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Scots Heraldry - The Heraldry
Society of Scotland |
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Some Distinctive Characteristics of Scots Arms
- By Alex Maxwell
Findlater |
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So
what are the characteristics of Scots arms? Firstly the use of the
lion rampant in many ancient coats. The ruddy lion ramping in his
golden field is well known as the coat of the King of Scots, but
we must also note this lion rampant as the principal, often only
charge, in the ancient earldoms of Fife and March (Dunbar), also
in Duff, Moncrieff, Home, Dundas, Gray, MacDowall, Buchanan,
Wemyss, Moubray, Spens, Wallace, Abernethy, Crichton, Lyon,
Lamont, Scrymgeour, and in Maitland, where he is dismembered, in
Ross, where he is triplicated and in many of the Celtic coats,
where the lion occupies the first quarter of a shield composed of
four indivisible quarters. |
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Fife |
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Wemyss |
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Abernethy |
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Cirichton |
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The
national flag of Scotland is Azure a saltire Argent. This flag
doubtless became popular during the crusades, which both
internationalized heraldry and speeded up the adoption of arms by
knights. The colours of the St Andrew’s flag settled as silver on
blue in the seventeenth century, but it was probably the basis of
many arms which use a saltire as the principle charge, eg Maxwell,
Lennox (from which derive Napier), Haig, Colquhoun and Dalrymple. |
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Maxwell |
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Lenox |
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Napier |
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Colquhoun |
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Haig |
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Dalrymple |
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The most famous family and one of
the widest spread is Stewart. The arms of Stewart, Or a fesse
chequy Argent and Azure, have been mirrored in those of a number
of other famous families, including Boyd, Azure a fesse chequy
Argent and Gules, and Lindsay, Gules a fesse chequy Argent and
Azure. Also derived from Stewart is Menteith, Or, a bend chequy
Argent and Sable. Menteith is in fact an offshoot of the Stewart
earls of Menteith. |
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Stewart |
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Boyd |
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Lindsay |
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Menteith |
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Another curiosity is the number
of arms composed of black and white, one of the simplest, but
one of the most eye-catching combinations. This group includes
Erskine, Cunningham, Maxwell, Sinclair, Armstrong, Balfour,
Colville, Colquhoun and Haldane. Campbell was also anciently
blazoned Argent and Sable. It has been suggested by Beryl
Platt, in her books Scottish Hazard, that this combination
might imply an origin in the province of Alost in Flanders,
the colours of Alost being black and white. |
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Erskine |
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Cunningham |
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Maxwell |
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Armstrong |
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Auchinleck |
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Balfour |
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Colville |
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Colquhoun |
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© The Heraldry Society of
Scotland last Update
27 Oct 2021 |
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