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Arms (COAT OF or ARMORIAL BEARINGS)

COAT OF, or ARMORIAL BEARINGS, a collective name for the devices borne on shields, banners, etc., as marks the dignity and distinction , and , in the case of family and feudal arms, descending from father to son.

They were first employed by the crusaders, and became hereditary in families at the close of the 12th century. They took their rise from the knights painting their banners or shields each with a figure or figures proper to himself, to enable him to be distinguished in battle when clad in armor.