Heraldic Pun

Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name (or, less often, some attribute or function) in a visual pun or rebus.

French heralds used the term (), as they would sound out the name of the armiger. Many armorial allusions require research for elucidation because of changes in language and dialect that have occurred over the past millennium.

Canting arms – some in the form of rebuses – are quite common in German civic heraldry. They have also been increasingly used in the 20th century among the British royal family. When the visual representation is expressed through a rebus, this is sometimes called a ''rebus coat of arms''.
An in-joke among the Society for Creative Anachronism heralds is the pun, "Heralds don't pun; they cant."

Examples of canting arms

Personal coats of arms

A famous example of canting arms are those of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's paternal family, the Bowes-Lyon family. The arms (pictured below) contain the bows and blue lions that make up the arms of the Bowes and Lyon families.

File:Bowes-Lyon Arms.svg, Bowes-Lyon family: bows and lions
File:Arms of Beatrice of York.svg, Princess Beatrice of York: ''Beatrice'' = bee thrice = three bees
File:Rosetti family coat of arms (common large version).svg, Rosetti family: three roses
File:Quintin Hogg Arms.svg, Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone: three hog's heads
File:Cokborgne blason.png, Cockburn: three red cocks
File:Coat of Arms of John Caspar Crowninshield.svg, Crowninshield family: crown on the shield
File:Blason Avrecourt.svg, De Barry family: three bars gemelles
File:Costa.png, Coat of arms of the head of the Portuguese Costa family: ''costa'' means "rib" in Latin and Portuguese
File:Coat of Arms of Dwight Eisenhower.svg, President Eisenhower: a blacksmith's anvil, as ''Eisenhauer'' is German for "iron-hewer"
File:Flag of Maryland.svg, alt=Flag of Maryland, originally the arms of George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore, whose mother's maiden name was Crossland; the latter's arms shows a cross., Flag of Maryland, originally the arms of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, whose mother's maiden name was Crossland; the latter's arms shows a cross.
File:Coat of Arms of Theodore Roosevelt.svg, Theodore Roosevelt: roses-fields
File:Blason famille Maus (Gressenich, Namur, Anvers, Bruxelles).svg, Maus family: a mouse in the first and fourth quarters.

Municipal coats of arms

Municipal coats of arms which interpret the town's name in rebus form are also called canting. Here are a few examples.

