History
One of the earliest examples of heraldry originated with the emperor Charlemagne, who erected an imperial eagle at his palace after his coronation in the year 800, establishing the eagle as the enduring symbol of the empire for subsequent centuries. The seal (German: Siegel) was used extensively in the late Middle Ages, and was instrumental in spreading heraldry to the various institutions. According to Volborth, "the custom of the warrior-caste of using their arms on seals made this kind of pictorial identification fashionable and led to the adoption of arms by anybody using a seal." Noble women began using armorial seals in the 12th century. Heraldry spread to the burgher class in the 13th century, and even some peasants used arms in the 14th century. German burgher arms may have played a key role in the development of Swedish heraldry, especially in Stockholm, which had a large German population in the late Middle Ages.
Read more about this topic: German Heraldry
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