This is the same question I have on Italian Heraldry…
So, I know that in Iberian heraldry there are some normal heraldic practices that makes it obviously Iberian. The same can be said of British.
But, I was wondering what are some, if there are any, characteristics of Germanic heraldry (are the crest horns Germanic or Nordic?).
Not only mention them, if you’d be so kind, but please direct me towards reference material as well.
Thanks.
Multiple crests come to mind amongst the aristocrats, although it’s certainly not exclusively germanic.
You might find the Heraldica website (http://www.heraldica.org/listing.htm) useful - among other things, it contains links to articles on heraldry in specific countries.
From CA von Volborth’s "Heraldry of the World" (1973):
- "simple coats of arms are preferred to more complicated ones"
- achievement usually consists of shield, helmet, crest, mantling
- nobles have barred helmet with or without coronet; "commoners" have tournament helmet
- "mottoes are not customary"
- arms are regarded as family arms, and differencing for individual members "is usually foreign to German heraldic ideas"
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From Michael Waas’s 2003 article "Different Customs: German vs English Heraldry", which used to be on the IAAH website but seems to have disappeared in the course of website reconstruction:
- the main charge on the shield is often repeated as the crest
- mottoes have become more common over the past 20 years
- supporters do not indicate any rank or honour
- lozenge shields are not used for women’s arms, except sometimes for abbesses
- women bear the same full achievement of arms as men
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German shields tend to be more squat that those in other countries, only about 1/8 higher than they’re broad, whereas our heater-shape shield is around 1/4 higher than it’s broad. Typical German shield has a semicircular base, instead of coming to a point.
Many crests are depicted between two "elephant trunks", or two wings, which to my mind are very characteristically Germanic.
You’ll find lots of examples of Germanic heraldic art on sites such as:
http://www.heraldik-wappen.de ("Heraldik im Netz" heraldry forum)
www.zum-kleeblatt.de ("Zum Kleeblatt" heraldry society site)
www.datapage.de/de (Offene Wappenrolle der HGW site)
www.schweiz-heraldik.ch (Swiss Heraldry Society site)
You may also find some useful info in the "Heraldic Design" section of the IAAH forum, where a debate on national characteristics is in progress right now: http://excoboard.com
thank you all.