When Does a Coat Communicate?

When it's a coat of arms.

Coats of arms as a form of communication have their origins among primitive peoples who for thousands of years used symbols as a form of identification.

Knights in the 12^th century painted distinctive images on their shields as a means of identification when full armor hid them. As the idea spread, more symbols were needed to distinguish one "coat of arms" from another.

Seeing advantage in this, monarchs began the practice of granting the use of coats of arms as a form of honor. It cost them nothing. Like everyone else, kings are delighted to give favors that bear no expense to themselves and put others at obligation. Court officials were assigned to keep track of who was entitled to what coat of arms, forerunners to modern heraldic authorities.

Coats of arms are still popular, although today they are less a form of communication than an expression of pride in having an old family name.