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Crest (heraldry)In heraldry, a crest is a component of a coat of arms. It is a figure (or group of figures), often but not always a beast of some kind, depicted atop the helmet placed above the shield. The crest has been traditionally used by men only, with the exception of queens of England or Britain, who have been treated heraldically as men.
Some armigers used their crest as a personal badge, which led to the erroneous use of the word "crest" to describe a shield or full coat of arms.
Category:Heraldry
HeraldryHeraldry is the science and art of describing coats-of-arms (also referred to as "armorial bearings" or simply as "arms"). Its origins lie in the need to distinguish participants in battles or jousts and to describe the various devices they carried or painted on their shields.
In the late middle ages and renaissance, heraldry became a highly developed discipline, regulated by professional heralds, who used the language of heraldry to "blazon" a coat of arms. (Since arms are formally described by words, the painter, engraver, or stonecarver using a coat of arms in his work has considerable stylistic license.) As its use in jousts became obsolete, arms remained popular for visually identifying a person in other ways — impressed in sealing wax on official documents, engraved on a family tomb, and so forth. The descent of arms was and remains strictly regulated by inheritence; only certain actual descendents of a particular armigerous (arm-bearing) person are entitled to his arms or a differenced version of them — hence popular associations of a coat of arms with all bearers of a surname are based on a misconception. Heraldry is mostly a hobby today; but in some countries it remains regulated by heralds and the assumption of another's arms is illegal.
The word "crest" is commonly used to refer to a coat-of-arms. However, in heraldry, a crest is just one component of a full or complete achievement of arms. The crest sits atop a helmet, which itself sits on the main and most recognizable part of the arms, the shield or escutcheon. Other common elements include supporters holding up the shield and a motto beneath. Crests can in fact be used on their own (this is particularly useful when there is insufficient space to display the entire coat-of-arms); but where the shield alone is used it should never be called a "crest."
Shield and lozenge
Traditionally, as women did not go to war, they would not have a shield. Instead, their coats-of-arms would be shown on a lozenge, usually a square standing on one of its corners. As women may now serve in the armed forces in a number of countries, some armigerous women prefer to use a shield anyway. A parallel usage for noncombatant clergymen could be found sometimes on the European continent, with the occasional placement of arms on a cartouche (an oval-shaped vehicle for their display). For more detail on the use of the lozenge (subject to certain rules) by women in the British heraldic tradition, see the separate article on the lozenge.
Very rarely and almost invariably in non-European contexts, such as the arms of Nunavut, the former Republic of Bophuthatswana and some Algerian civic heraldry of French colonial origin, specific shapes of shield are specified in the blazon (and the specific type of shield is sometimes followed to the extent, as in [http://www.polity.org.za/html/govdocs/misc/gaucoat.html the arms of Gauteng], that structures in the shield (in that case "shield thongs") function as charges).
In rare instances the shield may be blazoned as being displayed on a cartouche, the tincture of which is then specified.
Tinctures
Main article: Tincture
There are seven main tinctures, consisting of two metals (light tinctures) and five colours (dark tinctures), although there are a number of other rare tinctures. The names of the tinctures mainly come to us from French. The first rule of heraldry is the rule of tincture: metal must never be placed upon metal, nor colour upon colour, for the sake of contrast, and because this was technically difficult to do at the time. As any rule, this admits some exceptions, the most notable being the arms chosen by Godfrey of Bouillon when he was made king of Jerusalem, featuring five Or crosses potent on an Argent field (traditionally rendered "Argent, five crosses potent Or"); a blason that might have been modelled after the Arab technique of Damascus steel.
- "Or" is usually spelled with a capital letter (Gules, a fess Or) so as not to confuse it with the conjunction "or."
Furs, such as ermine, ermines, or vair, are regular variations of the field that represent various types of actual fur. Any charge may be of a fur.
- Ermine is in design a field argent, semé (see variations of the field) of ermine-spots sable, but is not so regarded; it is regarded as a plain tincture.
- Ermines is the reverse of ermine – a field sable semé of ermine-spots argent.
