Sometimes a knight adopted arms representing his name—e.g., the arms of Lucy were “three luce or pike”; the family of Colthurst had “a colt” as crest. These were called “canting arms,” and were obviously not granted for any feat of daring. Symbolism played a prominent part in the selection of arms and crests, for kings and leaders displayed on their shields lions and eagles—the emblems of courage and power and kingly authority. The castle was an emblem of stability, and this device was also granted to knights who successfully defended or reduced a castle.
The followers of knights and nobles adopted the habit of wearing a device called a badge, taken from the arms of their lord, and they wore costumes of the chief colours of his shield. These were called liveries, and from this is derived the modern custom of the liveries of men-servants. Most famous of these liveries were the Plantagenets—scarlet and white; the Lancastrians—blue and white; the Yorkists—blue and crimson; the Tudors—white and green. The common people, at the time when heraldry was most generally practised, were quite illiterate, but everyone could read and understand the devices of heraldry.
Among the most famous badges worn by retainers were the Planta genista, or broom plant of the Plantagenets, and the roses, red and white, of the Lancastrians and Yorkists. The Tudor family fittingly adopted as a badge a double rose, consisting of a white rose within a red one, to signify the union of the two great families. Village inns were named after a prominent device borne upon the shield of the local lord of the manor, and in this way we get such names as the Red Lion, the Blue Boar, the White Hart, the Rose and Crown, etc.
Many knights were spoken of by their badges—e.g., Henry Tudor speaks to his followers of “the wretched, bloody, and usurping boar,” meaning Richard III., one of whose badges was the boar.
The surcoat, or sleeveless coat, was adopted, worn over the armour, to lessen the discomfort caused by the sun’s rays striking directly on the armour. It became a magnificent garment of velvet or silk, elaborately embroidered with the armorial bearings in silk and gold (hence the origin of the word “coat-of-arms”).
This garment still survives in the Tabard of the Royal Heralds, on which are embroidered the arms of the sovereign.
During the reigns of Edward III. and Henry V., owing to the French Wars and their effect upon the martial population of England, heraldry was practised most extensively and had its noblest application, but during the reign of that butterfly king, Richard II., it reached its most fantastic heights.
After the reign of Edward IV., the value and importance attached to the correct practice of heraldry declined, for during the Wars of the Roses many noble families became exterminated, and Henry VII. ennobled many of the upper middle classes to take their places. To this, and the profuse creation of knights’ bannerets or baronets by James I., may be attributed the gradual decline of heraldry, and the ridiculous grants of arms made in the Georgian period contributed still further to that effect.
