CHAPTER XV. Badges

BADGES

"Might I but know thee by thy household Badge!" --SHAKESPEARE, Henry VI., Part 2.

A BADGE, like a Coat of Arms, is an armorial ensign that is complete in itself, and possesses a definite signification of its own. In use with a decided heraldic significance long before the adoption of systematic Heraldry, Badges have always held a conspicuous position in the estimation of Heralds. A Badge resembles any single charge in Heraldry, in being a figure or device that is assumed as the distinctive cognisance of a particular individual or family: but, unlike a charge, it may be borne by itself, without any Shield, and also without any accompanying accessory, with the exception, in some instances, of a Motto (See "Motto," p. 138). Badges, however, are found depicted on roundels of the livery, and upon Standards, and for decorative purposes are often depicted upon mantlings. It will be evident that a Badge may be the very same figure or device as a Crest; but, it must be remembered that a Badge always differs from a Crest, in usually being altogether without crest-wreath or coronet, in consequence of having no connection whatever with the knightly helm. There was, however, a period in which the Badge was much confused with the Crest, which has resulted in many devices which are really Crests being officially recorded as Badges.

After the establishment of a true Heraldry, Badges were generally used to commemorate remarkable exploits, or in reference either to some family or feudal alliance, or to indicate some territorial rights or pretensions. Very many Badges are allusive, and consequently they are Rebuses (see "Rebus," p. 146). Some are taken from the charges of the bearer's Shield, or they have a more or less direct reference to those charges. Some trace of Marshalling or of feudal Difference may constantly be observed in Badges; and even where the motive for the selection of certain devices has not been discovered, it may fairly be assumed that a good heraldic motive still exists, although it has become obscured or been forgotten. It was not uncommon for the same personage or family to use more than one Badge; and, on the other hand, two or more Badges were often borne in combination, to form a single compound device, as in Nos. 235 and 270. The ragged staff, in like manner, No. 294, and the bear, both of them Badges of the BEAUCHAMPS, Earls of WARWICK, were sometimes united to form a single Badge, and by the successors of that great family the "bear and ragged staff" were generally borne as a single device. (See No. 448, and p. 319.)

Two distinct classes of Badges were in general use in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. Those of the first class, well known as the insignia of certain eminent personages and powerful houses, were borne by all the followers, retainers, dependants, and partisans of those personages and houses: and they were so borne by them, and they were used by their owners for every variety of decorative purpose, because they were known and understood; and, consequently, because the presence of these Badges would cause all persons and objects bearing them to be readily and certainly distinguished. By means of these most useful devices a wide and comprehensive range was given to the action and the influence of true Heraldry, without infringing in the slightest degree upon the lofty and almost sacred exclusiveness of the Coat-Armour of a noble or a gentle house. In the words which SHAKESPEARE teaches CLIFFORD to address to WARWICK, "Might I but know thee by thy household Badge!" it is implied that all the followers of Warwick were well known by his "household Badge," which was displayed by them all, while some other insignia were worn by the great Earl upon his own person.

Mr. Lower has remarked ("Curiosities of Heraldry," p. 145) that "something analogous to the fashion" of embroidering the household Badges of their lords "upon the sleeves or breasts" of the dependants of great families in the olden times, "is retained in the Crest which adorns the buttons of our domestic servants." The accomplished writer might have added that, in thus employing Crests to discharge Badge-duties, we are content to indulge a love for heraldic display without observing becoming heraldic distinctions. Crested livery buttons are heraldic anomalies under all circumstances--even the head of a house himself, if he were a Herald, would not display his Crest, as a Crest, upon buttons to be used exclusively by himself. Crests are to be borne on helms, or represented as being borne on helms: Badges are decorative insignia, and fulfil with consistent significance their own distinct and appropriate functions.

Badges of the second class were devices that were borne exclusively by the exalted personages who were pleased to assume them, often for temporary use only, and generally with some subtle or latent significance, which had been studiously rendered difficult to be detected, and dubious in its application.

These Badges, thus displayed rather to effect disguise or to excite curiosity than to secure recognition, must be regarded for the most part as the expressions of heraldic revelry--as the fantasies and eccentricities of an age, which loved to combine quaint conceits and symbolical allusions with the display of gorgeous magnificence. Accordingly, Badges of this order are found generally to have been assumed on the occasion of the jousts or Hastiludes, the masques, and other pageants that in feudal times were celebrated with so much of elaborate and brilliant splendour.

