Heraldry began not long before the time I am in now, where people began to decorate their shields. Recent requirements have been put in place across the European continent, however, and I am here to report on this standardization. The most common evidence of this is seals, found all throughout the land with kings and noblemen each having their own. Even in this short period of time, new advances in armour have been made, and in the future more of them will shape the art of heraldry for centuries to come. I was joined today by Sir Harold, the son of one of the knights who first started to paint his shield around twenty-five years ago. “My father, God bless his soul, first painted and reinforced his shield with simple designs because it helped him remember who he was fighting for. It is only now, however, that such painting and decoration is widespread, and standards have even been set for it.”
Heraldry has developed drastically since the twelfth century. In the thirteenth century physical models became common, and jingle bells also became popular, as they were on clothing at that time. In the fourteenth century supporters appeared, and they may have eventually become animated, with pages marching around in costumes. By the fifteenth century complex repeating patterns became common on shields, and as the middle ages came to an end the thing that kept heraldry goingt was civilian usage. Although badges on banners were common by the fourteenth century, they could sometimes get mixed up, an example being a 1471 battle where one side attacked its own allies because of a mistaken badge. Badges were frequently derived from the coat of arms, but it was not always so. In the fifteenth century, heralds also began to regulate coats of arms in England, and since then heraldry has become a sophisticated and highly controlled art form. Although heraldry continues to advance, its history is in some ways drawing to a close. All sorts of designs are common these days, but the core concepts have remained the same. Arms inspections are finally coming to a close, however, as the kings have given up on keeping track of every knight and nobleman. In the words of the Lord Pierson, who I got to meet today, “The King has finally decided that for the economic benefit of the nation we shall stop spending our tax dollars on getting accounted for, as there is little need anymore for this sort of regulation in a modern world.”