This week in art, the children made a shield depicting their own Coat of Arms!
Knights had to understand the system of badges, called Heraldry.
Each knight had their own personal badges on their shields to help identify the contestants during mock battles and real battles.
Knights would have these badges painted on their tunics, coats, armor, and shields. Their horses would be decorated with them too.
There are 5 basic colors that were used- blue, red, black, green, purple, and two metals, silver and gold.
Various patterns were used. Common animals on shields were lions, ermines, vair, serpents, eagles, and elephants.
Coat of arms were passed down from father to eldest son. They became the family badges.
They were a symbol of noble birth.
So during art class, I encouraged the children to create a coat-of-arms that reflected who they were.
I asked them to create something that their parents would immediately know that it was theirs.
Children used triangle, heart, oval, circle, and the traditional shield shape.
