Crown of rank
The helmet Crown as crest at Adelswappen (French. Couronne de noblesse , closely. Crown, coronet ) symbolizes since the coat of arms of the 15th century the rank of nobility and patrician families .
In the 13th century, beaded helmets and foliage were common. It was not until the second half of the 16th century that the award of pearl crowns for nobility diplomas became a prerogative of the nobility; in earlier times, crowned helmets were only granted to princely persons.
The rank crowns are a branch of heraldry . The rank crowns do not differentiate between primeval nobility and letter nobility . The old untitled nobility (primeval nobility) often used the more agreeable, seven-pearl baron crown with a variety of misleading arguments. The legitimate five-pearl crown adorns too little and is often not used for this reason. It was the duty of the heraldic offices to ensure that the crowns were used correctly.
The crowns of rank in the German-speaking area
Holy Roman Empire
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Imperial Crown | The imperial crown is often a miter crown, in which a miter turned ninety degrees appears under the bow rising from the crown. Later versions only hint at this miter shape through metal plates that surround a velvet cap. |
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Royal crown (Bohemia) | The Wenceslas crown sometimes appears as a turtle in the imperial coat of arms of Joseph II. |
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new Kurhut / ducal hat | The Kurhut has five visible temples with an orb at the top and a five-lobed ermine cuff and is sometimes used as a ducal hat. Full purple lining is visible between the temples. |
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older Kurhut | An earlier form of the electoral hat shows only a bow and orb. |
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oldest Kurhut | The oldest Kurhut has no hangers and instead of the imperial apple has an ermine tail. |
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Archduke's hat | |
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Ducal hat | The ducal hat of Styria goes back to older types of ducal hats / crowns and is still used today in the Styrian coat of arms. |
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Ducal crown | The ducal crown is similar to the ducal hat, but instead of the ermine cuff, it has a jewel-studded browband with leaf teeth. |
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Princely hat | The prince's hat has three visible stirrups with an imperial orb at the top and a five-lobed ermine cuff. Full purple lining is visible between the temples. |
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Prince's crown | The prince's crown is a golden hoop set with stones, with five prongs and a purple cap enclosed by three visible brackets with the imperial orb at the top. The prince's hat, on the other hand, shows a three-lipped ermine cuff instead of the ring. |
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modern landgrave crown | |
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old count's crown | The browband of the old count's crown has five teeth on it. |
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modern count's crown | On the count's crown, nine points adorned with silver pearls are visible on a golden ring (similar to that of the aristocratic crown). Some older imperial count houses used crowns that alternately show five leaves and four pearls on the prongs. |
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old baron crown | Until the end of the 18th century, the old form of the barons crown with five "seated" pearls and a string of pearls was used. |
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modern baron crown | The "newer" form of the barons' crown consists of a golden ring (similar to that of the aristocratic crown), on which seven points adorned with silver pearls are visible. |
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general nobility and helmet crown | The old aristocratic crown of the untitled lower nobility is identical to the helmet crown and is a gold ring set with pearls and stones, which is provided with eight prongs at the top, five of which are visible. The middle and outer ones are leaf-like, while the others wear pearls. |
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modern nobility crown | The newer coronet of untitulierten nobility, particularly from the letter needle out, wearing instead of the leaf prongs five silver beads. The coronet is golden, set with pearls and precious stones (usually represented as sapphires and rubies). |
Crowns in use especially since 1803/1806
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Imperial Crown (HRR 1804–1806) | After the creation of the hereditary emperor title for Austria, the imperial crown was used for the first time in the imperial coat of arms as a heraldic crown, which here crowns the eagle. |
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Imperial Crown (Austria since 1804) | The Austrian Empire takes over the house crown of Rudolf II as an imperial crown and a heraldic crown. |
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Modern royal crown | The (modern) royal crown, which Württemberg and Saxony introduce, shows a golden headband set with gemstones with five visible temples in the middle of the temple and with pearls on the edge of the temple. The space below the bracket is empty. |
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Modern grand ducal crown | The Grand Duke's crown consists of a golden browband set with gemstones with five visible beaded bows and four leaf prongs, interrupted by smaller pearl prongs. Half of the temple is filled with a purple cap. However, this crown is sometimes used and recognized as a royal crown. |
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Crown of glory | Some mediatized of counts and smaller princely houses that the right to the Informal Grace had led a crown, a purple cap rose from without straps that at the head of the family up with a orb was occupied in the later generations with a Hermelinschwänzchen. |
The German Imperium
For the German Empire , with the regulation of the coat of arms, new heraldic crowns were created for the emperor , empress and crown prince. The exact design of the crowns was subject to slight changes from Wilhelm II onwards , which can also be seen, for example, in the changed Reich coat of arms . The heraldic imperial crown is derived from the Roman-German imperial crown and designed according to the style of the time. All three heraldic crowns only exist as such, and the designs were never realized as real crowns. The kingdoms of Bavaria and Prussia adopted the appearance of the actual royal crowns for the heraldic crowns of their coats of arms when they were created. The other states generally used the heraldic crowns that were already in use at the time of the Holy Roman Empire.
