattern, now known as vair ondé or vair ancien , the bells of each tincture are curved and joined at the base. There is no fixed rule as to whether the argent bells should be at the top or the bottom of each row. At one time vair commonly came in three sizes, and this distinction is sometimes encountered in continental heraldry; if the field contains fewer than four rows,
14659-621: The only Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy ruling house known to claim a direct family link with a pre-migration Continental Germanic monarchy. The next Mercian king, Penda , ruled from about 626 or 633 until 655. Some of what is known about Penda comes from the hostile account of Bede , who disliked him – both as an enemy to Bede's own Northumbria and as a pagan . However, Bede admits that Penda freely allowed Christian missionaries from Lindisfarne into Mercia and did not restrain them from preaching. In 633 Penda and his ally Cadwallon of Gwynedd defeated and killed Edwin, who had become not only ruler of
14796-473: The other six kingdoms of the Heptarchy ( East Anglia , Essex , Kent , Sussex and Wessex ), Mercia dominated England south of the Humber estuary. During King Offa 's reign, a dyke was created as the boundary between Mercia and the Welsh kingdoms. Nicholas Brooks noted that "the Mercians stand out as by far the most successful of the various early Anglo-Saxon peoples until the later ninth century", and some historians, such as Sir Frank Stenton , believe
14933-410: The pelts were sewn together, forming an undulating, bell-shaped pattern, with interlocking light and dark rows. The heraldic fur is depicted with interlocking rows of argent and azure, although the shape of the pelts, usually referred to as "vair bells", is usually left to the artist's discretion. In the modern form, the bells are depicted with straight lines and sharp angles, and meet only at points; in
15070-452: The religious centre of Mercia. The artefacts have tentatively been dated by Svante Fischer and Jean Soulat to around AD 600–800. Whether the hoard was deposited by Anglo-Saxon pagans or Christians remains unclear, as does the purpose of the deposit. After the murder of Æthelbald by one of his bodyguards in 757, a civil war broke out which concluded with the victory of Offa , a descendant of Pybba. Offa (reigned 757 to 796) had to build anew
15207-462: The right from the viewpoint of the bearer of the arms and "sinister" (from Latin sinistra , "left") means to the bearer's left. The dexter side is considered the side of greatest honour (see also dexter and sinister ). A more versatile method is quartering , division of the field by both vertical and horizontal lines. This practice originated in Spain ( Castile and León ) after the 13th century. As
15344-418: The rise of firearms rendered the mounted knight increasingly irrelevant during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the tournament faded into history, the military character of heraldry gave way to its use as a decorative art. Freed from the limitations of actual shields and the need for arms to be easily distinguished in combat, heraldic artists designed increasingly elaborate achievements, culminating in
15481-433: The second is also repeated as the third. The quarters of a personal coat of arms correspond to the ancestors from whom the bearer has inherited arms, normally in the same sequence as if the pedigree were laid out with the father's father's ... father (to as many generations as necessary) on the extreme left and the mother's mother's...mother on the extreme right. A few lineages have accumulated hundreds of quarters, though such
15618-426: The senior line. These cadency marks are usually shown smaller than normal charges, but it still does not follow that a shield containing such a charge belongs to a cadet branch. All of these charges occur frequently in basic undifferenced coats of arms. To marshal two or more coats of arms is to combine them in one shield, to express inheritance, claims to property, or the occupation of an office. This can be done in
15755-585: The shape of the vair bell is replaced by a T -shaped figure, known as a potent from its resemblance to a crutch. Although it is really just a variation of vair, it is frequently treated as a separate fur. When the same patterns are composed of tinctures other than argent and azure, they are termed vairé or vairy of those tinctures, rather than vair ; potenté of other colours may also be found. Usually vairé will consist of one metal and one colour, but ermine or one of its variations may also be used, and vairé of four tinctures, usually two metals and two colours,
15892-436: The shield. Some arms, particularly those of the nobility, are further embellished with supporters, heraldic figures standing alongside or behind the shield; often these stand on a compartment , typically a mound of earth and grass, on which other badges , symbols, or heraldic banners may be displayed. The most elaborate achievements sometimes display the entire coat of arms beneath a pavilion, an embellished tent or canopy of
