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Graf (German pronunciation: ⓘ; feminine: Gräfin [ˈɡʁɛːfɪn] ⓘ) is a historical title of the German nobility and later also of the Russian nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks , the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of " earl " (whose female version is "countess").
A Turk's head couped in the arms of the Hungarian town Komádi.. The heads of humans and other animals are frequently occurring charges in heraldry.The blazon, or heraldic description, usually states whether an animal's head is couped (as if cut off cleanly at the neck), erased (as if forcibly ripped from the body), or cabossed (turned affronté without any of the neck showing).
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. [1] [2] Armory, the best-known branch of heraldry, concerns the design and transmission of the heraldic achievement.
A crest is a component of a heraldic display, consisting of the device borne on top of the helm. Originating in the decorative sculptures worn by knights in tournaments and, to a lesser extent, battles, crests became solely pictorial after the 16th century (the era referred to by heraldists as that of "paper heraldry").
Heraldry developed in the high medieval period, based on earlier, "pre-heraldic" or "ante-heraldic", traditions of visual identification by means of seals, field signs, emblems used on coins, etc. Notably, lions that would subsequently appear in 12th-century coats of arms of European nobility have pre-figurations in the animal style of ancient ...
Typical of British heraldry, a cap of maintenance, known in heraldic language as a chapeau gules turned up ermine, is a ceremonial cap of crimson velvet lined with ermine, [1] which is worn or carried by certain persons as a sign of nobility or special honour. It is worn with the high part to the fore, and the tapering tail behind.
Illustration from a manuscript grant of arms by Philip II of Spain to Alonso de Mesa and Hernando de Mesa, signed 25 November 1566. Digitally restored. According to the usual description of the law of arms, coats of arms, armorial badges, flags and standards and other similar emblems of honour may only be borne by virtue of ancestral right, or of a grant made to the user under due authority.
The word "hatchment" in its historical usage is thus identical in meaning and origin to the English heraldic term "achievement". However, in modern heraldry the word "hatchment" has come to be used almost exclusively to denote " funerary hatchment ", while "achievement" is now used in place of "hatchment" in a non-funereal context.