- There is also vair and its variants. Basic vair is a row of small items shaped like bells with straight edges. The bells on the next row down are placed with their bottoms facing the bottoms of the bells on the row above, and so forth down.
There also exists, though rarely, two "stains": tenny/tawny (orange) and brown.
Proper: Objects may also be depicted in their natural colours. In this case, they are described as "proper".
Blazon: Historically the custom in English blazon was to reduce redundancy by referring to a particular tincture only once in the blazon, using the locution "of the first" and 'of the second" etc. thereafter, but the College of Arms has moved away from this practice in recent years.
Divisions of the field
Main article: Divisions of the field
Divisions of the field
The field of a shield in heraldry can be divided into more than one tincture, as can the various charges. The divisions are named according to the ordinary that shares their shape. (It should be noticed that French heraldry takes a different approach in many cases than the one described in this article, as do the heraldries of Italy, Spain, and Sweden.)
Common partitions of the field are:
- parted (or party) per fess (parted horizontally),
- party per pale (parted vertically),
- party per bend (diagonally from upper left to lower right),
- party per bend sinister (diagonally from upper right to lower left)
- party per saltire (diagonally both ways).
- party per cross or quarterly (divided into four quarters)
- party per chevron (after the manner of a chevron)
- party per pall (diagonal divisions from upper left and upper right meeting vertical division)
Charges
Charges can be animals, objects or geometric constructs (ordinaries).
Common animals are lions, leopards, martlets, eagles, gryphons, fish, boars or dolphins. There are dragons and unicorns as well, but they are not nearly as common as most people suppose. Possibly the rarest animal in heraldry is found in the coat of arms of Maidstone, Kent, which bears an iguanodon rampant on the dexter side. An animal shown langue (with its tongue sticking out) denotes fierceness or a roar.
The default position of an animal is looking dexter. Animals are found in various different positions — a flying martlet is a martlet volant, a swimming dolphin is a dolphin naiant, and a walking lion is a lion passant. Other words for positions are rampant (on hind legs), salient (leaping), sejant (sitting) and gardant (looking at the viewer). There are humans as well, although they are unusual, like wild men or Saracens. If you show only the head of, say, a lion, cut off at the neck, it is a lion's head couped if the cut is straight, and erased if it looks as if the animal's head has been ripped off.
Common objects are escallops (shells), crosses, mullets (a conventional five-pointed star shape, as on the American flag, which in fact represent spurs), crescents, bugle-horns, water-bougets, gauntlets, and different kinds of trees, flowers, leaves, and other plants. Circles are generally called "roundels", but in England instead of being described a roundel vert, they have different names depending on colour: bezants if they are golden, plates if silver, torteaux if red, hurts if blue, pellets or ogresses if black, pommes if green, oranges if orange, and guzes if sanguine. A roundel that is barry wavy argent and azure is called a fountain. This over-specialisation is peculiar to English heraldry; in French heraldry, for example, metal roundels are bezants and all others (colours and furs) are tourteaux.
Ordinaries
sanguine
Ordinaries (sometimes called "honourable ordinaries") are almost like partitions, but are handled like objects. Though there is much debate as to exactly which geometrical charges constitute ordinaries, certain ones are agreed on by everyone. A pale is a vertical charge starting from the top of the shield, ending at the bottom, and wide as a third of the shield's width. (The "Canadian pale", identical to the pale but taking up one-half the shield's width, was invented in 1964 by Conrad Swan, retired Garter King of Arms) [http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Square/3238/Page2Innovat.html]; it can be seen in the arms of Rehder. [http://www.hsc.ca/Roll/Rollx.htm]
A fess is the same thing as a pale, only horizontal.
There are also bends, saltires, flaunches and crosses, as well as chiefs, piles and chevrons.