16029-408: The shields. These in turn came to be decorated with fan-shaped or sculptural crests, often incorporating elements from the shield of arms; as well as a wreath or torse , or sometimes a coronet , from which depended the lambrequin or mantling . To these elements, modern heraldry often adds a motto displayed on a ribbon, typically below the shield. The helmet is borne of right, and forms no part of
16166-417: The size and shape of javelins and snakes, plus the later medieval era's increasing use of heavy armor and decreasing use of light javelins, he proposes that the concepts of "venomous snake" and "light javelin" were melded to produce a new term for a previously unimagined concept of flying snake, a kind of dragon. The concept of winged snakes , mythical creatures similar to wyverns, is common in cultures around
16303-469: The southern Danelaw in East Anglia and Danish Mercia. When Æthelflæd died in 918, Ælfwynn, her daughter by Æthelred, succeeded as "Second Lady of the Mercians", but within six months Edward had deprived her of all authority in Mercia and taken her to Wessex. Edward was succeeded as king of the Anglo-Saxons by his eldest son Æthelstan ( r. 924–939 ), who had been brought up in Mercia, and he
16440-650: The three-dimensional figure placed on the top of the mounted knights' helms as a further means of identification. In most heraldic traditions, a woman does not display a crest, though this tradition is being relaxed in some heraldic jurisdictions, and the stall plate of Lady Marion Fraser in the Thistle Chapel in St Giles, Edinburgh, shows her coat on a lozenge but with helmet, crest, and motto. Mercia Mercia ( / ˈ m ɜːr s i ə , - ʃ ə , - s i ə / , Old English : Miercna rīċe , "kingdom of
16577-548: The title "King of Heralds", which eventually became " King of Arms ." In the earliest period, arms were assumed by their bearers without any need for heraldic authority. However, by the middle of the fourteenth century, the principle that only a single individual was entitled to bear a particular coat of arms was generally accepted, and disputes over the ownership of arms seems to have led to gradual establishment of heraldic authorities to regulate their use. The earliest known work of heraldic jurisprudence , De Insigniis et Armis ,
16714-426: The two-legged kind during the sixteenth century, at which point the latter kind becomes commonly known as the "wyver" and later "wyvern". Since the sixteenth century, in English, Welsh, Scottish, French and Irish heraldry, heraldic wyverns are defined as distinct entities from heraldic dragons. The key difference has been that a wyvern has two legs, whereas a dragon has four. This distinction is not commonly observed in
16851-434: The type associated with the medieval tournament, though this is only very rarely found in English or Scots achievements. The primary element of a heraldic achievement is the shield, or escutcheon, upon which the coat of arms is depicted. All of the other elements of an achievement are designed to decorate and complement these arms, but only the shield of arms is required. The shape of the shield, like many other details,
16988-438: The unification of England south of the Humber estuary was achieved during Offa's reign. King Peada converted to Christianity around 656. The Diocese of Mercia was founded in this year, with the first bishop ( Diuma ) based at Repton . The religion was firmly established in the kingdom by the late 7th century. After 13 years at Repton, 669 AD, Saint Chad (the fifth bishop) moved the bishopric to Lichfield and, in 691 AD,
17125-421: The use of standards topped with the images or symbols of various gods, and the names of kings appear upon emblems known as serekhs , representing the king's palace, and usually topped with a falcon representing the god Horus , of whom the king was regarded as the earthly incarnation. Similar emblems and devices are found in ancient Mesopotamian art of the same period, and the precursors of heraldic beasts such as
17262-428: The western half, reigned until 879. From about 883 until his death in 911 Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians , ruled Mercia under the overlordship of Wessex. Alfred changed his title from 'king of the West Saxons' to 'king of the Anglo-Saxons' to reflect the acceptance of his overlordship of all southern England not under Danish rule. All coins struck in Mercia after the disappearance of Ceolwulf in c. 879 were in
