Coat of Arms Symbols and Their Meanings

Coat of arms symbols, called charges, are the pictures placed on a shield: lions, eagles, crosses, stars, trees, keys and hundreds more. Each one has a meaning people commonly attach to it, like courage for the lion or faith for the cross, but those meanings are later tradition, not fixed heraldic rules.

Thirty-four common charges and their usual meanings are listed below, along with the positions animals can take and the real reason many medieval families picked their symbols. Almost every one of them is in the free coat of arms maker.

Do heraldic symbols have fixed meanings?

No. Heraldic authorities do not give charges official meanings. The tidy “lion means courage” lists were mostly built up in printed handbooks long after the first coats of arms, with William Cecil Wade’s 1898 book The Symbolisms of Heraldry among the best known. The same is true of colors: in modern heraldry, tinctures are “not assigned any particular meaning,” as the Wikipedia article on tinctures puts it.

So read the table below as popular symbolism. It’s a useful way to pick charges that feel right for your family or club. Just don’t treat it as a code that heralds actually used.

Canting arms: symbols that pun on a name

Many medieval arms were picked for a pun on the bearer’s name. These are called canting arms, and they are everywhere in old heraldry. Some real examples:

Arms of	Charge	The pun
Kingdoms of Castile and León	A castle and a lion	Castile = castle, León = lion
Bowes-Lyon family	Bows and blue lions	Bowes = bows, Lyon = lion
Princess Beatrice of York	Three bees	Bea-thrice = bee thrice
City of Oxford	An ox crossing a ford	Ox + ford
Cockburn family	Three red cocks	Cock-burn
Dwight D. Eisenhower	An anvil	Eisenhauer is German for “iron hewer”

Canting is still a great way to design arms today. Look at your surname, first name or town and see if a picture hides inside it.

Common coat of arms symbols and their meanings

The meanings here are the ones most often repeated in heraldry books and popular guides. Where a charge has a real historical link (a saint, a country, a custom), the table says so.

Charge	Commonly attributed meaning
Lion	Courage, strength, royalty. The most common beast in heraldry.
Eagle	Power, nobility. Used by the Holy Roman Empire and many states.
Double-headed eagle	Empire. Used by the Byzantine and Holy Roman empires.
Griffin (gryphon)	Valor and watchfulness. Half eagle, half lion.
Dragon	A fierce defender, protection.
Wyvern	Like the dragon, but with two legs. Often linked to strength.
Unicorn	Purity, strength. A supporter in the Scottish royal arms.
Stag	Peace, harmony. A common hunting charge.
Boar	Bravery, a fierce fighter.
Bear	Strength, protection. The city of Bern uses it as a pun on its name.
Wolf	Cunning, a hunter.
Horse	Readiness to serve, speed.
Dolphin	Charity, kindness. The heir of France was called the Dauphin.
Raven	Wisdom, or a pun on names like Corbet (French corbeau).
Owl	Wisdom, learning.
Phoenix	Rebirth, rising again.
Fleur-de-lis	Purity, and a strong link to the French crown.
Rose	Love, beauty. A symbol of England and its royal houses.
Thistle	Scotland.
Oak tree or acorn	Strength, long life.
Wheat sheaf (garb)	Plenty, a good harvest.
Cross	Christian faith. There are dozens of cross shapes in heraldry.
Crescent	Hope. In English heraldry, also the mark of a second son.
Mullet (star)	Achievement. Also the English mark of a third son.
Sun in splendor	Glory, warmth.
Tower or castle	Defense, safety.
Sword	Justice, military service.
Key	Trust, guardianship. Crossed keys are the symbol of St Peter.
Anchor	Hope (an early Christian symbol), or a link to the sea.
Crown	Royal service, authority.
Heart	Sincerity. The Douglas heart recalls Robert the Bruce’s heart.
Scallop shell	Pilgrimage, especially to Santiago de Compostela.
Bee	Hard work. Also a pun, as in Beatrice.
Harp	Music, and the symbol of Ireland.

The crescent and mullet notes come from the English system of cadency, where small marks show a younger son’s place in the family. The fleur-de-lis has its own glossary entry if you want the details.

Attitudes: the positions of beasts

An animal’s position on the shield is called its attitude. The blazon always names it, because “a lion” alone doesn’t say how to draw it. Rampant and passant are by far the most common.

Attitude	Position
Rampant	Standing on its hind legs, forepaws raised, in profile
Passant	Walking, right forepaw raised, the other three on the ground
Statant	Standing still with all four feet on the ground
Sejant	Sitting on its haunches
Salient	Leaping, both hind legs on the ground, both forelegs in the air
Couchant	Lying down with its head raised
Guardant	Head turned to face the viewer (added to another attitude)
Regardant	Head turned back over its shoulder (added to another attitude)

Guardant and regardant describe only the head, so they pair with the others. The three lions of England are “passant guardant”: walking and looking out at you. Some animals get special words. A stag that is walking is “trippant,” and a griffin or dragon rearing up is “segreant.”

The maker includes a lion rampant, a lion passant and a lion rampant guardant. You can flip any charge so it faces the other way, though in heraldry beasts normally face dexter (the viewer’s left).

How to choose symbols for your own coat of arms

Start with what you want the arms to say. Then pick one main charge, or three of the same.

• Look for a pun in your name, like the Bowes-Lyon bows or the Oxford ox.
• Pick something from your work: a key for a locksmith, a book for a teacher, an anchor for a sailor.
• Use a plant or animal from your home: a thistle for Scottish roots, an oak for a family farm.
• Pick a meaning from the table that fits your family, like the bee for hard work.

Then place your charges on a strong field. The heraldry colors guide helps you pick tinctures, and the step-by-step guide on how to make a coat of arms walks through the whole design. To see where the charges sit in a full achievement, read parts of a coat of arms.