Heraldry is more than the emblems and colours (or to use the jargon, "
blazoning") on a shield. It is, in fact, several various things at once, turning it into a form of "art" or "science" rather than something solid, such as a sport. The main use of heraldry is to not only record family lines, but it is used much like a driver's license is used today. According to Charles Mackinnon of Dunakin, the author of
The Observer's Book of Heraldry, heraldry is, "a system of identifying individuals by means of hereditary devices placed upon a shield (Dunakin, I)."
So... How did it begin?