A chief is a fess situated in the upper third of the shield. It can be associated with the fillet, a quite narrow horizontal band running along the bottom of the chief, [http://www.btinternet.com/~paul.j.grant/guillim/s2/gu_s2c4.htm] although it can be difficult if not impossible sometimes to distinguish between a fillet and a chief fimbriated, as the fimbriation of a chief occurs only along the lower line. (Fimbriation is the narrow bordering of the outline of a charge, with is then said to be fimbrated or fimbriated; a "fimbriation containing six diagonal 'tics' radiating" occurs in the badge of the 25th Flying Training Squadron of the United States Air Force.)[http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/wwwroot/rso/squadrons_flights_pages/0025fts.html] The term edged is sometimes used in a similar context. There is at least one example of a triple fimbriation.[http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Sig/86SignalBattalion.htm]) The fillet is sometimes inaccurately described as a diminutive of the chief, but the chief has no diminutive. It is important to note that a chief "enhanced" (which gives it a narrower appearance), as in the arms of Martin F. J. Matthews [http://www.heraldry-scotland.co.uk/scotsarmsgal/gallery.asp?ID=132], is not a diminutive.
Probert [http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/U1.HTM], Guillim [http://www.btinternet.com/~paul.j.grant/guillim/s2/gu_s2c4.htm] and others say that if one chief is "surmounted of another" (one chief is charged on another chief) it will have the appearance of a chief divided by a line running along the upper part of the "chief". The rare "chief couped" is a chief that falls short of reaching the dexter and sinister sides of the shield; the representation of Stonehenge in the arms of Sir Cecil Chubb, "the Baronet who owned Stonehenge and gifted it to the nation", show an example.[http://www.baronage.co.uk/nl/nl-02-07.htm] Chiefs are more commonly seen, though not blazoned as, couped when within a tressure.[http://uk.geocities.com/skildsoom/founders/GrahamE.html]
A chevron looks like a saw's tooth, arching from the middle of the left side of the shield to the middle of the right.
A bordure is just that, a border around the shield. A bordure separated from the outside of the shield, which looks like a shield with another shield cut out of it, is an orle. Confusingly, when a number of charges (by default, eight) are arranged in the position that a bordure (not an orle) would be in, they are said to be "in orle".
A quarter is the top left (dexter chief in heraldry) quarter of the shield; this is the default position. The top right quarter is a sinister quarter.
The pall is a Y-shaped charge throughout the field, common to Scotland.
Diminutives
There are diminutives of charges as well.
The diminutive of the pale is the pallet and the diminutive of the fess is the bar. (The diminutive of the bar is the barrulet; barrulets are never borne singly. Bars are likewise rarely borne singly, though the arms of Scheffeld are amazingly blazoned as having one-and-a-half bars.[http://www02.so-net.ne.jp/~saitou/cgi-bin/more.cgi?input=Bar]) "Barry of " means that the background is divided into that number of horizontal stripes. There are diminutives of most partitions, like "bendy of" or "paly of". It should be noted that in order to be described as "barry" or "paly" there must be an even number of stripes, otherwise it is a field of x tincture and y pallets or bars. Thus the shield of the United States of America, though officially described as "Paly of thirteen argent and gules, a chief azure", is no such thing; it is "Argent, six pallets gules and a chief azure".
The diminutive of the bend sinister is the scarpe.
The diminutive of the chevron is the chevronel.
The diminutive of the quarter is the canton, a square occupying, in theory, the upper left third of the shield. In theory a canton is never an original part of the shield, but some form of later addition, but this is not true in practice. Another charge can be completely hidden by the canton (sometimes, if the charge is not part of a predictable pattern of like charges laid out elsewhere on the shield, making it impossible to correctly blazon the shield); the charge so hidden is then called "absconded". (A highly unusual example of a quarter absconding charges can be seen when Robert Stewart, Lord of Lorn, marshalled his arms with those of Lorn: "Or a fess chequy of four tracts Azure and Argent between two buckles in chief and a garb in base of the Second; a sinister quarter Or bearing a lymphad Sable with sail set absconding one of the buckles and part of the fess; in the dexter base another quarter of the same absconding part of the fess". [http://www.baronage.co.uk/jag-ht/jag013.html]) When a shield contains both a fess and canton they are always shown in their theoretical size, and with no dividing line between them; as they appear to be one continuous thing, blazoning a shield with a fess and canton can be confusing for the novice. The canton can be borne sinister (unless blazoned "a canton sinister" the canton is dexter), but this rarely happens.
