Lion (heraldry)
The lion is a common charge in heraldry. It traditionally symbolises courage, nobility, royalty, strength, stateliness and valour, because historically the lion has been regarded as the "king of beasts". The lion also carries Judeo-Christian symbolism. The Lion of Judah stands in the coat of arms of Jerusalem. Similar-looking lions can be found elsewhere, such as in the coat of arms of the Swedish royal House of Bjelbo, from there in turn derived into the coat of arms of Finland, formerly belonging to Sweden.
History
The animal designs in the heraldry of the high medieval period are a continuation of the animal style of the Viking Age, ultimately derived from the style of Scythian art as it developed from c. the 7th century BC. Symmetrically paired animals in particular find continuation from Migration Period art via Insular art to Romanesque art and heraldry.The animals of the "barbarian" predecessors of heraldic designs are likely to have been used as clan symbols.
Adopted in Germanic tradition around the 5th century, they were re-interpreted in a Christian context in the western kingdoms of Gaul and Italy in the 6th and 7th centuries. The characteristic of the lion as royal animal in particular is due the influence of the Physiologus, an early Christian book about animal symbolism, originally written in Greek in the 2nd century and translated into Latin in about AD 400.
It was a predecessor of the medieval bestiaries. At the time, few Europeans had a chance to encounter actual lions, so that painters had to rely on traditional depictions and had no actual animals as models.
The lion as a heraldic charge is present from the very earliest development of heraldry in the 12th century. One of the earliest known examples of armory as it subsequently came to be practiced can be seen on the tomb of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, who died in 1151. An enamel, probably commissioned by Geoffrey's widow between 1155 and 1160, depicts him carrying a blue shield decorated six golden lions rampant and wearing a blue helmet adorned with another lion. A chronicle dated to c. 1175 states that Geoffrey was given a shield of this description when he was knighted by his father-in-law, Henry I, in 1128.
Earlier heraldic writers attributed the lions of England to William the Conqueror, but the earliest evidence of the association of lions with the English crown is a seal bearing two lions passant, used by the future King John during the lifetime of his father, Henry II, who died in 1189. Since Henry was the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, it seems reasonable to suppose that the adoption of lions as an heraldic emblem by Henry or his sons might have been inspired by Geoffrey's shield. John's elder brother, Richard the Lionheart, who succeeded his father on the throne, is believed to have been the first to have borne the arms of three lions passant-guardant, still the arms of England, having earlier used two lions rampant combatant, which arms may also have belonged to his father. Richard is also credited with having originated the English crest of a lion statant.
Apart from the lions of the Plantagenet coat of arms, 12th-century examples of lions used as heraldic charges include the Staufen and Wittelsbach coats of arms, both
deriving from Henry the Lion, the royal coat of arms of Scotland, attributed to William the Lion,
the coat of arms of Denmark, first used by Canute VI, the coat of arms of Flanders, first used by Philip I, the coat of arms of León, an example of canting arms attributed to Alfonso VII, and the coat of arms of Bohemia, first granted to Vladislaus II.
Coats of arms of the 13th century include those of the House of Sverre, the Ludovingians, Luxembourg, the kingdom of Ruthenia, the House of Habsburg, the kingdom of Bulgaria and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.
Unlike the eagle, which is comparatively rare in heraldry because it was reserved as an imperial symbol, the lion became a symbol of chivalry and was not restricted to royal coats of arms. The Zürich armorial has a number of coats of arms with lions, most of them of ministeriales of the House of Habsburg.
The lion in the coat of arms of Bohemia is depicted with two tails.
According to Ménestrier, this is due to a jest made by Emperor Frederick, who granted Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia a coat of arms with a lion coué, that is, with its tail between its legs. Vladislaus' men refused to follow this emblem, calling it an ape, so that Frederick agreed to improve the arms by giving the lion not just one but two erect tails.
Attitudes
As many attitudes now exist in heraldry as the heraldist's imagination can conjure, as a result of the ever-increasing need for differentiation, but very few of these were apparently known to medieval heralds. One distinction commonly made, although it may be of limited importance, is the distinction of lions in the walking positions as leopards. The following table summarizes the principal attitudes of heraldic lions:| Attitude | Example | Description |
| Rampant | A "lion rampant" is depicted in profile standing erect with forepaws raised. The position of the hind legs varies according to local custom: the lion may stand on both hind legs, braced wide apart, or on only one, with the other also raised to strike; the word rampant is often omitted, especially in early blazon, as this is the most usual position of a carnivorous quadruped; Note: the term segreant denotes the same position, but is only used in reference to winged four-legged beasts like griffins and dragons. | |
| Passant | A "lion passant" is walking, with the right fore paw raised and all others on the ground. A "Lion of England" denotes a lion passant guardant Or, used as an augmentation. Note: A lion thus depicted may be called a "leopard". | |
| Statant | A "lion statant" is standing, all four feet on the ground, usually with the forepaws together. This posture is more frequent in crests than in charges on shields. | |
| Salient | A "lion salient" is leaping, with both hind legs together on the ground and both forelegs together in the air. This is a very rare position for a lion, but is also used of other heraldic beasts. | |
| Sejant | A "lion sejant" is sitting on his haunches, with both forepaws on the ground. | |
| Sejant erect | A "lion sejant erect" is seated on its haunches, but with its body erect and both forepaws raised in the "rampant" position. | |
| Couchant | A "lion couchant" is lying down, but with the head raised. | |
| Dormant | A "lion dormant" is lying down with its eyes closed and head lowered, resting upon the forepaws, as if asleep. |
Other terms are used to describe the lion's position in further detail. Each coat of arms has a right and left side - with respect to the person carrying the shield - so the left side of the shield as drawn on the page is called the dexter side. The lion's head is normally seen in agreement with the overall position, facing dexter unless otherwise stated. If a lion's whole body is turned to face right, he is to sinister or contourné. If his whole body faces the viewer, he is affronté. If his head only faces the viewer he is guardant or gardant, and if he looks back over his shoulder he is regardant. These adjectives follow any other adjectives of position.