File:Coat of Arms of Berwickshire County Council 1890-1975.svg, The arms of Berwickshire, Scotland: Bear and Wych Elm
File:Elmbridge BC Crest of Arms.png, Elmbridge, Surrey (1974): elm tree on bridge. (The toponym is related to bridges but not to elms; the prefix refers to ''Emel'', a former name for the river Mole.)
File:Blason de la ville de Châteaurenard (13).svg, Châteaurenard: ''Château'' = castle; ''Renard'' = fox
File:DEU Eberbach COA.svg, Eberbach (1976): ''Eber'' = boar; ''Bach'' = brook (wavy blue fess)
File:Hensbroek.svg, The coat of arms of the village of Hensbroek in North Holland interprets the toponym as "hen-breeches" (the toponym is unrelated to either "hen" or "breeches", deriving from the personal name ''Hein'' and the Dutch cognate of "brook", i.e. "Henry's brook".)
File:Kontiolahti.vaakuna.svg, The log driving pike pole, which the bear (''kontio'' in Finnish) carries in the coat of arms of Kontiolahti, refers to the importance of forestry in the region’s economy.
File:FEC.png, Freixo de Espada à Cinta (1926): ''Freixo'' = ash (tree); ''de Espada'' = with sword; ''à Cinta'' = at the waist, in Portuguese
File:Falkenberg kommunvapen - Riksarkivet Sverige-vector.svg, Falkenberg (1948): ''Falken'' = falcon; ''Berg'' = hill, in Swedish
File:Seinäjoki.vaakuna.svg, Seinäjoki (1951): ''seinä'' = wall, ''joki'' = river, in Finnish
File:Coat of arms of Berlin.svg, Berlin (1954): ''Bär'' = bear
File:Escudo de Manacor (Islas Baleares).svg, Manacor: ''man'' = hand, ''a'' = at, ''cor'' = heart, in Catalan
File:Escut de Torrevella (2001).svg, Torrevieja (1829): ''Torre'' = tower, ''vieja'' = old
File:Coat of Arms of Kryvyi Rih.svg, Kryvyi Rih: ''Kryvyi'' = crooked, ''Rih'' = horn, in Ukrainian
File:Coat of Arms of Rueda (Valladolid).svg, Rueda (1986): ''rueda'' = wheel in Spanish
File:POL Łódź COA.svg, Łódź: Łódź = boat
File:DEU Wolfsburg COA.svg, Wolfsburg: Wolf's Castle
File:Blason ville fr Magenta (Marne).svg, Arms of Magenta, France, feature a bend sinister in magenta, an extremely rare tincture in heraldry
File:Örnsköldsvik vapen.svg, Örnsköldsvik (1894): ''Örn'' = Eagle, ''Sköld'' = Shield and ''Vik'' = Bay.
File:Wappen Fuessen.svg, Füssen: ''Füße'' = feet
File:Wappen Schaffhausen.png, Schaffhausen: ''Schaf'' = sheep, ''Haus'' = house
File:Wappen at steinhaus.png, Steinhaus: ''Stein'' = stone, ''Haus'' = house
File:AUT Schattendorf COA.svg, Schattendorf: ''Schatten'' = shadow, ''Dorf'' = village
File:AUT Hadersdorf-Kammern COA.jpg, Hadersdorf-Kammern: ''Hader'' = quarrel, ''Dorf'' = village
File:Wappendornbirn.svg, The arms of Dornbirn feature pears, ''Birn'' in German
File:Kotka.vaakuna.svg, The arms of Kotka feature an eagle (''kotka'' in Finnish)
File:Seal of South Kuching.svg, An example of canting arms outside Europe: the Malaysian city of Kuching features a cat on its municipal coat of arms, ''kuc(h)ing'' being the Malay word for cat

Ecclesiastical coats of arms

File:CoA Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing.svg, The arms of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing: The lances crossed per saltire are a play on the name of the see, the city of Lansing, Michigan.
File:CoA Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre.svg, The arms of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre: The mounds in the circle at the center of the arms are a play on the name of city in which the diocese is based, Rockville Centre, New York.
File:Coat of Arms Diocese of Baton Rouge, LA.svg, The arms of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge: The shield features a red baton, referencing the city name, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and its literal French meaning.
File:Coat of Arms Diocese of Buffalo, NY.png, The arms of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo: The arms feature an American bison, colloquially called a buffalo, carrying a banner of the Cross of St. George (analogous to the heraldic Lamb of God), referencing the name of city in which the see is based, Buffalo, New York.
File:Coat of Arms Diocese of Brownsville, TX.png, The arms of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville: The tincture of the field, tenné, is depicted as brown, referencing the seat of the diocese, Brownsville, Texas.
File:CoA Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.svg, The arms of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix: The arms feature a phoenix, the namesake of the diocesan seat, Phoenix, Arizona.
File:Coat of Arms Diocese of Fort Worth, TX.png, The arms of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth: The arms feature a castle, referencing the fort for which the city, Fort Worth, Texas, was named.
File:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Anchorage.svg, The arms of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Anchorage: The anchor references the namesake of the see, Anchorage, Alaska.
File:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford.svg, The arms of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford: The arms feature a hart, a male deer, in the midst of flowing water, i.e., fording a body of water, referencing the name of the see, Hartford, Connecticut.
File:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.svg, The arms of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles: The arms feature three pairs of wings, denoting three angels, and referencing the namesake of the see, Los Angeles, California, which translates to "the angels."

See also

* Japanese rebus monogram

Notes

Sources

* Winifred Hall: Canting and Allusive Arms of England and Wales. 1966.

References

*

External links

Canting arms
(Britannica)
Canting arms – 100 armes parlantes
(YouTube)

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Heraldry