A charge "in canton" is located in the position in which a canton would be.
The diminutive of the canton is the chequer of the chequy field (but this never occurs alone).
An escutcheon is a shield; it is usually shown in the shape of the larger shield it is on. An orle is a voided escutcheon.
If you put a mullet on a bend, the bend "is charged with" the mullet.
Any type of charge, but usually ordinaries and subordinaries, can be "voided"; without further description, this means that the charge has been "emptied" with a hole in the shape of the charge revealing the field behind it, and only a border has been left. It is possible, however, though highly unusual, that the voiding, the hole, is of a different tincture than the field behind the charge, which tincutre must then be specified; for example, "Argent, a mullet gules, voided or". It is also possible that the voiding is of a different shape than the voided charge, as in the arms of Newton Technical High School in South Africa: "Quarterly gules and sable; a lozenge or voided of a quatrefoil; at its centre a cog wheel argent; the whole within a border or".
Special charges known as "differences" may distinguish otherwise similar blazons; these often indicate "cadency", or what number son owns the shield, to distinguish him from other sons and the father.
Besides the shield
In addition to the shield, most coats-of-arms include a crest, placed above the shield, and a motto (see below), usually placed below it.
Other items may be added to the coat, such as a helmet (decorated with mantling) in a variety of meaningful postures and designs; supporters on either side of the shield and the compartment on which they usually stand; and a variety of medals, ribbons, mural crowns and other decorations. These items are often granted as special honours by the sovereign.
Other elements denoting the status of the bearer could be placed behind the shield. Those include anchors in saltire for admirals, batons for marshals etc. In ecclesiastic heraldry crosier are also used.
Coat of Arms Motto
A Coat of Arms motto is a phrase or collection of words intended to describe the motivation or intention of families with coats of arms. In heraldry, a motto is often depicted in a coat of arms, typically on a scroll under the arms, or else above it as in Scots heraldry. These mottos are traditionally in Latin or Romance languages, as well as in English or German.
Supporters and other additions
crosier
An armiger may be entitled, depending upon their rank to several other items.
- Supporters: peers of the realm, senior members of British orders of knighthood and some corporate bodies have supporters on either side of the shield. Often these can have local significance (such as the Fisherman and the Tin miner granted to Cornwall County Council) or a historical link (such as the lion of England and unicorn of Scotland on the two variations of the Royal Arms in Great Britain).
- A coronet of a design appropriate to a peer's rank would be placed on top of the shield.
- Helm: all coats of arms may be displayed with a helm or helmet, which sits over the shield and carries the crest (see below). The form of the helmet may vary with the rank of the armiger.
- Mantling or lambrequin is drapery tied to the helmet above the shield. It forms a backdrop for the shield.
- The crest rests above coronet (if applicable) and helm, usually on a 'wreath' of twisted cloth in the two principal colours of the coat of arms. Often but not exclusively an animal, crests were used to identify a knight at the joust and were, therefore, at first, a sign of the superior rank expected of participants in medieval tournaments. Since Tudor times, however, crests have been granted with all English coats of arms. The City of Sunderland's crest is a wild boar, a remembrance of the parish of Hetton-le-Hole, which became part of the City in 1974. A woman does not display a crest (just as no woman would have fought in a medieval tournament). The crest rests on the helm, as it would have done in real life, or it may be illustrated directly above the shield without a helm (as in the illustration of the arms of Sir Denis Thatcher). His wife, Lady Thatcher, as a woman, displays no crest but her coronet as a baroness is placed above her arms.
- Clergy, like women, and for the same reason (their non-participation in combat), traditionally do not display a helm or crest. Higher clergy, such as bishops or abbots, may display appropriate headwear (the mitre) above the shield, similar to the display by peers of their coronets. Lower clergy often use clerical hats with tassells appropriate to their seniority: this practice began in the Roman Catholic church but was subsequently adopted by some Anglican clergy. The Chief Herald of Ireland has granted Father William Richardson the crest A dexter hand couped at the wrist Gules holding a crown of thorns Proper., but this is often shown next to the shield, the only item above the shield being the historical tasselled hat of a priest.
