Badges: British heraldic tradition and the Spanish case

The question is: «Does Spain have a heraldic badge similar to how the British Isles have heraldic badges? I’ve found nothing so far for Spain except the Yoke and Arrows from the Catholic Monarchs»

Spain does not have badges, national insignias, equivalent to the badges of the British Isles, and this is not an absence or a gap, but rather the result of a different historical tradition.

In England and in the Anglo-British world, the badge developed as a personal and later territorial symbol, detached from the full coat of arms and easily reproducible. In the Hispanic Monarchy, by contrast, symbolic weight almost always rested on the coat of arms and on standards, not on simplified badges.

That said, if we accept badges in a functional sense, as a simple symbol that immediately refers to Spain, then the following can be stated:

• Indeed, the yoke and the arrows is a very characteristic symbol. It originates with the Catholic Monarchs and is derived from a crossed use of the initials of their names: the yoke with the Y of Ysabel (a contemporary spelling), and the arrows ~ «Flechas» with the F of Fernando. It is also commonly interpreted as symbolizing strength (the yoke) and unity (the bundle of arrows). The Gordian knot and the yoke are associated with Ferdinand; the Yoke uses the Y of Ysabel, his wife, and the arrows ~ «Flechas» are the symbol of Ysabel, using the F of her husband Ferdinand. It is a badge based on crossed symbolism.
• Ferdinand the Catholic also used the symbol of the Gordian knot cut with a sword, derived from the legend of Alexander the Great. This emblem is sometimes represented alongside the yoke and the arrows, although it was less widely used and less central, and it does not refer to Spain as strongly as the previous symbols.
• Later, Philip the Handsome, who was married to our Queen Joanna of Castile, daughter of the Catholic Monarchs, introduced the Cross of Burgundy into the Spanish monarchy. It was used on military flags, for example by the Tercios. The Cross of Burgundy refers to Spain more clearly than the Gordian knot, but less so than the yoke and the arrows.
• Following the chronological order, we can consider the two Pillars of Hercules with their motto «Plus Ultra», introduced by the grandson of the Catholic Monarchs, Emperor Charles. These two separate columns serve as the supporters of the coat of arms of Spain, and when they are joined and linked by the scroll bearing the motto «Plus Ultra», they appear, for example, in decorations and on the coins known as «Reales de a Ocho» ~ «Spanish Dollars», which circulated across the globe and became the world monetary standard, functioning as the planet’s reserve currency during their period of predominance, occupying the position later held by the pound sterling and today by the United States dollar. These columns, interlaced with a scroll bearing the motto «Plus Ultra», immediately evoke Spain, and would be the most generally accepted badge.
• Finally, outside the royal and historical sphere, any badge featuring a black fighting bull ~ «toro bravo» in a defiant or noble stance will immediately refer to Spain for whoever sees it.

Other possibilities that come to mind are the Order of the Golden Fleece and the Cross of Santiago, both associated with their respective orders of chivalry, which could also function as a badge ~ «insignia». If one had to choose between them, I would undoubtedly choose the Cross of Santiago.

In summary:

• Formally, Spain does not have a badge ~ «insignia» in the British sense.
• Historically, it did have clear dynastic insignias, such as the yoke and the arrows of the Catholic Monarchs, but today they are scarcely usable.
• Functionally, I believe that the Pillars of Hercules, with or without crowns, entirely in silver, as I personally prefer, or with silver shafts and gold bases and capitals, preferably with water at the base to enhance the symbolism of the motto and linked by a scroll bearing that motto, are the best possible answer.
• At present, a newly created insignia incorporating a fighting bull refers to Spain, from anywhere in the world, in an almost unbeatable way.

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Categories: Inquiry, Badge, Column, Scroll and Motto.

Quarterly: 1 and 4 Gules, a castle triple-towered Or, port and windows Azure, and masoned Sable; 2 and 3 Argent, a cross flory Purpure.

Escudo cuartelado: 1^o y 4^o de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable; 2^o y 3^o de plata, una cruz flordelisada de púrpura.