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Wilhelmine imperial crown | The crown shows four larger and four smaller gold plates, placed side by side in an octagon, rounded at the top and set with diamonds. The larger plates each show a large cross, which is angled at the bottom by two smaller crosses; the small plates each have an eagle with an eight-pointed star hovering over its head. Golden, ornate temples rest on the larger plates, ending at the apex of the crown in a leaf ornament bearing a blue orb adorned with stones. The crown is lined with gold and encloses a low cap made of gold brocade, which is patterned with imperial eagles and imperial crowns. |
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Wilhelmine Imperial Crown (floating) | If the imperial crown is depicted floating, then there are also gold crown bands decorated with foliage. |
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empress | The crown has four arms that enclose a cap made of gold brocade. The browband is adorned with many rubies and diamonds and lined with gold fabric. |
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Imperial Crown Prince | The crown of the Prussian-German Crown Prince consists of a forehead ring set with precious stones, which is adorned alternately by four crosses and four eagles formed from diamonds. Four gold, beaded and richly decorated brackets run into a leaf ornament at the apex of the crown, which carries a blue orb adorned with stones. A low red velvet hat with a lining of the same color appears encircled by the temples. The shape of the cross has changed in the course of time from more like the iron cross to more ornate shapes. |
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Prussian royal crown | The crown of William II. , Or Hohenzollern crown in 1888 for the (never carried out) coronation of William the King of Prussia made. It is very similar to the originally made crown of the Kingdom of Prussia. She has a gold browband adorned with diamonds. The roots of the eight crown bows, each adorned with 10 brilliant-cut diamonds, are covered by fleurons made of four brilliant-cut diamonds, between which pearl prongs rise. A large sapphire appears as an orb. |
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Bavarian royal crown | The crown of the Kingdom of Bavaria was designed and made in the same Parisian workshop from which Napoleon I's crown insignia emerged after Bavaria was elevated to a kingdom through the mediation of the court jeweler Borgnis in Frankfurt am Main. It is kept in the treasury of the Munich Residence. The crown was also used as the heraldic crown of Bavaria. It differs from ordinary royal crowns mainly in that the crown stirrups are set with precious stones instead of pearls. The image of Hugo Ströhl shown here differs in some details from the heraldic crown officially used in the coat of arms. |
Crowns of rank in existing monarchies
Belgium

The Kingdom of Belgium has retained many rank crowns after the spin-off of the Netherlands, but there are also differences that are often traced back to the legacy of the Spanish Netherlands or the Holy Roman Empire.
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king | Prince / Prince |
Prince (old) |
duke | marquis | Count |
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Count (old) |
Count (old) |
Vice Count | baron | Baron (old) |
Chevalier |
Denmark
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king | Crown Prince | prince | duke | marquis | Count | Baron | Nobility crown |
Great Britain
In formal English usage the word crown is used for the crown of a monarch and all other crowns are spoken of as "coronets". In the peerage, the design of a crown shows the rank of its owner.
A person authorized to wear a crown of rank usually shows it in their coat of arms above the shield and under the helmet.
Members of the British royal family have crowns of rank on their coat of arms and are allowed to wear them at coronations. Every now and then, different versions are permitted for individuals through royal powers of attorney.
