Research Questions:
1.What is “Coat of Arms”?
Coat of arms, the principal part of a system of hereditary symbols dating back to early medieval Europe, is used primarily to establish identity in battle. Arms evolved to denote family descent, adoption, alliance, property ownership, and, eventually, profession.
2.Origin and Evolution
The term coat of arms itself in origin refers to the surcoat with heraldic designs worn by combatants, especially in the knightly tournament, in Old French cote a armer. The sense is transferred to the heraldic design itself in Middle English, in the mid-14th century.
In the 17th to 19th centuries, the period known to armorists as “the Decadence,” arms were embellished to record personal or family history, often in ways that ignored the traditions of heraldry’s origins. Arms were designed for organizations far removed from war—schools, universities, guilds, churches, fraternal societies, and even modern corporations—to symbolize the meanings of their mottoes or to hint at their histories. During the 20th century, however, there was a return to the classical simplicity of the early heraldic art, exemplified in the medieval rolls that were compiled when arms were slowly being organized into a disciplined system.
3.Code of Arms in Different Regions (need to do deep-dive work)
- Europe: Britain, France, German
- North American: Canada, United States
- Asia: Japan
- Africa：South Africa, Nigeria
- Questions: why there are not Code of Arms in China? The initial finding is that there might be Coat of Arms in China in very ancient times for a short time. While with the evolution of patterns, oracle-bone inscriptions and pictograph, they became Chinese Characters. Also, another reason might relate to China’s history. Since Qin Dynasty, China was a highly centralized country, in which all the army forces were owned and controlled by the emperor. Therefore, troops didn’t have their own identity.
4.Design your own “Coat of Arms”
– thinking of provide elements for users to design and build up his/her “Coat of Arms”
- Experimental “Making”
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms#History
“why there are not Code of Arms in China?” This is a great question – I wonder about Spain; Central and South America; and the Middle East as well. Ultimately – What were the conditions needed to support this system?
I am also curious about “the Decadence” and how that encouraged production/tradition.
Excited to see you thinking about visual communication and engagement tactics – What other prompts might guide participant through the creation of their own Coat of Arms?