Modern heraldry
Heraldry continues to flourish today. Institutions, companies, and members of the public may obtain officially recognized coats of arms from governmental heraldic authorities. This typically has the force of a registered trademark. The first recorded corporate coat of arms was granted to the Drapers' Company of the City of London in 1438 (see Coat of Arms of The Drapers Company). However, many users of modern "heraldic" designs do not register with heraldic authorities, and some designers do not follow the rules of heraldic design at all.
Some people who have interests in heraldry as a hobby participate in the Society for Creative Anachronism and other such medieval revivals, or in micronationalism. Many more people see heraldry as a part of their national, and even personal, heritage, as well as a manifestation of civic and national pride.
See also
- Academie Internationale d'Heraldique
- Cadency
- Canadian Heraldic Authority
- Chivalry
- Chief Herald of Ireland
- College of Arms
- Court of Chivalry
- Heraldic badge
- List of coats of arms
- Lord Lyon King of Arms
- Mon (Japanese heraldry)
- Polish Heraldry
- Sashimono
- Serbian Genealogical Society
- Time immemorial
- UK topics
- U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry
- Women in heraldry
- Coat of Arms
- List of academic coats of arms
- Vexillology
External links
Authorities
- [http://www.gg.ca/heraldry/index_e.asp Canadian Heraldic Authority]
- [http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/ College of Arms] for England, Wales, Northern Ireland
- [http://www.lyon-court.com Court of the Lord Lyon] of Scotland
- [http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/honours/overview/herald-of-arms.html New Zealand Herald of Arms Extraordinary]
- [http://www.nli.ie/fr_offi.htm Office of the Chief Herald] of Ireland
- [http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/ U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry]
Societies
- [http://www.theheraldrysociety.com/ The Heraldry Society]
- [http://www.heraldrysociety.us/index.php The American Heraldry Society]
- [http://www.americancollegeofheraldry.org/ The American College of Heraldry (Chartered non-profit, not a state authority)]
- [http://www.heraldry-scotland.co.uk/ The Heraldry Society of Scotland]
- [http://www.heraldry.ca/index_en_nocount.html The Royal Heraldry Society of Canada]
- [http://www.geocities.com/heraldry_society The Heraldry Society (New Zealand Branch) Inc]
- [http://www.sca.org/heraldry/primer/ A Heraldic Primer (Society for Creative Anachronism)]
- [http://www.rodoslovlje.com/ Serbian Genealogical Society]
- [http://www.heraldika.org.mk/ Macedonian Heraldry Society]
- [http://www.brasoes.com/ Brazil Heraldry]
Heraldry-generating software
- [http://petebarrett.members.beeb.net/blazon.htm Blazon (non commercial)]
Other
- [http://www.kuruvinda.com/armorial.php Rietstap's Armorial General - over 130,000 fully searchable names and blazons]
- [http://www.heraldica.org Heraldica]
- [http://www.footballcrests.com/ FootballCrests.com - The history and meaning of football (soccer) club crests from around the world]
- [http://makepeace.ca/nehgs/ Committee on Heraldry of the New England Historic Genealogical Society]
- [http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/admin/scadmin_2.htm#seven Scotscourts.gov.uk]
- [http://makepeace.ca/vhr/ Page on the Flemish Heraldic Council]
- [http://www.heraldry-scotland.co.uk/Lyoncourt.htm Page on the Lyon Court]
- [http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/lord_lyon.htm Page on the Lyon Court]
- [http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amateurheralds/page_sa_boh.html Page on the South African Bureau of Heraldry]
- [http://www.maltagenealogy.com/malteseheraldry/maltaheraldry.htm/ Maltese Heraldry]
- [http://www.heraldry.ws/ Information on the customs and practices of Heraldry and contemporary Heraldry]
- [http://www.heraldry.org.uk/ Heraldry; Coats of Arms and Crests]
- [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/britannia/anglo-saxon/flowers/heraldry.html James Grout: Heraldry, part of the Encyclopædia Romana]
- [http://www.btinternet.com/~paul.j.grant/guillim/ A DISPLAY OF HERALDRIE: by John Guillim (c1551 - 1621) being a complete transcription of the first edition (1610) of this work]
Note
# One possible exception might be the arms of the University of Northern British Columbia.[http://www.unbc.ca/communications/identity/coat_of_arms.html]
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Category:Military Heraldry
Category:National symbols
ja:紋章学
Shield:This article is about the defensive device. For other meanings of the word see shield (disambiguation)
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shield (disambiguation).]]
