Donkey (heraldic animal)
The donkey is in the heraldry as emblem to distinguish only by the big ears and the smaller size of the emblem horse.
A popular characteristic to distinguish is the thistle in the animal's mouth. For a time, around the 19th century, the donkey became the mule in the coat of arms . The symbolism of the donkey ranges from a religious point of view to foolishness. All heraldic colors and forms of representation are possible, but it is based on the horse. The basic posture is standing with a heraldic view to the right. The donkey's head is popular in the heraldic shield or upper coat of arms .
The coat of arms of the Ittersum family is well known. In the shield there are three donkey heads and a coat of arms saying “Id ter sum”, which means “I am three times”. Here the bearer of the coat of arms takes the easy side.
The donkey is also suitable for a talking coat of arms . An example is the Uradel Riedesel Freiherren zu Eisenbach from Hessen with a donkey's head on the face. He is also represented in the Bavarian aristocracy of Riedheim (noble family) . But here as a whole animal.
See also
literature
- ↑ Gert Oswald : Lexicon of Heraldry. VEB Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1984.
