History of Heraldry

Opuslola:
We were discussing the History of Heraldry on another thread, but I think it more appropriate that I start a new one.
I can't find any information on the absolute period during which Heraldry may have been first used, but I did find the following, which could give a clue:-
"And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts. (Numbers i. 2, 18, 52). Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their fathers house (Numbers ii. 2). And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded to Moses: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers. (Numbers ii. 34)" from Wikipedia. This a strong indication that some form of "Standard" may have been in use since the earliest times. It is known also that the Egyptian Pharaohs as far back as 3100BCE would align themselves with a particular God of their time. The symbol of the God would appear along with the rulers personal symbol (Pharaohs of course being God themselves), indicating the Pharaohs importance as ranking up there with the best of them.

It appears that around the 11th or 12th Century CE, the use of personal symbols took throughout Europe when nobles adopted a symbol for themselves. The symbol gradually appeared on shields and banners used to denote groups of soldiers in battle, or as a rallying point.

Over time, sons of noblemen adopted their fathers symbol and so it became necessary to indicate precisely which son had adopted the symbol, and so marks of cadency were implemented to show the seniority of the particular son. Some nobles adopted symbols which, they claimed, indicated heroism in battle or some other notable deed, other used symbols relating to their family name or home location etc. Kings started "bestowing arms" on people who had performed some notable deed for the sovereign.

Before long, you guessed it, rules were drawn up to permit the use of only certain symbols by certain people, shield colours etc.

That's a précis of what I've found so far.

Originally posted by opuslola A wonderful post! I will probably make some comments at a later time! Thanks friend from the end of the Earth! Ron

Yep, if we can get a conversation going about something of mutual interest that would be great.