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Article: What's on your coat of arms?(heraldry)(Illustration)
- Article from:
- Fun For Kidz
- Article date:
- November 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Bluffton News Printing & Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Originally, heralds took messages between princes and their armies (which were called this because of all the heavy armor they wore). In order to know who was behind all that protective metal, men decorated their shields so the heralds would know who should get the message. In time, heraldry came to mean the art of decorating shields, and each was unique. The shield was like a signature.
One of the earliest known decorated shields appeared in 1127 when Henry I of England gave his son-in-law, Geoffrey of Anjou, a blue shield with gold lions painted on it. By the 13th century, men wore cloth coats over their armor to protect the metal from the heat of the day or ...