Heraldry and Coats of Arms

[Adolon]

I had not spend so much thoughs on the background of Heraldry in my former designs, but with the recent increase of Coats of Arms on maps like thoses of Vorro and -Max-, my interest was back to try understanding rules and structures of what I paint. I hadnt heard of Blazon before and am very fascinated about this language and am reading the Book you have linked.

What interests me most is not simply copying some Coat of Arms, but to create a growing and realistic range of visual references for my own world of Arden.

I was not familiar with -Max-'s shields until I looked at the map for Selvarin just now. They are much more complicated (and artistic) than your average shield!

What I like most about heraldry is how it can how a country/family represents itself. With my shield above, the large eagle stands for the emperor while the babies stand for the five provinces of the empire.