The adoption of Badges of this peculiar character is exactly in keeping with the sentiment which prompted men of exalted rank and eminent distinction to appear in public, on occasions of high festivity, bearing the arms of some friend, kinsman, or ally, instead of their own. A mark of especial favour and of peculiar distinction would be conferred, when a Sovereign or a Prince thus would display upon his own person the armory of some honoured subject or comrade. EDWARD III. delighted thus to honour the most distinguished cavaliers of his chivalrous Court. For example, in or about the year 1347, royal Hastiludes were celebrated at Lichfield with great splendour, the jousters consisting of the KING and seventeen Knights, and the Earl of LANCASTER and thirteen Knights. A conspicuous part was taken in these festivities by the King's daughter ISABELLE, afterwards Countess of BEDFORD, and by six Ladies of high rank, with twenty-one other Ladies, who all wore blue dresses and white hoods of the same materials as well as the same colours as the robes of the Knights, together with various masks or vizors. On this occasion, the KING himself over his armour wore a surcoat with the Arms of Sir THOMAS DE BRADESTONE. These Arms in a Roll of EDWARD III. are blazoned as--Arg., on a canton gu. a rose or (see Archæologia, xxxi., pp. 40 and 118). On another occasion, during Hastiludes at Canterbury, EDWARD III. "is said to have given eight harnesses, worked with the arms of Sir STEPHEN DE COSYNTON (az., three roses arg.), to the PRINCE OF WALES, the Earl of LANCASTER, and six other Knights." In the same spirit, RICHARD DE BEAUCHAMP, Earl of WARWICK, at a great festival of arms held at Calais under his presidency, on the first day entered the lists decorated with the arms of his ancestor the Lord TONEY: on the second day, he wore the arms of Hanslap: and, on the third day, "he appeared as the Earl of WARWICK, quartering Beauchamp, Guy, Hanslap, and Toney, on his trappings; his vizor open, and the chaplet on his helm enriched with pearls and precious stones." In such times, Badges of curious device and occult signification could not fail to enjoy a popularity, not the less decided because of the restricted use and exclusive character of the Badges themselves.

EXAMPLES OF BADGES, such as are distinctive, and consequently of the class that I have first described. The Badges of PERCY are a silver crescent and a double manacle: of HOWARD, a white lion: PELHAM, a buckle: DOUGLAS, a red heart: SCROPE, a Cornish chough: CLINTON, a golden mullet: TALBOT, a hound: BOHUN, a white swan: HUNGERFORD, a sickle: PEVEREL, a garb: STOURTON, a golden "drag" or sledge. The various "Knots," described and illustrated in Chapter X., Nos. 219, 235, 263, 270, 274, 304, and 313, are Badges. The bear and ragged staff of the BEAUCHAMPS, and, after them, of the NEVILLES and DUDLEYS, I have already noticed. Seals frequently have Badges introduced upon them, in very early times, by themselves, the Badge in each case constituting the device of the Seal (see p. 193). The Secretum or private Seal of ROBERT BRUCE, Earl of CARRICK, the father of the King, appended to the homage-deed extorted by EDWARD I. from the Scottish nobles, is a good example, No. 390: this is another of Mr. Laing's beautiful woodcuts. Badges also constantly appear upon Seals in association with Shields of arms. Thus, a Seal of one of the BERKELEYS, A.D. 1430, has a mermaid on each side of an armorial shield. Two other examples of this kind I have already given: No. 318, the Seal of JOAN DE BARRE, which is charged with the castle and lion of Castile and Leon, as Badges: and No. 321, the Seal of OLIVER DE BOHUN, charged, about the Shield, with the Bohun Swan. On his Seal, No. 391, Sir WALTER DE HUNGERFORD, K.G., Lord of HEYTESBURY and HOMET (the latter a Norman barony), displays his own Badge, the sickle, in happy alliance with the garb of Peverel (borne by him in right of his wife, CATHERINE, daughter and co-heir of THOMAS PEVEREL), to form his Crest. The Crest, it will be observed, in No. 391, is a garb between two sickles. The Shield of Hungerford only--sa. two bars arg., and in chief three plates, is also placed between two sickles. Two banners, denoting important alliances, complete the Heraldry of this remarkable composition: the banner to the dexter, for Heytesbury, bears--per pale indented gu. and vert., a chevron or; and that to the sinister, for Hussy--barry of six erm. and gu. Lord HUNGERFORD died in 1449, and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Sir ROBERT DE HUNGERFORD. The Seal of this Sir Robert, used by him during the lifetime of his father, precisely the same in its heraldic composition as his father's Seal, is remarkable from having each of its four sickles differenced with an ermine-spot upon the blade, to mark Cadency; and also, with the same motive, it shows that a label of three points was charged upon the Shield, and upon each of the two banners; No. 392.

Through an alliance with the Hungerfords, sickles were borne, as one of their Badges, by the great family of COURTENAY. They appear, with a dolphin, a tau cross, and this same tau-cross having a bell attached to it, as in No. 393, sculptured on the fine heraldic chimney-piece, the work of Bishop PETER DE COURTENAY (died in 1492), now in the hall of the Episcopal Palace at Exeter.

