Who created heraldry?

Answer 1

It is still used by people with the right to bear arms. The Kings of Arms have a regular source of income from new Life Peers.

Many organisations, especially towns and cities also use heraldry.

Answer 2

The use of symbolism and emblems can be traced back as far as ancient Egypt when an emblem known as a serekh was used to identify various military allegiance's

Ancient warriors were also known to decorate their shields with various pattern and mythological beings and motifs. These were used to identify the warriors when their faces were covered by helmets.

Alexander the great is said to have bestowed badges on his Captains and great soldiers, which it was forbidden any others to assume.

Army units belonging to the Roman Empire were identified by distinctive markings on their shields, but this is not heraldic in the medieval sense as these markings belonged to an unit, not an individual.

Some say the use of heraldry stems from The Battle of Hastings in 1066, others will argue that it stems from the First Crusade in 1096.

Heralds are first mentioned in the historical accounts about the time of the first crusade. By the late 12th century their importance had grown, coinciding with the development of sophisticated armor for knights. At that time, distinctive markings easily distinguishable from a distance were essential for recognizing combatants whose faces were fully covered by helmets. These markings were placed on surcoats worn over the armor (the derivation of the term coat of arms) and were passed down from father to son, with families becoming identified by the markings. It was the responsibility of the heralds, who also served as military staff officers, diplomats and messengers (they were often the only members of a household who could read), and masters of ceremony at pageants and tournaments (where they were allowed to keep any broken armor), to keep track of which family used which emblems and ensure that the emblems were distinct from one another. Because the coats of arms were hereditary, the herald's expertise has long covered lines of descent.

Many heralds attempted to collect or document as many arms for their published works as they could, an arduous task obviously limited by the inability to travel or communicate over vast regions. In addition, through the ages, vast numbers of heraldic records have been lost and many legitimate coats of arms cannot be found in reference books of today.

The First recorded coat of arms were those of Geoffery V Count of Anjou, while being knighted by Henry I in 1127, a shield painted with lions was placed around his neck by Henry. Heraldry grows very fast after this date, by the time of Henry III (1227) a roll of arms (which a copy of still exists today) numbers 220. By the time of Edward I (1272) this has grown to 1,100 ( a copy of this roll is held at the College of Arms). In 1484, King Richard III institutionalized the already centuries-old tradition of heraldry by incorporating the College of Arms in London. It is the oldest existing and one of the few remaining heraldic authorities in the world.

Answer 3

No one person created the idea of heraldry, it developed at the same time in many parts of Europe from about 1140 onwards.

Knights had already been using designs such as chevrons, stripes and lions on their shields during the late 11th and early 12th centuries; the only difference between these designs and true heraldry was that they became hereditary - passed on from father to eldest son.

This was not a difficult step to take, since a nobleman's title was already hereditary, as were the bulk of his lands and property; making his shield design hereditary was the next logical step. Only the eldest son could inherit - second, third and subsequent sons got nothing.

Answer 4

The nobility used coats of arms to identify themselves on the battle field, and later as a symbol of their presence on other occasions.