Coats of arms of medieval states
Heraldry in the form in which it is understood in the modern world, originated in Europe. The first coats of arms appeared around the XI-XII centuries as a personal sign of representatives of the military nobility. With the increasing complexity of ties in society and the development of feudalism, the custom of designating its social status in this way becomes very common. Own coats of arms were available to all members of the aristocracy, including women, priests, large merchants, and even some wealthy peasants.
In the XIV century, heraldic signs appear in shops, cities and individual territories. After another century, in the late Middle Ages, the first coats of arms of national states emerge. It is impossible to determine the specific date of the appearance of a state symbol, since their appearance changed regularly. The modern coats of arms of European countries are based on the generic emblems of monarchs and reflect their history and cultural characteristics.
The main element of any coat of arms is a shield - a stylized design that carries a set of signs on the front surface. Official heraldry distinguishes its following forms: French - quadrangular with a pointed middle of the lower part. Variazhskaya is triangular with smoothly arched sides. Spanish is similar to French, but with a rounded lower side. Italian is an oval. German is triangular with cut edges.
France
It is known that at the end of the 5th century, three toads were depicted on the white banner of the founder of the Frankish state of Clovis.
In 496, Clovis converted to Christianity and changed the white cloth to blue — a symbol of St. Martin, who was considered the patron Saint of France. The Bishop of Tours Martin, who lived in the IV century and later declared a Saint, according to legend, having met once on the road a ragged beggar, cut off with a sword and gave him half of his blue cloak. For a long time the Franks had a banner in the form of a blue flag, reinforced with a red cord on the cross. In 800, Charlemagne proclaimed the Frankish Empire.
His banner was a three-tailed red cloth with the image of six blue-red-yellow roses. However, the French Kingdom, which arose in 843 after the collapse of the Empire, returned to the former blue flag. In the first quarter of the XII century under king Louis VI Tolstoy (according to other sources it happened a little later, under king Louis VII or Philip II) on the blue flag appeared a lot of gold heraldic lilies, and he became officially known as the "Banner of France”. Shield with the image on the azure field and became the first French coat of arms in the early XIII century.
The heraldic Lily is a stylized image of the flower of the yellow iris, which symbolized the virgin in the middle ages. Lilies since the Tenth century were considered the emblem of the Royal dynasty of capetians, who ruled in France until 1328. At the end of the XIV century under Charles V or Charles VI (of the Valois dynasty) only three lilies remained on the blue flag, which was most likely due to the dogma of the Trinity of the Christian deity — the Trinity. At the first stage of the Hundred years war, the French suffered several crushing defeats from England. In the battle of Poitiers in 1356, the color of the French knighthood that fought under the blue flag was destroyed and king John the Good was captured. At the battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French army was again defeated, and then a large part of the territory of France was captured by the British. Later, under the leadership of a peasant girl Joan of Arc, the French achieved a turning point in the war. The flag of the patriots was a white cloth with traditional lilies, on one side of which was depicted the French coat of arms, and on the other — God and two angels, the inscription "Jesus Christ” and "Mary”.
Supporters Joan of Arc widely used white scarves, headbands, feathers, pennants as their distinctive signs. The white color spoke of Holiness and purity and was a symbol of the virgin. During the liberation struggle this color became a symbol of national independence. However, after the liberation of France from the foreigners, the flag of the French kings again became a blue cloth with three Golden lilies. But when in 1498 came to power a new Orleans dynasty of kings, for which the white color was considered a family, it acquired the value of the national. In 1589 the Bourbons came to the throne. When the founder of the dynasty Henry of Navarre in the French coat of arms next to the traditional blue shield with lilies appeared red Navarre shield with a chain.