A shield is a protective device, meant to intercept attacks. The term often refers to a device that is held in the hand, as opposed to armour or a bullet proof vest.
The oldest form of shield was a protection used to block attacks by hand weapons and missiles. Shields have varied greatly in construction over time and place. Sometimes shields were made of metal, but wood or animal hide construction was very much more common; wicker and even turtle shells have been used. Many surviving examples of metal shields are generally felt to be ceremonial rather than practical, for example the Yetholm-type shields of the bronze age or the iron age Battersea shield.
Size and weight varied greatly, lightly armoured warriors relying on speed and surprise would generally carry light shields that were either small or thin. Heavy troops might be equipped with large heavy shields that could protect most of the body. Many had a strap called a guige that allowed it to be slung over the users back when not in use or on horseback. Ancient Greek hoplites used a round, bowl-shaped wooden shield called an aspis. Free standing shields called pavises were used by medieval crossbowmen who needed protection while reloading.
The heavily armoured Roman legionaries carried large rectangular shields (scuta) that could provide far more protection, but made swift movement more difficult. Famously the Romans used their shields to create a tortoise-like formation called a testudo in which the entire group of fighters would be enclosed in an armoured box.
Many ancient shield designs featured incuts of one sort of another. This was done to accommodate the shaft of a spear thus facilitating tactics requiring the soldiers to stand close together forming a wall of shields.
In the early European Middle Ages there were so-called kite shields; these were rounded at the top and tapered at the bottom. They were easily used on horseback and allowed easier leg movement when dismounted. As personal body armour improved, knight's shields became smaller, leading to the familiar "heater" style. Both kite and heater style shields were made of several layers of laminated wood, with a gentle curve in cross section. The heater style inspired the shape of the heraldic shield that is still used today. Eventually, specialised shapes were developed such as the bouche — which had a lance rest cut into the upper corner of the lance side, to help guide it in combat or tournament.
In time, some armoured foot knights gave up shields entirely in favour of mobility and two-handed weapons. Other knights and common soldiers adopted the buckler. The buckler is a small round shield, typically between 8 and 16 inches in diameter. The buckler was one of very few types of shield that was commonly made of metal. Small and light, the buckler was easily carried by being hung from a belt; it gave little protection from missiles and was reserved for hand-to-hand combat. The buckler continued in use well into the 16th century.
16th century
Shields continued in use even after gunpowder powered weapons made them nearly obsolete in the battlefield. In the 18th century, the Scottish clans used a small, heavy, round shield called a targe that was partially effective against the firearms of the time.
targe
In the 19th century, non-industrial cultures with little access to guns were still using shields. Zulu warriors carried large lightweight shields made from a single ox hide supported by a wooden spine, these were called Ishlangu. [http://www.rrtraders.com/Shields/zuluw.htm Zulu warrior] This was used in combination with a short spear (assegai) and/or club.
Shields for protection from armed attack are still used by many police forces around the world. These modern shields are usually intended for two broadly distinct purposes.
The first type are used for "riot control" and can be made from metal or synthetics, such as Lexan or Mylar. These typically offer protection from relatively large and low velocity projectiles, such as rocks and bottles as well as blows from fists or clubs.
The second type of modern police shield is typically manufactured from advanced synthetics such as kevlar and are designed to be bullet proof, or at least bullet resistant. These are typically employed by specialist police, such as "SWAT" teams in high risk entry and siege scenarios, but are also used on a daily basis in many areas of the US.
Many non-martial devices also employ shields. Space craft have heat shields to ensure a safe re-entry. Electronics uses shielding to reduce electrical noise and crosstalk between signals. People and systems that must work in the presence of ionizing radiation are protected with shielding.
