In Switzerland and the Low Countries there have been non-nobles or peasants with Coats of Arms since the Middle Ages. The word peasant in this case does not mean agricultural laborers but rather small freeholders, owners of small plots of land. In other words it refers to yeomanry in the correct use of that term. The caste structure that arose in Europe following the conquests of the Germanic tribes resulted in leaders becoming the nobility and their followers becoming freeholders of yeomanry status. In most countries the yeomanry were recognized as belonging to the frank or free classes, although over time the upper and lower freeman divided, so that in the end the noble did not intermarry with the yeoman....
LUXEMBOURG ARMS Luxembourg is officially known as the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and is situated between Belgium France and Germany. It has a population of 500,000 and an area of approximately 1,000 square miles. Luxembourg lies on the cultural divide between Germanic Europe and Romantic Europe, the official languages are French, German, and Luxembourgish. Siegfried, Count of Ardennes seized Luxembourg Castle around 963, and around this Castle the town of Luxembourg gradually developed. In the 12th century Henry the Blind, Count of Namur, ruled Luxembourg. When Henry died in 1196 the lands ruled by him were split amongst his children, and his daughter Ermesinde inherited Luxembourg. In the year 1214 Ermesinde married Walram III of Limburg, he changed the lion...
ANDORRA NATIONAL COAT OF ARMS According to legend, in the year 784, Charlemagne guaranteed that the people of Andorra could live in freedom forever. In 843 Emperor Charles II appointed the Count of Urgel to be the overlord of Andorra. From this family the rights passed, through inheritance, to the French Comte de Foix, with whom, by the Pareage of 1278, the Catalan Bishop of Urgel was made joint suzerain or feudal lord. The rights of the count passed via the House of Albret to King Henri IV of France and from the monarchs to the French Presidents after the French Revolution. Andorra is located in the Eastern Pyrenees between France and Spain. Its population is less than 100,000 and...
GREAT SEAL OF THE USA Once the concept of sovereignty expressed in Coats of Arms had become accepted in other parts of the world it was only natural that as countries, which had been colonies, attained independence they should continue the tradition. Of course, not all Arms adopted followed traditional patterns but the intention was clear. On July 4th 1776 the British Colonies in the southern part of North America formally declared their independence. After long and fruitless discussion, the Continental Congress, on June 20th 1782 approved the design for what was to be the Great Seal of the United States of America. This was the work of many hands, but the design on the reverse of the Seal was...
SWITZERLAND NATIONAL COAT OF ARMS . Switzerland has a very simple National Coat of Arms consisting of a white cross on a red field, this does not mean that it has a brief history however. Legend has it that in the most remote times red was the national color of the first Scandinavian colonists who came to inhabit the high Alpine valleys where Switzerland is today situated. Their banners and clothes were in the color red. In the most ancient times Swiss warriors, on their clothes and flags, carried the white cross since they regarded the freeing of their native land as crusade in itself. The Swiss Arms are mentioned as early as 1339 with reference to the Swiss forces...
