Portal:Heraldry

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Welcome to the Heraldry and Vexillology Portal!

Vexillology (from the Latin vexillum, a flag or banner) is the scholarly study of flags, including the creation and development of a body of knowledge about flags of all types, their forms and functions, and of scientific theories and principles based on that knowledge. Flags were originally used to assist military coordination on the battlefield, and have evolved into a general tool for signalling and identification, particularly identification of countries.

Heraldry encompasses all of the duties of a herald, including the science and art of designing, displaying, describing and recording coats of arms and badges, as well as the formal ceremonies and laws that regulate the use and inheritance of arms. The origins of heraldry lie in the medieval need to distinguish participants in battles or jousts, whose faces were hidden by steel helmets.

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Matthew Paris (lit. "Matthew the Parisian"; c. 1200 – 1259) was a Benedictine monk, English chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire. He wrote a number of works, mostly historical, which scribed and illuminated himself, typically in drawings partly coloured with watercolour washes, sometimes called "tinted drawings". Some were written in Latin, some in Anglo-Norman or French verse. His Chronica Majora is an oft-cited source, though modern historians recognize that Paris was not always reliable. (more...)

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The flag of Ecuador, which consists of horizontal bands of yellow (double width), blue and red, was first adopted on September 26, 1860. The design of the current flag was finalized in 1900 with the addition of the coat of arms in the center of the flag. Before using the yellow, blue and red tricolor, Ecuador used white and blue flags that contained stars for each province of the country. The design of the flag is very similar to that of Colombia and Venezuela, which are also former constituent territories of Gran Colombia. All three are based on a proposal by Venezuelan General Francisco de Miranda, which was adopted by Venezuela in 1811 and later Gran Colombia with some modifications. There is a variant of the flag that does not contain the coat of arms that is used by the merchant marine. This flag matches Colombia's in every aspect, but Colombia uses a different design when her merchant marine ships are at sail. (more...)

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The Seal of Dartmouth College is the official insignia of Dartmouth College, an Ivy League university located in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Anglo-American law generally requires a corporate body to seek official government sanction, usually in the form of a charter, in order to operate. Such chartered bodies normally authenticate their official acts by marking them with a distinctive seal. The seal's design is usually complicated to avoid counterfeiting, but it can also express something about the institution's history or mission. Dartmouth College is one such chartered body, and it obtained its official seal in 1773. (more...)

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The reverse of the Great Seal of the United States was designed by William Barton, and features two mottos: Annuit Cœptis and Novus Ordo Seclorum.

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Did you know...

...that Lesotho adopted a new flag (pictured) to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its independence?

...that the herald Robert Glover was appointed to the office of Norroy King of Arms jointly with his 82-year-old father-in-law William Flower in 1580?

...that the coat of arms of Russia was designed by Yevgeny Ukhnalyov, a former political prisoner?

...that the Russian frigate Oryol was completed in 1669 as the first Russian naval ship, and flew the earliest recorded white, blue, and red Russian flag?

...that during the Convention of Aguascalientes the Zapatista Antonio Díaz Soto y Gama said that the Mexican flag symbolized "triumph of clerical reaction" and was then threatened by other attendees?

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