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| The Spearing Coat of Arms |
The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (Sir Bernard Burke, first published in 1842) is an immense collection of descriptions of surname crests, containing details on thousands of persons who were granted arms. The majority of its content is in the above format, with surnames listed alphabetically, each name followed by its crest’s specifications in beautiful heraldic language. The translation of the above would read:
“Spearing. Silver; three black circles, placed horizontally between two narrow red horizontal bands, dancetty. Crest – On a globe, a ship under sail, natural coloured.”
Not only did the fighting men of the Middle Ages require a surname, but they also needed to take it a step further. Because they wore a suit of armour including a helmet which completely covered their head, a knight fully adorned for battle was indistinguishable from other knights. To prevent knights of the same side from attacking one another, some form of visible identification was necessary. Therefore many knights painted unique patterns on their shields and had them woven into the cloth coats that were worn over their armour. Hence the term, “coat of arms”. As this method became more widely used, it became necessary to make sure that no two knights should use the same decoration. Records began being kept that granted each knight and his family the right to use their own unique symbol.
In addition to the family coat of arms, family “mottos” are believed to have originated in the Middle Ages as battle cries. Burke’s General Armory lists known mottos alongside each family coat of arms. There was no motto recorded with the Spearing surname. Perhaps it is time to create one?
Heraldry (the study of coats of arms) is a fascinating subject of research and much information can easily be found on the world-wide-web. The Royal Heraldry Society of Canada website is www.heraldry.ca.
