Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings, as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch of heraldry, concerns the design and transmission of the heraldic achievement.

What does the word heraldic mean?

The art and science of devising, displaying, and granting armorial insignia and of tracing and recording genealogies is called heraldry. The use of heraldic symbols, or “coats of arms,” as a means of identification spread through European nobility in the 13th century.

How would you describe heraldry?

Heraldic descriptions are called blazons. The term is derived from the French blason, the etymology of which is uncertain. Originally it denoted the shield of arms itself and still retains that meaning, but it is now generally used in a derivative sense as meaning the description of the arms.