Coat of arms emblazoned by me, illuminated with lights and shadows, contoured in Sable, with an ogee external shape and with a freehand finish.

Coat of arms of the Infante Henry of Castile, 1230–1303, 6^th offspring of the King Ferdinand III of Castile, 1199-1252, and the Queen Beatrice of Swabia, 1205–1235. He bore his father's arms, replacing the lion Purpure of the Kingdom of León with a cross flory Purpure, likely due to his close association with the Order of Calatrava, whose emblem is a cross flory Gules. However, he retained the metal Argent field in the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters and the lion's purpure color, suggesting this was more of a conceptual change than a quartering by alliance with the Order of Calatrava.

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Blazon keywords: Gules, Or, Azure, Sable, Argent, Purpure, One, Quarterly, Castle, Triple-towered, Port and windows, Masoned, Cross flory and Cross couped.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Ogee and Freehand.

Classification: Personal, Kingdom of Castile and Leon, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Henry of Castile, Infante.

Quarterly: 1 and 4 Gules, a castle triple-towered Or, port and windows Azure, and masoned Sable; 2 and 3 Or, an eagle displayed Sable.

Escudo cuartelado: 1^o y 4^o de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable; 2^o y 3^o de oro, un águila de sable.

Arms painted by me, illuminated with lights and shadows, outlined in Sable, with an ogee external shape and with a freehand finish.

Coat of arms of the Infante Philip of Castile, 1231–1274, 7^th offspring of the King Ferdinand III of Castile, 1199-1252, and the Queen Beatrice of Swabia, 1205–1235. This coat of arms has been emblazoned by me and can be consulted in [Messía de la Cerda y Pita, L.; 1990; page 146] with the field Or in the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters. He bears a quarterly shield combining the first quarter of his father’s arms, Castile, with his mother’s arms. Among all his siblings, he is the one who most closely combines the arms of both parents.

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Blazon keywords: Gules, Or, Azure, Sable, One, Quarterly, Castle, Triple-towered, Port and windows, Masoned and Eagle.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Ogee and Freehand.

Classification: Personal, Kingdom of Castile and Leon, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Philip of Castile, Infante.

Anonymous, «Armorial des chevaliers de la Table ronde», National Library of France ~ Bibliothèque nationale de France ~ BnF, call number Français 1437, manuscript, illuminated, 165 folios, 275 x 190 milímeters, France, 1485-1495.

Content

This vellum manuscript written in «bâtarde solennelle» contains the names, arms, and blazons of the Knights of the Round Table from the time of the Quest for the Holy Grail.

The armorial proper, from folios 2 recto to 146 recto of the 20th-century pencil numbering, includes 166 painted shields with crests and mottos. It consists entirely of imaginary heraldry, attributing shields and blazons created for the characters of the Arthurian legends.

The volume also incorporates a treatise on tournaments, from folios 146 verso to 161 verso, and the knights' oath, from folios 161 verso to 165 verso.

Notes

This manuscript was part of the collections of Gaston d'Orléans and kings Louis XIV and Louis XVIII of France.

It features ink foliation from the 18^th-19^th centuries and pencil numbering from the 20th century.

Sir Gawain

In this armorial, Sir Gawain, identified in the French text as «Messire Gauvain», is depicted on folio 54 verso bearing a shield of imaginary heraldry that differs from the English tradition. Instead of the pentacle described in the poem «Sir Gawain and the Green Knight», here he bears a «Argent, a double-headed eagle Or, beaked, membered and armed Azure». Sir Gawain was King Arthur's nephew and son of King Lot of Orkney; in this same armorial on folio 21 verso, the «Armes de Lot d'Orcanie» are also represented.

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Bibliographical reference of century XV.

Classification: Manuscript, Armorial roll, French language and In color.

Author: unknown.

The following article cites this bibliographic reference:

• Gawain, Sir

External link:

• National Library of France, information http://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc44923s National Library of France, digitized manuscript.