A lion coward carries the tail between its hind legs. The tail also may be knotted, forked, doubled, or cut off.
Variants
In addition to the attitudes it is depicted in, a certain variety is present in heraldic lions regarding the presence of additional physical features. Beyond the presence of double or forked tails, heraldic lions are sometimes depicted with two heads, as in the case of the arms of the Mason of Birmingham, from whom they were passed to the University of Birmingham. Alternatively, a lion may be depicted with one head connected to two distinct bodies, in which case it its termed bicorporated. If the conjoined bodies are three, the lion is instead termed tricorporated. These multi-bodied lions, however, are very rare.The arms of the Cinque Ports depict lions dimidiated with the hulks of ships, incorporating the front half of the lion and the rear of the vessel. This was originally the result of the joining of the lions or of the royal arms of England with the ships argent of the arms of the townships of the Ports. Over time, the conjoined figure came to be considered as a single heraldic charge in itself, and granted as such as new charges.
Winged lions are depicted in arms as both passant and, more commonly, sejant, and also appear as supporters. This figure is commonly referred to as the Lion of Saint Mark, although Arthur Fox-Davies defined as a Lion of Saint Mark one present in a specifically religious context and depicted with a halo. The winged lion is the traditional symbol of Venice, whose patron saint is Mark the Evangelist.
A sea-lion, also called a morse, is depicted with the tail of a fish replacing its hindquarters, hind legs and tail. It is described as naiant when depicted horizontally, and as resurgent when rising from water. They typically appear as supporters, but are also known as charges and crests. The lion-dragon is a lion with the lower body, hind legs, wings and tail of a wyvern, although Fox-Davies doubted the existence of this figure outside of heraldry books and reported not to know of any actual use of it. The man-lion, also called a lympago, possesses a human face.
Lions vs. leopards
Both lions and leopards may have been among the earliest beasts to appear in heraldry. The Oxford Guide to Heraldry notes that the earliest English treatise on heraldry, a late-13th or early-14th century Anglo-Norman manuscript titled De Heraudrie, mentions the crow, eagle, griffin, heron, leopard, lion, martlet, popinjay, and swan. Citing Bado Aureo, the Oxford Guide further suggests that the leopard, said to be "borne of an adulterous union between a lioness and a pard," and like a mule incapable of reproducing, may be an appropriate charge for a person born of adultery or barred from reproducing.As a general rule, English heralds tend to identify lions as rampant, and leopards as passant guardant, but the heraldic distinction between lions and leopards is often ambiguous and in some cases may be controversial. Part of the confusion arises from international differences in translation or in the defining characteristics of each, particularly in charges that show some characteristics of each.
English herald Arthur Charles Fox-Davies asserted in 1909 that the leopard, denoting a lion passant guardant, was a term of French origin that had "long since become obsolete in English armory. In French blazon, however, the old distinction is still observed." Fox-Davies continued, " term our lion passant a léopard-lionné and our lion rampant guardant is their lion-léopardé." Dutch heraldist Johannes Rietstap, however, defined a Léopard lionné as a lion rampant guardant and a Lion léopardé as a lion passant. German-American heraldist Carl-Alexander von Volborth agrees with Rietstap's translations, in contrast to those of Fox-Davies as stated above.
As if to clarify the situation, English heraldist Hugh Clark wrote in his Introduction to Heraldry :
English heraldist Charles Boutell wrote in 1890 that the lions of England were generally termed leopards until the end of the 14th century, including in the roll of arms of Henry III of England, and in a statute of Edward I of England, dating to 1300, which made reference to "signée de une teste de leopart—marked with the King's lion." In English Heraldry, Boutell explained:
In Heraldry: Sources, Symbols and Meaning, German heraldist Ottfried Neubecker explained:
According to Neubecker, what in Old French is termed a léopard is always guardant, thus the modern English heraldic terms "lion passant guardant", "lion passant", and "lion rampant guardant" correlate to the Old French terms léopard, lion léopardé, and léopard lionné, respectively.