17399-510: The wyvern was "without legs", rather than its legs are not depicted, being hidden or folded under. This was adopted by the Midland Railway in 1845 when it became the crest of its unofficial coat of arms . The company asserted that the "wyvern was the standard of the Kingdom of Mercia ", and that it was "a quartering in the town arms of Leicester". However, in 1897 the Railway Magazine noted that there appeared "to be no foundation that
17536-426: The wyvern was associated with the Kingdom of Mercia". It has been associated with Leicester since the time of Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster and Leicester (c. 1278–1322), the most powerful lord in the Midlands , who used it as his personal crest. A green Wyvern stands in the emblem of the ancient and historical Umbrian city of Terni , the dragon is called by the citizens with the name of Thyrus. A sable wyvern on
17673-539: Was Christianised later than the other kingdoms. Archaeological surveys show that Angles settled the lands north of the River Thames by the 6th century. The name "Mercia" is Mercian Old English for "boundary folk" (see Welsh Marches ), and the traditional interpretation is that the kingdom originated along the frontier between the native Welsh and the Anglo-Saxon invaders. However, Peter Hunter Blair argued an alternative interpretation: that they emerged along
17810-414: Was a gentleman of coat armour. These claims are now regarded as the fantasy of medieval heralds, as there is no evidence of a distinctive symbolic language akin to that of heraldry during this early period; nor do many of the shields described in antiquity bear a close resemblance to those of medieval heraldry; nor is there any evidence that specific symbols or designs were passed down from one generation to
17947-597: Was also flown outside Birmingham Council House during 2009 while the Staffordshire Hoard was on display in the city before being taken to the British Museum in London. The cross has been incorporated into a number of coats of arms of Mercian towns, including Tamworth , Leek and Blaby . It was recognised as the Mercian flag by the Flag Institute in 2014. The silver double-headed eagle surmounted by
18084-523: Was given a shield of this description when he was knighted by his father-in-law, Henry I , in 1128; but this account probably dates to about 1175. The earlier heraldic writers attributed the lions of England to William the Conqueror , but the earliest evidence of the association of lions with the English crown is a seal bearing two lions passant, used by the future King John during the lifetime of his father, Henry II , who died in 1189. Since Henry
18221-510: Was immediately accepted as king, but not in Wessex until the following year. In 927 he conquered Northumbria and thus became the first king of all England. Mercia briefly regained a political existence separate from Wessex in 955–959, when Edgar became king of Mercia, and again in 1016, when Cnut and Edmund Ironside divided the English kingdom between themselves, with Cnut taking Mercia. Mercia maintained its separate identity as an earldom until
18358-567: Was not always strictly adhered to, and a general exception was usually made for sovereigns, whose arms represented an entire nation. Sometimes an oval shield, or cartouche, was substituted for the lozenge; this shape was also widely used for the arms of clerics in French, Spanish, and Italian heraldry, although it was never reserved for their use. In recent years, the use of the cartouche for women's arms has become general in Scottish heraldry, while both Scottish and Irish authorities have permitted
18495-632: Was once the West Country Kingdom of Wessex , but also in Herefordshire and Worcestershire , as the rivers Wye and Severn run through Hereford and Worcester respectively. A local radio station was formerly called Wyvern FM . Vauxhall Motors had a model in its range in the 1950s called the Wyvern . The Westland Wyvern was a British single-seat carrier-based multi-role strike aircraft built by Westland Aircraft that served in
18632-555: Was the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, it seems reasonable to suppose that the adoption of lions as an heraldic emblem by Henry or his sons might have been inspired by Geoffrey's shield. John's elder brother, Richard the Lionheart , who succeeded his father on the throne, is believed to have been the first to have borne the arms of three lions passant-guardant, still the arms of England, having earlier used two lions rampant combatant, which arms may also have belonged to his father. Richard
18769-474: Was written about 1350 by Bartolus de Saxoferrato , a professor of law at the University of Padua . The most celebrated armorial dispute in English heraldry is that of Scrope v Grosvenor (1390), in which two different men claimed the right to bear azure, a bend or . The continued proliferation of arms, and the number of disputes arising from different men assuming the same arms, led Henry V to issue
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