Heads in heraldry


The heads of humans and other animals are frequently occurring charges in heraldry. The blazon, or heraldic description, usually states whether an animal's head is couped, erased, or cabossed. Human heads are often described in much greater detail, though some of these are identified by name with little or no further description.

Heads of humans

Heads of humans are sometimes blazoned simply as a "man's head", but are far more frequently described in greater detail, either characteristic of a particular race or nationality, or specifically identified. Several varieties of women's heads also occur, including maidens' heads, ladies' heads, nuns' heads, and occasionally queens' heads. The arms of Daveney of Norfolk include "three nun's heads veiled couped at the shoulders proper," and the bust of a queen occurs in the arms of Queenborough, Kent. Infants' or children's heads are often couped at the shoulders with a snake wrapped around the neck.

Heads of animals

While lions passant guardant are often called leopards in heraldry, the heads and faces of natural leopards occur frequently in armory, as crests as well as charges. The key distinction being that a leopard's head shows the neck, the leopard's face occurs far more frequently. A curious development, unique to the leopard's face, is when it is run through with a fleur-de-lis, called a leopard's face Jessant-de-lys. When the face of a fox is shown, it is termed a fox's mask.
Predatory creatures, including eagles, lions, griffins, bears and boars, are often armed of a different tincture, referring to the colour of the creature's claws or talons and beak, teeth or tusks. In the case of the boar, its armaments include only its tusks, but not its hooves, which may be unguled of another tincture. Deer and moose are antler-bearing herbivores, so their antlers are not considered armaments but their attire, so these may be attired of a distinct tincture, while horn-bearing beasts such as bulls, rams and goats may be armed.

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