Science fiction writers have imagined many futuristic shields, usually using force fields. These include personal shields, as in the Dune series, or larger ones for spacecraft as in Star Trek. See shield (science fiction) for more.
References
- [http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/cfm/archway/toc.cfm?rcn=2917&vol=5 Notes on Ancient Shields and Highland Targets, JAMES DRUMMOND, Archaeologica Scotica Vol 5 (1890)].
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ja:盾
Britain:This article deals with the history of the word Britain. For clarification of terminology and an overview of articles about Britain and Ireland see British Isles (terminology).
The word Britain is an informal term used to refer to
- the island of Great Britain which consists of the nations of England, Scotland and Wales.
- the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or UK,
- sometimes the Roman province called "Britain" or "Britannia"
The word British generally means belonging to or associated with Britain in one of the first two senses above (i.e. the United Kingdom or the island of Great Britain). However, the term has a range of related usages, as described in this article.
Etymologically, these words are closely related to Brittany, the name of the western French peninsula, and its adjective Breton.
Earliest attested references
- Pretaniké; Pretanikai nesoi (Pretanic isles) - 325 BC
- Britannia - 55 BC (Julius Caesar, Roman invasion of Britain)
- Breten - 855 (Old English Chronicle, introduction)
- Brittisc - 855 (OED)
- Grate Briteigne - 1548 (OED)
- British isles - 1550 (in Latin; map of Sebastian Munster cited in British Isles article)
Etymology
The etymology of the name Britain is thought to derive from a Celtic word, Pritani, "painted people/men", a reference to the inhabitants of the islands' use of body-paint and tattoos. If this is true, there is an interesting parallel with the name Pict, connected with a Latin word of the same meaning. The modern Welsh name for Britain is Prydain. The Q-Celtic form was Cruithin, showing that the Common Celtic singular form was qr[ui]tanos. The root is presumably that of the modern Gaelic/Irish word cruth 'shape, form'.
It has also been postulated that Britain may derive from the Celtic goddess Brigid; the form of the word, however, is against this postulation.
In 325 BC the Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia visited a group of islands which he called Pretaniké, the principal ones being Albionon (Albion) and Ierne (Erin). The records of this visit date from much more recent times, so there is room for these details to be disputed, but it does seem to attest pre-Roman use of the name by Celtic-speaking inhabitants of the islands - or the names used by the Phoenecians Pytheas went with.
The Roman geographer Ptolemy called the larger island Megale Brettania (Great Britain), and the smaller island Micra Bretannia (Little Britain).
Britain and Brittany
The original reference seems to have been to the territory in which the Brythonic languages were spoken, which more or less coincided with the Roman province of Britannia, an area equivalent to modern England, Wales and southern Scotland. In the Early Middle Ages speakers of a Brythonic language which later evolved into Breton migrated from Cornwall to Armorica, Western France, possibly because of pressure from Saxon invasions. This is why different forms of the same name apply to insular Britain and continental Brittany. In French the similarity is even more obvious: Bretagne and Grande Bretagne.
Geoffrey of Monmouth used the names Britannia minor to refer to the Armorican region and Britannia major for the island. The element great in the term Great Britain thus simply means large, to make the distinction from Brittany.
Historical evolution of the term Britain
The kingdoms established on the island of Great Britain were perceived to be dominant over the whole archipelago, which thus came to be known as the British Isles. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the queen's astrologer and alchemist, John Dee, wrote mystical volumes predicting a British Empire and using the terms Great Britain and Britannia. After Elizabeth's death in 1603 the kingdoms shared one King, James VI of Scotland and I of England. On 20 October 1604 he proclaimed himself "King of Great Brittaine" (thus including Wales and also avoiding the cumbersome title "King of England and Scotland"). This title was eventually adopted formally in 1707 when the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed.
Politically, then, British has been used to described someone or something from the United Kingdom, in its various forms, since 1707. Briton or Brit are also used colloquially in this form, though the use of Briton here is incorrect.
