Hello All and welcome to our heraldry blog. This blog is run by Michael C. Richards, the Executive Director of AssumeArms.com. As an American heraldic artist and graphic designer, I hope to bring you insights into both the world of heraldry and graphic design as it pertains to designing "Coats of Arms."
Let's start with the real basics. "Coat of Arms" actually refers to a cloak that was worn by heralds that carried the Armorial Bearings of their master. Armorial Bearings or Armorial Achievement is the proper term for a coat of arms as most people think of it. It includes the shield (the most important part incidentally) the mantling, the supporters, the motto, the helmet and the crest. That brings up the other common misnomer, "Family Crest." A crest is actually a charge (any item can be a charge, think sword, fist, bird, etc.) that sits above the helmet, which sits above the shield or escutcheon. But for the sake of anyone trying to find us via Google and because it is so widely used, I will use the term coat of arms or arms for short to describe a complete armorial achievement.
Next we'll tackle some more of these basics and try to give a basic understanding of Heraldry in America...
Yours In Arms,
Michael C. Richards
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