Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 20 on 10/04/2005.

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A call to arms

Heraldry was the way you identified yourself in battle. James Irvine Robertson looks at its significance

Heraldry is about who you are. In the midst of battle a thousand or more years ago, it was no use putting on a name tag because only priests could read and not many of them were fighting.

It was no use relying on your face being recognised because you had a helmet over your head and, besides, few knew what you looked like for there were no photographs, portraits or television.

So you painted your personal logo – coat-ofarms – on your surcoat and shield and placed your crest on your helmet. You could not write either, so the arms would go on your seal and this served as your signature on documents. But it must be unique. Yours must be different from everyone else’s and so registration of arms was born.

Described by Sir Iain Moncreiffe as ‘the floral garden of history’, heraldry in Scotland is recognised as the purest and best regulated in the world. It is not another quaint social fossil but a living, thriving institution controlled by the Court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms.

This has real legal teeth since the Lord Lyon is a judge, regulated by Act of Parliament. Ignore his rulings, abuse or use the Arms of another and you can be in contempt of court and, although extradition is unlikely if you flee the country, you can face a fine.

In a way heraldry is like quantum physics - a subject taken very seriously with no known practical function, which is nonetheless an astonishing human achievement and great fun for those who can participate in it.

Scots heraldry starts from.....

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By James Irvine Robertson

Section : Scottish History

Page number : 20