Alliance coat of arms
An alliance coat of arms is the representation of two coats of arms whose bearers (persons, countries, princes or dioceses) are linked by an alliance , usually by marriage, more rarely by personal union . These have been known since the end of the 13th century.
The alliance coat of arms of spouses is a symbol for the marital union and thus also a mark of the generation concerned within the family, and does not presuppose a political alliance agreement and also no common exercise of rule over territories. With Alliance conjugal is simply meant here. In the case of married couples, the male spouse's shield is “ heraldically right ” (from the point of view of the knightly shield guide), i.e. on the left as seen from the viewer, that of the woman on the other side, either placed side by side or leaning towards each other. In depictions of personal unions, the higher-ranking coat of arms is on the left (heraldic right), sometimes under an upper coat of arms .
A distinction must be made between alliance coats of arms and composite coats of arms, in which individual fields are united in a coat of arms , either as a split coat of arms or as a quarter or as a multi-field coat of arms, sometimes with a central heart shield , which means the union of families or territories ( e.g. by inheritance) symbolizes.
Emergence
The union of two coats of arms happened first, from the time of the Crusades , by dividing each coat of arms in half and joining the halves of the coat of arms in the new shield (“ splitting ” the shield). This association is a monogrammatic association (coats of arms pushed together) . Normally, the two coats of arms enter the two fields in a narrowed form, but there were also many halved figures, e.g. B. half lion , half eagle . Half heraldic animals at the gap , in particular the eagle, suggest a union of coats of arms .
Another form of the alliance coat of arms is that in which the higher ranking coat of arms or the historically most important coat of arms ( family coat of arms ) is placed as a heart shield in the middle of the other coat of arms. The arms of alliance in Spain have been combined so that the male plate has been arranged centrally and around the woman's sign in a board has been adjusted in a simple form.
The later form is the one in which the two shields of the Alliance are placed side by side. The heraldically more correct representation is the one in which both upper coats of arms ( helmet , crown and the like) are shown, but it also often happens that the higher-ranking coat of arms represents the common crest, but in the case of married coats of arms always that of the man, even if it is lower in rank . The double shields are slightly inclined towards each other and, in the form of a large coat of arms , retain the original shield holders on their flanks .
Austria-Hungary coat of arms 1916 - a state structure emerged from numerous alliances:
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Alliance coat of arms of lord and territory
One variant is the alliance coat of arms in the original sense, in which the coat of arms of the ruling house comes before the coat of arms of the territory in which it governs. This form also occurs in spiritual coats of arms. Here the connection of a dignitary with his spiritual territory is illustrated.
Alliance coat of arms of the personal union
After the end of the late Middle Ages , at the latest until the absolutism of the baroque era , the ruling houses of Europe consolidated and the territory faded into the background. From this time on, the alliance coat of arms is a sign of countries that are connected in personal union.
Marriage coat of arms (marriage coat of arms)
Alliance coats of arms are often found at marriages of nobles. In this case one speaks of a marriage coat of arms or marriage coat of arms . The coat of arms of the male spouse is always heraldically on the right , i.e. optically on the left.
The two coats of arms are united under the man's crown . In the case of princes or princes , everything is often placed in front of a coat of arms . The slogans or currencies are taken from the male line. Shield holders stand next to their shield: on the right the man's holder and on the left that of the woman. From Courtoisie (these rules were developed in France) the man's coat of arms is mirrored (countered) , i.e. facing the lady. The heraldic animals are placed so that they look at each other and are not back to back.
Example of the Spanish custom: In the royal Portuguese coat of arms the old Portuguese coat of arms was in the middle and the red border with castles comes from the marriage of Ferdinand I (1367–1383) with the Portuguese nobleman Leonore Teles de Menezes . This had the Castilian castles from the father's coat of arms.
In the case of two marriages, the alliance coat of arms consists of three shields, in which the first wife's heraldic symbol is on the right (optically left), that of the man in the middle, and that of the second wife is heraldic to the left (optically right), the coat of arms of the man is usually attached to the coat of arms the first woman turned.
In general, the marriage coat of arms is only valid for the two spouses; the children carry their father's coat of arms. However, if the woman was entitled to inheritance or brought her own property into the marriage as a trousseau, in many cases the collapsed form was retained as the family coat of arms. Many increased coats of arms go back to marriage coats of arms.
Widow coat of arms
In the widows' alliance, the only shield is specially shared. It is split or quartered . When the shield is split, the man’s shield is in front (heraldic right, optical left) and that of the woman behind. The fourth assigns fields 1 and 4 to the man and 2 and 3 to the woman.
In England, the alliance of coats of arms in a split shield is also common for wives - mostly of the royal family - but then it is not the joint coat of arms of the married couple (as is the case with two-shielded alliance coats of arms), but only that of the woman.
City coat of arms
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The city arms of Essen and Brandenburg an der Havel
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A city coat of arms as an alliance coat of arms is rather rare . B. the coat of arms of the city of Essen or the coat of arms of the city of Brandenburg an der Havel . As a split city arms z. B. Coat of arms of the city of Krefeld .
Town twinning
Today alliance coats of arms are also used for town twinning .
Alliance coat of arms as a motif
In Bartholomäus Aich's musical-dramatic festival play Armamentarium comicum amris et honori for the wedding of Count Maximilian Willibald von Waldburg-Wolfegg with Clara Isabella Princess von Aarschot and Arenberg on December 6, 1648 in Lindau, the heraldic figures of the two coats of arms of the bride and groom are shown allegorically and in merged into an alliance coat of arms. The connection of the heraldic figures of the two coats of arms (such as the sun or the lion) serves as a symbol of the dynastic connection between the two houses and thus becomes the focus of an original aesthetic staging.
See also
Web links
- Bernhard Peter: marriage coat of arms. In: Introduction to Heraldry. Retrieved June 19, 2008 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Milan boys: Heraldry. Albatros, Prague 1987
- ^ PW Hartmann: Entry: Alliance coat of arms, marriage coat of arms, marriage coat of arms. In: BayArs. The great art dictionary. Retrieved June 19, 2008 .