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Heraldry
The Heraldry of the Burkes is well documented and there is a long list of coats of arms associated with the name. The following is regarded as the most ancient and is the coat of arms for the entire sept. The Burke Arms: Or (gold), a cross Gules (red), in the dexter canton [top left quadrant], a lion rampant [upright] sable (black). Crest: A cat-a-mountain sejant guardant proper collared and chained or. Motto: Ung roy, ung foy, ung loy (though the language is a little strange, the motto means "one king, one faith, one law"). According to legend, the Coat of Arms was given to a BURKE ancestor by Richard Couer de Lion during the Crusades. It is said that "de Burgh" was responsible for killing a Saracen chief and astounded by his bravery, Richard drew a cross with the blood of the dead Saracen on de Burghs [or perhaps the Saracen's] golden shield and presenting it to the victor said "these be thine arms forever". As wonderful as this legend is, it may have been propagated by an extract relating to Baldwin De Burgh in the De Burgo manuscript - Historia et Genealogia Familiae de Burgo - "and Baldwin de Burgh took the sovereignty of the Saracens and shed their blood profusely, and killed their King, and the Egyptians fell in great numbers by him". Although people have been decorating shields for countless centuries even before Christ, heraldry is much younger than that, and well after the Crusades. Heraldry actually dates from the second quarter of the twelfth century and is mainly attributed to the development of armor during the medieval period. It is thought that it was a method of identification in battle due to the emergence of the closed face helmets. A very interesting part of the Burke Coat of Arms is the "Lion rampant." This was only given to sovereigns and noblemen of high rank and is one of the oldest "Charges" to be found in heraldry.
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