Heraldry is the practice and study of blazoning Coat's of arms. It has a language all its own.It came into vogue in the middle ages as a way of differencing and denoting a person while dressed in full armor. Commonly a Knight would have his Coat of Arms emblazoned on his sir coat,shield and banner,as well as a crest surmounting his helm.
What most people today call a family crest is correctly called a coat of Arms.These coats were granted by Kings/Queens as a way of passing on an honor or title to the holder.Scottish Clans have for centuries had , in addition, the use of Clan crest Badges as illustrated for the Clan MacIntosh at the top of this page. Commonly it consists of a circled belt and buckle surrounding the crest of the clans Chief. In the case of MacIntosh this happen to be a "cat O' the mountain" meaning a wild cat or cat of the mountains.The crest is actually the item that surmounts the helmet.
The blazon of the coat of Arms for MacIntosh is as follows....
Quarterly 1st OR a lion rampant gules,2nd argent fesswise a gloved hand holding a human heart proper,3rd azure a boars head couped close Or, 4th Or a Lymphad sails furled azure oars in saltire gules
To put this in common terms it means:
In the first quarter there is a red lion standing claws exposed on a gold background.In the upper right quarter is a armored glove holding a red heart on a silver background.In the lower left quarter there is a wild boars head cut off at the neck and displayed gold on a blue background,and finally in the lower right quarter is a blue ship with the sails furled up and the red oars in a cross-wise pattern in front displayed on a gold field. |
