Coat of Arms represent much more than a symbol, they represent the sign of belonging to a community, to a family.
They appeared in the 12th century. The most common mistake is to think that heraldry (the science of the coat of arms) is the exclusive sign of nobility.
"States, cities, provinces, corporations, ecclesiastics, commoners, etc. had their coats of arms"(41). There are even a greater number of
commoner coats of arms than noble coats of arms.
The coat of arms on this page represents the coat of arms of Lorraine(42). Its blazon is "of gold, with a red bend, charged with three small silver
eagles"(42). To learn more about the origin of this coat of arms and the coat of arms of Lorraine, see the following Wikipedia pages:
References:
41. Armorial.org
42. Wikipédia - Blason de la Lorraine. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blason_de_la_Lorraine
