Coats Of Arms: Bearing The Family Heritage
By Jazmin Begbie
Coats of arms speak of the family history and heritage through the years. Often people and nations like to use coats of arms to portray their values, principles and what they stand for. Coats of arms have certain symbols with meanings and depict the heraldry, colors, animals and various other symbols. They have been here for centuries. A few elements common to most of the coats of arms are discussed here.

Colors are used in coats of arms as background or as a part of a motif of two or more colors. Each color has a definite meaning. Gold stands for generosity and silver or white indicates peace and sincerity. Blue is the color of truth and loyalty and green symbolizes hope and joy. Colors like red and maroon are warrior colors. Red represents military strength and maroon signifies patience and victory in battle. Purple is the color of royal majesty and justice, and orange represents noble ambition.

Animals figure on coats of arms quite frequently. The lion is the most common. The lion rampant standing on its hind legs represents dauntless courage. The heraldic lion indicates bravery, strength, and valor. The lion features more often in royal crests and many national crests than any other animal.

Another much-portrayed animal is the eagle. The great Roman Empire used this insignia, and today it represents the United States. The Eagle represents a noble nature, strength, and bravery. With wings outspread it indicates protection. Two-headed eagles indicate a joining of two forces.

Other animals include boar and the bull for bravery and valor; the cat, which indicates liberty and vigilance; the rooster means perseverance and courage; the dolphin means swiftness, charity, diligence, and love; the dragon is a valiant defender; a fish means a generous and true mind, full of virtue; the ram indicates authority; and the serpent represents wisdom. Even the unicorn is used to indicate

extreme courage and virtue.

Plants in many coats of arms also have definite meanings just like animals and colors. For instance, the shamrock represents continuity and a sheaf of wheat stands for a harvest of hopes. The most common plant used on coats of arms is the rose that signifies hope, happiness, elegance and beauty. Laurel leaves are signs of victory, and the lily stands for purity.

Oak tree in general represents great age, strength, continuous growth and fertility. However, its variations in form of leaves and nuts indicate different things. Acorn is used to depict strength and antiquity.

Weapons and armor. In addition to colors, plants, and animals, coats of arms also include weapons and armor. Hands or arms clad in arm indicate leadership. The helmet indicates strength and invulnerability, as well as wisdom. The axe indicates military duty and the arrow is a symbol of battle-readiness. A hammer is the symbol of honor. The dagger indicates justice and the shacklebolt is an indicator of victory. The spear and the pike both represent an honorable warrior or valiant knight.

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About the author: Jazmin Begbie writes exclusively for Any Coats, it's one of the webs most up to date Coats sites, their free newsletter is well worth signing up for too. If you want to read more Coats articles go to: www.anycoats.com/articles
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