Internal resources: TableRonde1490.ArmorialDesChevaliersDeLa.pdf PDF format.

Party per pale: 1 Gules, a castle triple-towered Or, port and windows Azure, and masoned Sable; 2 Argent, a lion rampant Purpure, armed and langued Gules.

Escudo partido: 1^o de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable; 2^o de plata, un león rampante de púrpura, armado y lampasado de gules.

Arms emblazoned by me, highlighted with lights and shadows, contoured in Sable, with an ogee outer contour and with a freehand finish.

Coat of arms of the Infante Sancho of Castile, 1233–1261, 8^th offspring of the King Ferdinand III of Castile, 1199-1252, and the Queen Beatrice of Swabia, 1205–1235. Unlike his siblings, he does not use a quarterly shield but rather impaled arms of Castile and Leon.

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Blazon keywords: Gules, Or, Azure, Sable, Argent, Purpure, One, Party per pale, Castle, Triple-towered, Port and windows, Masoned, Lion, Rampant, Armed and Langued.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Ogee and Freehand.

Classification: Personal, Kingdom of Castile and Leon, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Sancho of Castile, Infante.

Many thanks to the Genealogical Society of Ireland, familyhistory.ie, for referencing on page 4 of Ireland's Genealogical Gazette, volume 20, number 1, my book titled «Interpretation of Six Family Coats of Arms from the Southern Indies, South America, Granted Between 1538 and 1540», [Salmerón Cabañas, A.; 2024b], which I have presented to the Society's Archive & Research Centre.

Quarterly: 1 and 4 Gules, a castle triple-towered Or, port and windows Azure, and masoned Sable; 2 and 3 Argent, a lion rampant Purpure, armed and langued Gules.

Coat of arms depicted by me, illuminated with lights and shadows, contoured in Sable, with an ogee external shape and with a freehand finishing.

Coat of arms of the King Alfonso X of Castile, 1221–1284, 1^st son of the King Ferdinand III of Castile, 1199-1252, and the Queen Beatrice of Swabia, 1205–1235. The order of the quarters is first the castle of his grandmother, Queen Berenguela of Castile, and second the lion of his grandfather, King Alfonso IX of León; however, the other day I discovered that on the map by [Martineau du Plessis, D.; 1700; volume II, illustration 30, page 126], in the shield framed between parallels 37 and 36 and meridians 21 and 22, the lion occupies the 1^st quarter and the castle the 2^nd quarter; that is, their order appears reversed.

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Blazon keywords: Gules, Or, Azure, Sable, Argent, Purpure, One, Quarterly, Castle, Triple-towered, Port and windows, Masoned, Lion, Rampant, Armed and Langued.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Ogee and Freehand.

Classification: Personal, Kingdom of Castile and Leon, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Alfonso X of Castile.

Quarterly: 1 and 4 Gules, a castle triple-towered Or, port and windows Azure, and masoned Sable; 2 and 3 vair ancient.

Escudo cuartelado: 1^o y 4^o de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable; 2^o y 3^o de veros antiguos.

Arms depicted by me, illuminated with lights and shadows, contoured in Sable, with an ogee outer contour and with a freehand finish.

Coat of arms of the municipality of Monroy, Caceres, emblazoned by me with vair ancient. I have painted it using vair ancient, as I wish to illustrate with this coat of arms a reflection on the Virgin of the Sagrario of Plasencia, Caceres, dating from the mid-13th century, and on the forty-four coats of arms made of gilded silver sheet that adorn it, featuring lions, castles, and rounded vair ~ vair ancient, these may be associated with the lords of Monroy, a lineage of considerable importance in the town of Plasencia during the Late Middle Ages, can be seen in The Virgin of the Sagrario of Plasencia and the Monroy vair.

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Blazon keywords: Gules, Or, Azure, Sable, One, Quarterly, Castle, Triple-towered, Port and windows, Masoned and Vair ancient.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Ogee and Freehand.

Classification: Civic, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Monroy, municipality of.

Continue with: Menestrier, C. F.; 1750.