Literature

Or, on a bend Sable, a spear Or, headed Argent.

Escudo de oro, una banda de sable, cargada de una lanza de plata, fustada oro.

Coat of arms I have interpreted, unlike others, with: a semicircular (round) base; its field and bend enamelled in flat Or and Sable; its lance is not a tournament lance; the spearhead (the iron) long and broad, to enhance its illuminated Argent; the shaft of the lance illuminated in Or; and the whole finished in watercolor.

Note the different structure of the blazon between Spanish and English, where in the former the lance is Argent with a shaft Or, and in the latter the lance is Or with a spearhead Argent.

[Avilés, J.; 1780a;; page 96, paragraph 2] tells us: «Fustado, said of a tree whose trunk is of a different colour from that of its leaves; and the same is understood of a lance or a pike, whose shaft is of a different tincture from that of the iron.».

Heraldic riddle in English

Solution in English

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Or, Sable, Argent, Bend, Bendwise, Spear and Charged.

Style keywords: Parchment and Illuminated.

Classification: Riddle, Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, Canting and Literature.

Bearer: Shakespeare, William.

Or, on a bend Sable, a spear Or, steeled Argent. Motto: «Non sanz droict»

Escudo de oro, una banda de sable, cargada de una lanza de plata, fustada oro. Lema: «Non sanz droict».

Coat of arms interpreted with: a semicircular (round) base; field and bend in flat tinctures Or and Sable; a lance with a broad and long iron illuminated in Argent; shaft illuminated in Or; motto in Sable upon a scroll of Argent; and the whole finished with a parchment effect.

Its motto in French «Non sanz droict» means «Not without right» and it is considered a canting (speaking) arm by the pun Spear ~ Shakespeare.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Or, Sable, Argent, Bend, Bendwise, Spear and Charged.

Style keywords: Parchment and Illuminated.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, Canting and Literature.

Bearer: Shakespeare, William.

Or, on a bend Sable, a spear of the first, steeled Argent.

Escudo de oro, una banda de sable, cargada de una lanza de plata, fustada oro.

Coat of arms interpreted by me with: a semicircular (round) base; the field and bend illuminated in Or and Sable; the lance is a tournament one, similar to other Shakespeare coats of arms, which I have illuminated in Argent and Or and outlined from the field; and finished with a lightly hammered metal effect.

In this version of his blazon in English I have written «steeled Argent», which is how some authors write it, while in another article I have specified it as «headed Argent».

In the figure that is charged upon the bend of this interpretation of the shield, I recreate a tournament lance, which is the type usually used to represent the arms of William Shakespeare. Note that the blazon of his shield only indicates «a Spear» ~ «una lanza», so it could equally be the type of lance used by infantry or light cavalry. However, English tradition usually employs, for William Shakespeare, a tournament lance, both for the one charged on the bend and for the one held by the falcon on his crest.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Or, Sable, Argent, Bend, Bendwise, Spear and Charged.

Style keywords: Soft metal, Outlined in the field tincture and Illuminated.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, Canting and Literature.

Bearer: Shakespeare, William.