Around The Shield
The shield is the core of heraldry, but other elements are placed above, below, and around the shield, and are usually collectively called external ornaments. The entire composition is called the achievement of arms or the armorial bearings. Some of these accessories are unique to Church armory or differ notably from those which normally accompany a shield.
Read more about this topic: Ecclesiastical Heraldry
Famous quotes containing the word shield:
“The lichen on the rocks is a rude and simple shield which beginning and imperfect Nature suspended there. Still hangs her wrinkled trophy.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)