Hey dear Hive community, first of all I hope that you are all well and you have a weekend full of positive experiences! Today I would like to discuss an interesting historical topic and hope you are able to expand your knowledge.
Today I took the opportunity to take some pictures of early bloomers and earlier there was also a light rain which ensured that the pictures got their very own elegance. Today I would like to specifically address flowers in heraldry and since the Middle Ages, flowers have been used again and again as a distinguishing mark of ruling houses or countries in coats of arms and in the past, mainly native plants were found in coats of arms and exotic plants were rarely used. Often the coats of arms were also adapted to art epochs and contemporary it came to the fact that the stylistic devices have been adapted and there was no uniform of ornaments and it was usually the case that the coats of arms have been individually adapted to the culture. Plants are often enveloped in ornaments or other stylistic devices and the different colors ensured that a high recognition value can be seen and the plants can not always be seen alone but together with people or animals and it also happened that all parts of plants were portrayed and even the root was integrated into the coat of arms. The lily is particularly popular in heraldry and everywhere in Europe this flower was used as a popular symbol and especially in France it has an important meaning and was often considered a royal symbol and in addition to the representation in different coats of arms it is also a popular symbol in art.
It happened that this symbol spread more and more during the Middle Ages and numerous rulers such as Charlemagne, Louis VIII, Edward III or many others were depicted with this symbol and it was also often seen in the crown or in the scepter and different meanings have developed around it and was also a symbol of wisdom or divinity and the symbol is also known under the name Fleur-de-lis. In numerous countries, Fleur-de-lis could be found and it was also often used as a symbol for weapons and is probably the most common symbol when it comes to the spread of flowers in heraldry. Often the rose can also be seen in coat of arms and this is also a well-known plant in heraldry which can also be associated with mythology and in different countries numerous different representations have been created and of great importance was also the color representation and this coat of arms was probably very important during the Wars of Roses in England in the 15th century where the houses York and Lancaster fought against each other and showed themselves with roses as a symbol in the battle. After the Middle Ages it happened that some exotic plants came to Europe and were then depicted in coats of arms and also numerous trees were assigned to coats of arms over the centuries and one speaks of modern heraldry and it has developed into such a complex topic that nowadays you can find thousands of different coats of arms in which plants can be found which in turn are linked to their own history.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new about art history! I captured these pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens!