Links

“Heraldry is the fusion of fact and fancy, myth and manner, romance and reality. It is an exuberant union of family, art, and history.” 

Charles J Burnett and Mark D Dennis from The Lion Rejoicing (1997)

There is a wealth of information to be discovered online from heraldic authorities, societies and associations, about heraldic art and history, online armorial rolls and in archives.

Here are a handful of useful links and selected references.

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Heraldic Authorities, Societies and Associations

The Court of the Lord Lyon
Scotland’s Heraldic Authority

Wi a richt braw blog

The Lord Lyon Society
To further enliven the promotion of Scots Heraldry and the work of Lyon Office and helping to provide access to the historic collection of records of the Lyon Office

The Heraldry Society of Scotland
Promoting the study of heraldry in Scotland and Overseas

The College of Arms
The official heraldic authority for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and much of the Commonwealth including Australia and New Zealand

The Heraldry Society
To increase and extend interest in and knowledge of heraldry, armory, chivalry, genealogy and allied subjects

The Herald
The Blog of The Heraldry Society

The Australian Heraldry Society

Encourages the correct use of heraldry in Australia and an appreciation of its aesthetic values and continuing traditions

The Heraldic Institute e.V.
Promotes art and culture through the advancement of heraldry as an international subject - an international Community of Experts

Further information
Heraldic Institute links to national heraldic authorities and societies

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Heraldic Art, History and Armorial Rolls

The Fellowship of the White Shield

Promotes the finest heraldic art, practice and fellowship between leading heraldic artists from around the globe

The Society of Heraldic Arts
An international guild of heraldic artists, designers and craftspeople

Heraldica
A great repository of information on heraldry and related topics

WappenWiki
Coats of arms throughout Europe, Anatolia, the Holy Land & the New World, from about 1100 and onwards

Caerlaverockroll
Period Armorials Online

Heraldica Nova
Digitised Armorials

Internet Archive (archive.org)
A non-profit library of millions of free texts, movies, software, music, websites, and more

Following a cyber-attack in October 2023, the British Library’s website and many of its digital services were significantly disrupted. Access to certain digital collections, including the Dering Roll, remains unavailable (February 2025). The British Library has expressed its commitment to restoring full access to its collections.

Archive.org has also experienced downtimes due to DDoS attacks (October 2024) and increased server loads caused by excessive AI data mining.

Detail from Armorial Gelre (arms attributed to Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar), late 14th to early 15th century (Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, ms. 1552-56)

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Selected References

Public Register Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland 1672 to Present, Court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms, Edinburgh

Berry, William 1840: Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Heraldica; or, Complete dictionary of heraldry (1828-1840), Volume IV, London

Biewer, Ludwig & Henning, Eckart 2017: Wappen, Handbuch der Heraldik, 20th Edition, Köln

Bossewell, John 1572: Workes of Armorie, London

Brooke-Little, John Philip (ed.) 1973: Boutell’s Heraldry, London

Burke, Sir Bernard 1884: The general armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; comprising a registry of armorial bearings from the earliest to the present time, London (Scottish coats supervised by Robert Riddle Stodart, according to Woodward)

Burke, Sir Bernard 1894: A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland, 9th Edition, London

Burnett, Charles and Dennis, Mark 1997: The Lion Rejoicing, Edinburgh

Deuchar, Alexander 1817: British Crests : containing the crests and mottos of the families of Great Britain and Ireland; together with those of the principal cities; and a glossary of heraldic terms, Edinburgh

Edgar, R. H. 1878: Ye Comic History of Heraldry, London

Elven, John Peter 1854: The Book of Family Crests, 7th Edition, London

Elvin, Charles Norton 1864: Anecdotes of Heraldry, London

Elvin, Charles Norton 1889: A Dictionary of Heraldry, London

Fairbairn, James 1905: Book of Crests of the Families of Great Britain and Ireland, 4th Edition, London

Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles 1909: A Complete Guide to Heraldry, London

Friar, Stephen (ed.) 1987: A Dictionary of Heraldry, Sherborne, Dorset

Gaylor, John Hamilton 2024: Scots Heraldry in Focus, A Critical Review, Edinburgh

Guillim, John 1610: A Display of Heraldrie, 1st Edition, London

Guillim, John 1724: A Display of Heraldry, 6th Edition, London

Hope, Sir William Henry St. John 1913: A Grammar of English Heraldry, Cambridge

Howard, Joseph Jackson (ed.) and Armytage, Sir George (ed.) 1869: The Visitation of London in the year 1568 by Robert Cooke, London

Humphreys, Dr Stephen 2024: Rediscovering Heraldry’s Origins, Double Tressure No. 49, Edinburgh

Jenkinson, Anthony 1886: Early Voyages and Travels to Russia and Persia, Edited by Edward Delmar Morgan and Charles Henry Coote, London

Legh, Gerard 1562: Accedens of Armory, London

Lockhart, Simon MacDonald 1976: Seven Centuries: The history of the Lockharts and Lee of Carnwath, 2007 edition, Eastbourne

Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, Sir George 1680: Scotland's Herauldrie: the Science of Herauldrie Treated as a Part of the Civil Law and Law of Nations, Edinburgh

Mazzella, Scipione 1586, republished 1601: Descrittione del regno di Napoli, Naples

Meer, Markus 2024: Heraldry in Urban Society: Visual Culture and Communication in Late Medieval England and Germany, Oxford

Morgan, Sylvanus 1661: The Sphere of Gentry, London

Nisbet, Alexander 1722, republished 1816: A System of Heraldry, Edinburgh 

Oswald, Gert 2021: Lexikon der Heraldik, Regenstauf

Papworth, John Woody 1874: An alphabetical dictionary of coats of arms belonging to families in Great Britain and Ireland, London

Parker, James 1894: A Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry, Oxford and London

Paul, Sir James Balfour 1893: An ordinary of arms contained in the public register of all arms and bearings in Scotland, Edinburgh

Rietstap, Johannes Baptista 1884: Armorial général, contenant la description des armoiries des familles nobles et patriciennes de l'Europe, précédé d'un dictionnaire des termes du blason, 2nd Edition, Gouda

Siebmacher, Johann 1975: Johann Siebmachers Wappen-Buch: Alle 6 Teile mit Anhang, Register und allen Erweiterungen bis zum Abschluss der Stammausgabe von 1772 (Faksimile-Nachdruck der 1701/05 bei Rudolph Helmers in Nürnberg erschienenen Ausgabe. ed.), München

Stodart, Robert Riddle 1881: Scottish arms : being a collection of armorial bearings, A.D. 1370-1678, reproduced in facsimile from contemporary and manuscripts, with heraldic and genealogical notes, Edinburgh

The Gentleman’s Magazine 1798: Additions and Corrections in former Obituaries (Samuel Enderby in Vol. 67 p. 894), “his arms and crest displayed on the hatchment… impaling, Argent, a lion rampant Sable”, Volume 68, Issue 3, London

Way, George, of Plean and Squire, Romilly, of Rubislaw 2017: Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopaedia, 3rd Edition, Glasgow

Woodward, John and Burnett, George 1892: A Treatise on Heraldry British and Foreign, Edinburgh