Arms may belong to individuals, to families, or to countries. Badges
and emblems on shields and helms occurred in the earliest times.
In Numbers, (_chap._ i: 52,) the children of Israel are enjoined
to pitch their tents, "every man by his own camp and every man by
his own standard," with the ensigns of his father's house. The
Greek and Roman poets speak of paintings and devices on shields and
helmets. These symbols were, moreover, hereditary. Thus Xenophon
relates that the kings of the Medes bore a golden eagle on their
shields. Suetonius asserts that Domitian had a golden beard for
his coat of arms; and Tacitus says of the ancient Germans, that
they marked their shields with brilliant colors, and that certain
standards were borne before them in battle. Notwithstanding these
traces of armorial bearings in the ancient world, our heraldry is
no older than the tournaments. That armory first became common and
regulated by certain rules at these solemn festivals, is corroborated
by the following reasons. In the first place, we find no tomb or
monument with escutcheons, older than the eleventh century. The
most ancient monument of this kind is said to be the bearings of a
certain Varmond, count of Vasserburg, in the church of St. Emmeran,
at Ratisbon. The shield is _coupé_ of argent and sable; over it is a
lion, with the words "_Anno Domini_ MX." On most of the other tombs,
even of the eleventh century, no arms are found; and the use of them
seems to have first become common in the twelfth century. The first
pope who can be proved to have had a coat of arms, is Boniface VIII.,
who filled the papal see from 1294 to 1303. All the earlier papal
arms are the fanciful inventions of later flatterers. On coins, also,
no armorial ensigns are found till the thirteenth century. A second
proof of our assumed origin of coats of arms is the word _blason_,
which denotes the science of heraldry in French, English, Italian,
and Spanish. This word has most probably its origin in the German
word _blasen_, (to blow the horn;) for whenever a new knight appeared
at a tournament, the herald had to sound the trumpet, and, because
all appeared with close visors, to proclaim and explain the bearing
of the shield or coat of arms belonging to each. Because this was
performed by the herald, this knowledge was called heraldry; and
because, in doing so, he blew the trumpet, it was called _blazoning
the arms_. That this was a prevailing practice at tournaments, may
be proved from the poetry of the Troubadours of the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. Thence it came, that those knights, whose right
to appear at tournaments had already been announced by blazoning
their arms, bore two trumpets on their crest. From the Germans, this
custom was transmitted to the French; for there is no doubt, that
tournaments were usual in Germany much earlier than in France. But
the French carried to far greater perfection the tournament, and the
blazon or heraldry connected with it, as they did the whole system
of chivalry. Since, moreover, the French language prevailed at the
court of the Norman kings in England, pure French expressions have
been preserved in British heraldry. Thus the green tincture, (color,)
in a coat of arms, is termed _vert_, (though in French _sinople_,
which originally denoted a _reddish brown_;) bright red is termed
_gueules_, probably with an allusion to the bloody revenge of wild
animals, which play so conspicuous a part in heraldry; the divided
shield is, moreover, called _coupé_; and _passant_, _regardant_,
_dormant_, _couchant_, &c., are used. German heraldry, on the
contrary, contains almost pure German expressions. In a coat of arms,
the helm is placed upon the shield, and the latter is surrounded
by the wreath. At a tournament, the mantle of the knight, with the
helm and shield, was suspended in the lists. The colors or tinctures
of the shields had their foundation in the custom of the most
ancient Germans, of giving their shields various colors--a custom
which received a tender meaning in the tournaments of the middle
ages; the knight, bound to defend the honor of dames, and devote
himself to their protection, wearing their colors on his shield.
By degrees, the partitions or sections on shields came into use;
for when, as often occurred, a knight was the champion of several
ladies, he bore several colors on his shield, which had therefore to
be divided into fields. When the martial youth of almost all Europe
left their homes, about the end of the eleventh century, inspired
with religious enthusiasm, to conquer the Holy Land, the use of arms
became still more general and necessary. In order to distinguish the
nations, armies, and families, the princes and commanders chose their
symbols, sometimes in commemoration of the exploits and events of the
campaign, or of the dignity of the commander, and sometimes from mere
fancy or passing humor.