Family Arms
There is disagreement over the form of the ancient Barbaro coat of arms. Johannes Rietstap and others identify it as “'D'or, à deux bandes d'azur, accompagne de deux roses du même”, a gold field with two bands of blue between two roses of the same color. d'Eschavannes identifies it as “D'azur, à trois roses d'or”', a blue field with three gold roses.
Sources agree that the modern Barbaro coat of arms is ’'D'argent, au cyclamore de gueules, a red ring on a white field.
The modern Barbaro family arms were officially recognized by the Venetian Senate in 1125 in remembrance of Marco Barbaro cutting off the hand of a Moor during a naval action near Ascalon and using the bleeding stump to draw a circle onto a turban, which he flew as a pennant from his masthead.
Until this incident, he was known as Marco Magadesi. Saracens boarded the galley he commanded and tore down the ship's flag, which bore the family coat of arms. Marco Magadesi used the bloody turban as an improvised flag to let the rest of the fleet know his ship had not been captured. After the action, he changed his family name from Magadesi to Barbaro< in recognition of the incident and to honor the heroism of his fallen enemies, who he considered barbarians.
The Barbaro coat of arms are depicted on the façade of the church of Santa Maria Zobenigo. It is also displayed on the pediment of the Villa Barbaro and the family crypt in the San Francesco della Vigna.
In 1432, Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor granted Ambassador Francesco Barbaro the title of Knight of the Holy Roman Empire and the right to quarter his arms with the Imperial Eagles. In 1560, Queen Elizabeth I of England granted Ambassador Daniele Barbaro right to use the Tudor Rose in his personal arms.
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