Both shields, placed on one mantle, crowned with a knight's helmet, and all surrounded the coats of arms of the twelve largest French provinces: Picardy, Normandy, Brittany, Lyonnais, Ile-de-France, Orleans, Hyenas, Languedoc, Provence, Dauphine, Burgundy, and champagne. Gradually, lower Navarra became an ordinary French province, and the coat of arms of France was only crowned shield with lilies. He was surrounded by chains of the orders of the Holy spirit and St. Michael and supported by two angels. Sometimes the coat of arms accompanied the motto: "with us Saint Denis!"the Bourbon family coat of arms was a blue shield with lilies, divided by a red diagonal. At the same time, the Bourbons legalized the former white flag as a state flag. In the center of the flag then placed the coat of arms without the motto and mantle, and the cloth dotted with Golden lilies.
England
For the first time, state symbols appeared under King Richard I, nicknamed "The Lionheart." He was the first ruler with his own coat of arms, his image began to serve and subsequent British kings. Three red leopards were depicted on the red shields of the red or, as the official name states, the three walking lions are on their guard. These animals became the English royal emblem, which was used by the rulers of completely different dynasties. Such an image for a long time remained the only symbol of the country, without acquiring additions and without changing.
Changes appeared during the Hundred Years War, known as the War of the Leopard and the Lily. In 1328, the French Capetian dynasty was cut short, and the English king Edward III claimed the throne. When he was not elected, he cut the field of his shield, leaving the lions in the second and third quarters, and in the first and fourth placed the emblem of France, depicting an azure field with golden lilies. The medieval coat of arms of England remained in this form for quite a long time. When France ceased to be mentioned in the royal title, the number of elements symbolizing it was reduced.
In addition, James VI of Scotland ascended to the throne in 1603, adding to the possessions of Ireland and Scotland. Thus, the coat of arms was replenished with a red lion on a golden field, whose image has long been a symbol of Fayfe county. The golden harp was also an old symbol - it appeared in Ireland in the 15th century. Under Queen Victoria, whose rule fell on the 19th century, the national emblem of England took on a form that has remained unchanged to this day. The supporters, whose figures are depicted on the sides, also took the final form. In the old days, these were falcons, bog, and white swan, and the Welsh Tudor dragon, and the white boar of King Richard III, and the silver hound dog of Richmond County.
Spane
The history of the symbol dates back to 1230, when the kingdoms of Castile and Leon United, marking the Union with a shield, which depicted the signs of each of the lands – a three-tower castle and a lion with a Golden crown on its head. They are easy to explain. The first is a symbol of Castile, justified by the large number of castles in the territory. The second explains a little more complicated. Probably, the name of the Kingdom is associated with the term "Legion", which in the Roman period of history was extremely relevant, and eventually reduced to a word like the name of a lion. The part depicting Aragon, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands shows four scarlet stripes on a gold background. Their meaning is explained by an old legend about the Normans who attacked the Spanish coast. To cope with them helped aragonez Gottfried Hairy, congratulating the Emperor Charles the Bald held a hand in the dirty blood from his wounds, on the Golden shield.Navarre is represented by a shield that occupies the coat of arms of Spain in the lower right corner. It depicts a gold forged chain, located on the red. In the middle of it is an emerald. Finally, Andalusia is represented by pomegranate, the most typical fruit for Granada, even named after him. The fruit is shown dissected, which is intended to emphasize the availability of land, formerly occupied by the Arabs, for all Spaniards.
In the center of the coat of arms of Spain is decorated with a small blue shield with three Golden lines. It symbolizes the Anjou branch of the Bourbon, which ruled the country from the eighteenth century to the present day.
The two pillars surrounding the shield are a stylized depiction of the pillars symbolizing the end of the world. In the same way once designated the Strait of Gibraltar, to leave the limits of which Europeans began only after the journey of Christopher Columbus to America. The coat of arms of Spain, the value of which is directly related to the monarchy in the country, is also supplemented by the Royal motto. It is located on the winding columns of tapes, which are written in Latin "Plus ultra". The meaning of the statement is that beyond the symbolic boundaries of the world does not end.Finally, the composition is crowned with a crown, reminding that every Spaniard is a subject of the monarch. The Spanish king has his own coat of arms. On it instead of columns the chain of the order Of the Golden Fleece is represented, and behind there is a red Burgundian St. Andrew's cross.
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