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King / Queen St. Edward's Crown |
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King / Queen Imperial / Tudor Crown |
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King / Queen of Scotland |
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Heir to the throne | |
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Prince or Princess son or daughter of the monarch |
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Prince or Princess children of a son of the monarch |
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Prince or Princess children of a daughter of the monarch |
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duke | The English ducal crown is a richly chased circlet from which eight strawberry leaves rise, behind a purple velvet cap that ends with a gold tassel at the top and an ermine hoop at the bottom. |
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Old form of the English ducal hat | |
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British marquise crown | The crown of a marquess has four strawberry leaves and four so-called silver pearls. In the marquise crown , four of the eight strawberry leaves have been replaced by silver balls. |
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Earl's Crown | The crown of an earl has eight strawberry leaves and eight pearls on prongs. It has eight golden points with silver balls, in between each a golden strawberry leaf. |
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British Vice-Count's Crown | The crown of a vice count (Viscount) has only twelve silver balls and no strawberry leaves. See also: Viscountkrone . |
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British barons crown | The baron's crown has only six silver balls and no strawberry leaves. |
Netherlands
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king | Prince / Prince | duke | marquis | Count | Burgrave | baron | Knight | Nobility crown |
Norway
The Norwegian crown system has similarities with the systems of Denmark and Sweden.
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king | King (1905) | Crown Prince | duke | marquis | Count | Baron | Nobility crown |
Sweden
The Swedish crown system is considered to be particularly archaic and conservative.
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king | Crown Prince | duke | Count | Baron | Nobility crown |
Spain
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monarch | Heir to the throne |
Child of the monarch with the title Infant |
Grandees | duke | Marqués | Count |
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Vice Count | baron | Señor / Don | Old caballero crown |
Old ducal crown |
Old Count's Crown |
Old barons crown |
The crowns of rank in fallen monarchies
France
Ancien Regime
The most important figure in the ranking system is the bourbon lily, which is worn in the coronet instead of the usual leaf prongs. It is reserved for the king, his closest immediate relatives, and the descendants of royal lines.
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King (roi) | The royal crown is a typical bow-shaped crown, but instead of the usual imperial orb with a cross, it has a lily (partly from a globe) at the end. |
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Dauphin (Crown Prince) | An unusual crown is reserved for the Crown Prince, the Dauphin : from the crown circlet with five lily prongs protrude four brackets, which are modeled on dolphins and at the apex of which a lily protrudes. See dauphin crown |
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Enfant de France | The children of the monarch (Princes du Sang Royal / Enfants de France) wear the old open royal crown. (Crown ring with five lily prongs) |
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Prince du Sang | The descendants of royal bloodlines (Princes du Sang) also wear a crown circlet, but with only three lily prongs, between each of which a leaf prong is inserted. |
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Duc et Pair de France | The Pairs de France , title holders who are on an equal footing with the king, have a velvet cap with a tassel on top, tucked into their crown. |
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Duc (Duke) | The French duke wears an open crown circlet with five prongs. |
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Marquis et Pair de France | The Pairs de France , title holders who are on an equal footing with the king, have a velvet cap with a tassel on top, tucked into their crown. |
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Marquis (margrave) | The marquis wears an open crown circlet with three leaf prongs and in between two pearl prongs, on each of which three pearls are attached. The old form of the marquise crown provided three prongs, each with a pearl between the leaf prongs. |
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Comte et Pair de France | The Pairs de France , title holders who are on an equal footing with the king, have a velvet cap with a tassel on top, tucked into their crown. |
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Comte (Count) | The count wears a crown ring with nine pearl prongs. |
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Count (old) | The old form of the count's crown provided for three pearls instead of just one on the left and right outside and on the middle prong. |
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Viscount | The viscount wears a crown with five pearl prongs. |
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Vidame | The crown of the rare title of Vidame falls out of the usual scheme as it has three cross prongs. |
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baron | The baron's crown is a simple crown circlet with a pearl necklace wound around it three times. |
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Chevalier (Crown of the Bannermen ) | The Chevalier banner gentlemen only wear a simple crown ring. |
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Chevalier (tortillon) | A chevalier only guides the two-colored bead (tortillon). |
Napoleonic Empire
Napoléon Bonaparte created his own new heraldic system in which all rank crowns were largely replaced by hats (birets / toques ). With the end of his rule, the system disappeared again in favor of the old traditional system of rank symbols.
