Crest (heraldry)

A crest is a part of a heraldic display. It is the object placed on top of a helmet in a coat of arms. Crests started as decorations worn by knights during tournaments and sometimes in battles. After the 16th century, crests became drawings or pictures instead of physical objects, during a time called "paper heraldry."^[1]

A full coat of arms includes:

• A shield with a design.
• A helmet above the shield.
• A crest on top of the helmet.
• A torse, a twisted cloth around the base of the crest.^[2]

Sometimes, people use just the crest and torse as a badge, but this has led to confusion. Many people wrongly call the shield’s design the "crest," but the crest is only the part on the helmet.

The word "crest" comes from the Latin word crista, meaning "tuft" or "plume." Crests date back to ancient times:

• Roman soldiers wore feather or horsehair fans on their helmets.^[3]
• Vikings decorated helmets with wings or animal heads.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, knights wore metal fan-shaped crests. These were decorative but might have also helped block weapons. Later, crests became 3D sculptures made of cloth, leather, or paper over wood or wire frames. They were often shaped like animals, wings, or feathers and were used mostly in tournaments, not battles, because they were heavy.^[4]

Crests were attached to helmets with laces or rivets. A torse (twisted cloth) or a coronet (for nobles) covered the connection. Torses became common in Britain in the 15th century.

By the 16th century, tournaments ended, and physical crests were no longer used. Crests became drawings, sometimes showing things impossible to put on a real helmet, like clouds or hands.^[5] Helmets were drawn differently based on rank:

• Kings and knights had helmets facing forward.
• Nobles and gentlemen had helmets facing right.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, heraldry improved, and crests were designed to be realistic again, so they could fit on a real helmet.

In the past, only knights and higher ranks used crests because they fought in tournaments. Today, most personal coats of arms have crests, but women (except queens) and clergy usually do not use them since they did not fight. In Europe, especially Germany, some people use multiple crests. In Britain, having more than one crest is rare and usually comes from marriage or special honors.^[6]

In Scotland, clan members can use a crest badge, which shows the clan chief’s crest with a motto on a strap and buckle.^[7] However, only the armiger (the person who owns the coat of arms) can use the actual crest.

Crests are still used in some places, like the chapels of British orders of chivalry (e.g., Order of the Garter). These crests are carved from wood, painted, and placed above knights’ stalls. In English heraldry, no two families can have the same crest, but in Scotland, crests are less unique and simpler.

Sometimes, a crest-coronet (a small crown-like band) replaces the torse. This is not a sign of rank but a design choice.

• Harper, Douglas. "Crest". Online Etymology Dictionary.
• Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles. A Complete Guide to Heraldry (1909).
• Scott-Giles, C. Wilfrid. The Romance of Heraldry (1954).
• Eve, George W. Heraldry as Art (1907).
• Barron, Oswald. "Heraldry". Encyclopædia Britannica (1911).