YOU are to:

   1. Create a family crest or shield (your own original design.  Do NOT use a crest that already exists!)

           a. It must be divided into a minimum of three parts

           b.  Each part must contain a different symbol

           c. Use a different color in each background. (Unless it is divided into four parts and you                 

                  use diagonals…ask me)   Colors should be bright and vibrant, do not use pastels.                                                

           d. Be neat!  Coloring should be even.  Items should be centered…use a ruler to check!

           a. The time period/location that the crest was presented to your ancestor by the monarch

           b. Who you are (your name and position in society…examples: lady, lord, knight, etc.) 

                Where did it come from...How long has it been in your family?  Describe why the 

                monarch presented your ancestor with the crest. (what act of bravery or loyalty…)

           c. What does each color and symbol represent? Be complete!  Don’t leave any out.

Please read the information below to assist you on the project:

        During the Middle Ages, knights used a coat of arms to identify themselves. One man in armor looked a lot like another, so the coat of arms was used to identify a knight in battle. In a society where few people could read and write, pictures were very important. A coat of arms was more like a label for instant identification than it was like a painting. You wanted to know instantly who was coming toward you, so you could know which side he was on. Coats of arms later took on further significance and meanings. They also became a way of showing membership in the aristocracy, after they lost their significance in warfare.

        Word Origins

        Where does the term 'heraldry' come from.  Many years ago, powerful royal families were often at war with each other. Each royal family had a 'Herald'. The Herald's duty was to act as a messenger to his master on the battlefield. This was a difficult job as the heavy armor that knights wore covered up their faces. The Herald could not tell who was who!

        More Word Origins

        The blazon was a description of the shield in words, using a special vocabulary. The terms used in heraldry are similar to a kind of old French. French was the language used by the aristocracy during the Middle Ages. The idea is that a shield can be described by one expert in heraldry so that another expert could draw it correctly without ever seeing it. To draw the coat of arms from the description is to emblazon it.

Selecting the other colors for your shield

Choose the charges on your shield:

        Animals were shown in certain traditional postures, which were not meant to be realistic pictures of the animals. They were not drawn to look three dimensional, but were shown as if they were flat, and with the most characteristic parts of them the most obvious. The pictures were to represent the animal as a symbol. Generally the animals chosen were fierce, and they were often show in postures of combat. Whatever their main color, fierce animals were often shown with red tongue and claws.

Here are a few of the most common animals on shields:

Symbolic - Pictures on shields were symbolic, that is, they were something that represented a quality to the viewer beyond what he saw. For instance, a lion or an eagle meant "courage". The picture was drawn so that everyone would know what it was, but it was not important that it look like a real eagle.                               

                                                                      Flat - images on a shield were shown in pure, flat colors, without any shading. They were not in drawn in perspective. Items were not shown in the proper size to each other, either. Things might be drawn larger because they were more important, but not because they were in fact larger. A horse might be as large as a castle, not because it was closer to the viewer than the castle, but because it was equally important, or because it made a balanced design.

Stylized - Animals and other things on shields were meant to be instantly recognizable, but they were stylized. They were drawn according to rules, not realistically. Usually they were drawn a position that showed their most important characteristics clearly (a lion’s mane, a unicorn’s horn, etc.) Animals were drawn from directly in front, or in profile, not from a three-quarters view, or partly turned. This also helped to ensure that the same blazon, or description of a shield, could be drawn by different artists and still look very much the same.

Bold - shields were meant to be seen across a battlefield. Also, they were a proclamation of who you were. Lords in the Middle Ages were not shy about who they were or their accomplishments

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         Shields were often divided into parts, called divisions, or had basic shapes on them, called ordinaries. The most common shapes are shown below. Divisions do not have to follow the metal/color rule, as they are considered to lie next to each other, not one on top of another. Ordinaries do follow the rule.