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Emperor | Bonnet d'honneur |
Sovereign Prince |
Prince / Prince |
duke | Count | baron | Chevalier |
Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)
The Italian system has a lot in common with the Spanish and French, but there are also differences. Before the establishment of the kingdom there was no regulating authority for the use of rank crowns for all of Italy. The basis of the Italian crown system was the regulation on the outer coat of arms elements of March 4, 1870. After the establishment of the Consulta Araldica del Regno d'Italia, the Herald's Commission subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior, responsible for all heraldic and nobility matters, efforts were made to establish a normative basis for to create the kingdom; on January 1, 1890, the coat of arms and with them the crowns of the royal house were regulated. At the same time, they were prepared to take the previous varieties into account, which led in the subsequent ordinance of April 13, 1905 (extended on June 7, 1943) to differentiate between “normal” crowns and so-called tolerated crowns, which were common before the Risorgimento.
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king |
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Principe ereditario |
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Principe |
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duke |
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Marchese |
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Count |
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Vice Count |
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baron |
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Nobles |
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First Crown |
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Patrician |
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province |
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city |
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Commune |
Italian states before 1861
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Tiara (Papal States) |
Crown of Tuscany |
Doge's hat Venice |
Crown of San Marino |
Russia
The Russian system was roughly based on the ranks of the neighboring states.
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Tsar | Prince (exalted) |
Count | baron | Nobility crown |
Further examples
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Royal Crown of Hungary | St. Stephen's Crown is the royal crown of the Kingdom of Hungary, the most important and only valid object of the Hungarian coronation insignia. The pendilies are a reminiscence. They remind of the making of the crown. The diadem, the victory wreath was attached to the helmet with strings. From this the crown developed. |
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Royal Crown of Romania | The Steel Crown of the Kingdom of Romania is made of steel and was made from a cast steel cannon that the Romanian army captured from the Ottomans in the Romanian War of Independence (1877–1878) near Pleven (Bulgaria). |
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Crown of the Grand Duchy of Transylvania | |
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Crown of the Kingdom of Bulgaria | |
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Crown of the Viceroy of Egypt | |
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Crown of the Shah of Persia | |
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Serrated crown | According to tradition, the spikes symbolize the twelve months of a year. |
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Wall crown | The crown of the wall symbolizes the free middle class . |
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Berlin wall crown | |
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Ship's crown | The naval crown is a special feature of English coats of arms. |
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Russian shape of a wall crown |
See also
literature
- Ottfried Neubecker : Heraldry. Coat of arms - their origin, meaning and value. Krüger, Frankfurt am Main 1977, ISBN 3-8105-1306-7 , pp. 166-185.
- HG Ströhl : Heraldic Atlas. A collection of heraldic pattern sheets for artists, traders and friends of heraldry. J. Hoffmann, Stuttgart 1899 (reprint. (= Heraldic Series. Volume 4). PHV - Phaleristischer Verlag Autengruber and Hrdina, Offenbach am Main 2000, ISBN 3-934743-08-0 ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Theodor Ilgen, Erich Gritzner, Ferdinand Friedensburg: Outline of the historical sciences as an introduction to the study of German history in the Middle Ages and the modern age. Volume 1, Division 4 ... Heraldry ... 1912 - p. 96, 5th rank crowns - In 1912, when this book was written, there was still the nobility and the heraldry. However, the heraldry could not really prevent the frequent abuse of the baronial crown. Family tradition still leads to astonishing misinformation.
- ^ Adolf Matthias Hildebrandt (founder), Ludwig Biewer (arrangement): Wappenfibel. Handbook of Heraldry. 19th edition, published by HEROLD, Association for Heraldry, Genealogy and Related Sciences , edit. on behalf of the Herolds Committee for the German coat of arms . Degener, Neustadt an der Aisch 1998, p. 89.
- ^ Adolf Matthias Hildebrandt (founder), Ludwig Biewer (arrangement): Wappenfibel. Handbook of Heraldry. 19th edition, published by HEROLD, Association for Heraldry, Genealogy and Related Sciences , edit. on behalf of the Herolds Committee for the German coat of arms . Degener, Neustadt an der Aisch 1998, p. 89.
- ^ Adolf Matthias Hildebrandt (founder), Ludwig Biewer (arrangement): Wappenfibel. Handbook of Heraldry. 19th edition, published by HEROLD, Association for Heraldry, Genealogy and Related Sciences , edit. on behalf of the Herolds Committee for the German coat of arms . Degener, Neustadt an der Aisch 1998, p. 88.