Deer (heraldic animal)

Deer coat of arms Herzberg (Elster)

The deer is popular in heraldry as a common figure . He is represented very differently in the coat of arms . So he can be walking , lying or standing . In the jumping form, the hind legs must be close together.

Any color is possible for the tinging (heraldic coloring), but the heraldist is often limited to red or black. The natural color rarely occurs. But often gold or silver antlers .

When it comes to blazon , the antlers are particularly important. The number of so-called ends must be emblazoned precisely. The bowed head also has a meaning. The deer would then be grazing . The wide spread as heraldic animal goes back to the possibility to draw talking coats of arms . One example is the town of Hirschberg (Silesia) .

antler

In many cases, only the deer antlers are found in the coat of arms. As a result, many other terms have found their way into the hunt. Deer rods or just rods can be found in the coat of arms descriptions. Often only a single stag pole is shown as a half pole . Several rods are aligned in the same direction. The coat of arms of Württemberg with the three half rods is known. The antlers are also shown with part of the ornamented cranium, the grind .

A deer with a crucifix between the antlers has a symbolic meaning. It stands for St. Hubertus as the patron saint of hunters.

Deer with fish tail

A deer with a fish tail is a rare representation . In the coat of arms of the Lords of Lindenberg there is a red deer head fish in a silver shield.

Examples

The stag was already used as a heraldic animal by Gebhard III. von Hirschberg in a shield-shaped seal in 1253 and also at around the same time by Gebhard IV. (died 1305). See also: Hirschberg (noble family)

• 

  rising ( district Alfeld / Leine  DE, settlement area of ​​the Cherusci , their tribal name is derived from "cherut" = deer)

• 

  striding ( district Sigmaringen  DE)

• 

  Hirschsprung District High Black Forest (1956–1973) DE

• 

  jumping ( Lauscha  DE)

• 

  left: upright ( Herzberg am Harz  DE)

• 

  with crosier ( Hirsau  DE)

• 

  winged fallow deer ( Alzon  FR)

• 

  Deer cow on Dreiberg ( Gipf-Oberfrick  CH)

• 

  jumping ten-man ( Klietz  DE)

• 

  jumping and gold armored ( Lenggries  DE)

• 

  striding ( Åland  FI)

• 

  jumping ( Szarvas  HU, German Hirschfeld )

• 

  walking through a body of water (ford) ( Lend  AT)

• 

  Growing with the Brandenburg eagle ( Müllrose  DE)

• 

  floating, cf. Sage ( Angermünde  DE)

• 

  Three-headed cow ( Cerveteri  IT)

• 

  Antlers with skull (former municipality of Borgsdorf  DE)

• 

  walking with Wiederkreuz ( Mertesheim  DE)

• 

  as sign holder ( Leeuwarden  NL)

• 

  Doe wounded by an arrow ( Saint-Gilles-du-Gard  FR)

See also

• Deer head fish

literature

• Herbert Cerutti : worries of a top dog. 30 new animal stories. NZZ-Verlag, Zurich 1999, ISBN 3-85823-789-2 .
• Gert Oswald : Lexicon of Heraldry. (From apple cross to twin bars). 2nd, unchanged edition. Battenberg, Regenstauf 2006, ISBN 3-86646-010-4 .
• Georg Scheibelreiter : Animal names and coat of arms (= publications of the Institute for Austrian Historical Research. Vol. 24). Böhlau, Vienna et al. 1976, ISBN 3-205-08509-4 .

Web links

Commons : Deer in Heraldry  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Deer ( heraldic animal) in the Heraldry Wiki

Individual evidence

1. ^ Leopold von Zedlitz-Neukirch : New Prussian Adelslexikon: Or genealogical and diplomatic news. Reichenbach, Leipzig 1837.
2. ^ Johann Siebmacher : Siebmacher's large and general book of arms. Nuremberg. Volume I, Dept. 2, 1918 and Dept. 1, 1884-1911.