Since its formation, the kingdom was enlarged in 1801 by the addition of the island of Ireland - already ruled by the British monarchy - to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and was then reduced in 1922 by the independence of the Irish Free State, now the Republic of Ireland. The name of the kingdom changed accordingly, in 1927 becoming The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
British was also used to describe members of nations that formed part of the British Empire. This use now, however, could be seen as justifying the colonial era, even if only applied historically.
Modern use of the term 'British'
The modern use of the term 'British' is as an adjective to describe someone or something from the United Kingdom. It is officially used as the term to describe the nationality of a citizen of the United Kingdom. Irish Nationalists may reject this term as offensive, as it is used to describe Irish people in Northern Ireland. Many people from England, Scotland and Wales also dislike the term, preferring to define themselves as natives of their own particular country.
It is also frequently used to describe residents of the United Kingdom's current colonies. This may still offend some people, though since the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 all residents of the United Kingdom's remaining colonies have been eligible for British citizenship, making the term more apt.
British occurs in the legal term British Islands . This was coined to describe all of the islands of the British Isles, exlcuding those that form part of the Republic of Ireland, when they act together as a political whole.
Geographically, the term can be used in various ways:
- To describe someone from the island of Great Britain
- In the term British Isles, the traditional term for the entire archipelago of islands that lie off the north west coast of France, of which Great Britain and Ireland are the two biggest. Note that this is not intended to imply that all of these islands are part of the United Kingdom, for many of them are part of the Republic of Ireland. However, confusion caused by this term can lead to offense.
- The term has historically been used to describe someone or something from the British Isles. Due to the above mentioned potential for offense, this rarely happens today. For example the British Lions a rugby team which draws players from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland has been renamed to the British and Irish Lions.
- Sometimes British applies to an area or territory currently or formerly governed by or a dependent territory of the United Kingdom, for example the British Virgin Islands, the British Indian Ocean Territory, or British Columbia which is now a province of Canada.
Brutus of Troy
In keeping with the mediaeval penchant for etymologising country names in terms of eponomous heroes, English historians of the late mediaeval and early modern periods charted the history of the nation from Brutus of Troy, supposedly a hero of the Trojan war who founded Britain just as Aeneaus' descendant Romulus founded Rome, Frankus France, and so forth. The life of Brutus, anglicised as Brute, was recorded in the literary tradition of the Prose Brute. This was long accepted as the etymology of Britain.
See also
- List of country name etymologies
- List of United Kingdom topics
- British Isles
- United Kingdom
- Great Britain
- Kingdom of Great Britain
- Constitutional status of Cornwall The Cornish question
- Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542 merging the Kingdom of England and the Principality of Wales
- Act of Union 1707 merging Scotland and England to form Great Britain
- History of Britain
- History of Wales
- History of Scotland
- History of England
- British Kings
- List of British monarchs
Sources and further reading
- A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World, 3000 BC - 1603 AD by Simon Schama, BBC/Miramax, 2000 ISBN 0786866756
- A History of Britain, Volume 2: The Wars of the British 1603-1776 by Simon Schama, BBC/Miramax, 2001 ISBN 0786866756
- A History of Britain - The Complete Collection on DVD by Simon Schama, BBC 2002
- The Isles, A History by Norman Davies, Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0195134427
- Shortened History of England by G. M. Trevelyan Penguin Books ISBN 0140233237
- Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English by Eric Partridge, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1966
External links
- [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/ British History Online]
Category:British Isles
Category:History of Britain
Category:Europe
simple:Britain
ArmigerAn armiger is a person entitled to use a coat of arms. Such a person is said to be armigerous.
The term "armiger" is well-defined only within jurisdictions (such as England and Wales, Canada and Spain) where heraldry is regulated by the state or heraldic body (such as the College of Arms in England), since anyone may use any coat of arms in jurisdictions, such as the United States, which lack regulated heraldry.
A person can be so entitled either by descent from a person with a right to bear a coat of arms, or by virtue of a grant of arms to him or herself.
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Armiger was also a Latin cognomen.
Category:Heraldry
Category:Heraldry
Category:History by topic
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