The BADGES of our early Heraldry are comparatively but little understood. They invite the particular attention of students, both from their own special interest, and the light they are qualified to throw upon the personal history of the English people, and also from their peculiar applicability for use by ourselves at the present day. Indeed, at this time, when the revival of true Heraldry is in the act of being accomplished with complete success, it appears to be peculiarly desirable that Badges should be brought into general use. It is not enough for us to revive our old English Heraldry as once in the olden time it flourished in England, and to rest content with such a revival: but we must go on to adapt our revived Heraldry, in its own spirit and in full sympathy with its genuine feeling, to conditions of our age and of the state of things now in existence. And very much may be done to effect this by the adoption of Badges, as our favourite and most expressive heraldic insignia, both in connection with Coat-Armour and for independent display. Unlike Crests, which must necessarily be associated with helms and the wearers of helms, and consequently have both a military and a mediæval character, Badges are equally appropriate for use by Ladies, as well as by men of every profession, and they belong alike to every age and period. This has been recognised officially, to the extent that the officers of arms have now reverted to the ancient practice of granting and confirming badges and Standards.

ROYAL BADGES.--I conclude this chapter with a concise list of the more important of the Badges that have been borne by the Sovereigns and Princes of England; and with some general remarks upon the famous Badge of the Ostrich Feathers, now considered to be exclusively the Ensign of the PRINCES OF WALES, not as such, but as the heirs-apparent to the Throne.

The Planta-genista, or Broom-plant, No. 21, is well known as an English Royal Badge, from the surname derived from it for one of the most remarkable of the Royal Houses that ever have flourished in Europe.

As well known are the Rose, Thistle, and Shamrock, severally the Badges of the three realms of the United Kingdom of ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, and IRELAND. A golden Rose stalked proper was a badge of EDWARD I.: and from it apparently were derived, but by what process it is unknown, the White Rose of YORK, the Red Rose of LANCASTER, and the White and Red Rose of the House of TUDOR.

WILLIAM RUFUS: A Flower of five foils.

HENRY I.: A Flower of eight foils.

STEPHEN: A Flower of seven foils: a Sagittarius.

HENRY II.: The Planta-genista: an Escarbuncle: a Sword and Olive-Branch.

RICHARD I.: A Star of thirteen rays and a Crescent: a Star issuing from a Crescent: a Mailed Arm grasping a broken Lance, with the Motto--"Christo Duce."

JOHN and HENRY III.: A Star issuing from a Crescent.

EDWARD I.: An heraldic Rose or, stalked ppr.

EDWARD II.: A Castle of Castile.

EDWARD III.: A Fleur de lys: a Sword: a Falcon: a Gryphon: the Stock of a Tree: Rays issuing from a Cloud.

RICHARD II.: A White Hart lodged: the Stock of a Tree: A White Falcon: the Sun in splendour: the Sun clouded.

HENRY IV.: The Cypher SS: a crowned Eagle: an Eagle displayed: a White Swan: A Red Rose: a Columbine Flower: A Fox's Tail: a crowned Panther: the Stock of a Tree: a Crescent. His QUEEN, JOAN OF NAVARRE: An Ermine, or Gennet.

HENRY V.: A Fire-beacon: a White Swan gorged and chained: a chained Antelope.

HENRY VI.: Two Ostrich Feathers in Saltire: a chained Antelope: a Panther.

EDWARD IV.: A White Rose en Soleil: a White Wolf and White Lion: a White Hart: a Black Dragon and Black Bull: a Falcon and Fetter-lock: the Sun in splendour.

HENRY VII.: A Rose of York and Lancaster, a Portcullis and a Fleur de lys, all of them crowned: a Red Dragon: a White Greyhound: a Hawthorn Bush and Crown, with the cypher H.R.

HENRY VIII.: The same, without the Hawthorn Bush, and with a White Cock. His QUEENS: CATHERINE OF ARAGON--A Rose, Pomegranate, and Sheaf of Arrows. ANNE BOLEYN--A Crowned Falcon, holding a Sceptre. JANE SEYMOUR--A Phoenix rising from a Castle, between Two Tudor Roses. CATHERINE PARR--A Maiden's Head crowned, rising from a large Tudor Rose.

EDWARD VI.: A Tudor Rose: the Sun in splendour.

MARY: A Tudor Rose impaling a Pomegranate--also impaling a Sheaf of Arrows, ensigned with a Crown, and surrounded with rays: a Pomegranate.

ELIZABETH: A Tudor Rose with the motto, "Rosa sine Spinâ" (a Rose without a Thorn): a Crowned Falcon and Sceptre. She used as her own motto--"Semper Eadem" (Always the same).

JAMES I.: A Thistle: a Thistle and Rose dimidiated and crowned, No. 308, with the motto--"Beati Pacifici" (Blessed are the peacemakers).

CHARLES I., CHARLES II., JAMES II.: The same Badge as JAMES I., without his motto.

ANNE: A Rose-Branch and a Thistle growing from one branch.

From this time distinctive personal Badges ceased to be borne by English Sovereigns. But various badges have become stereotyped and now form a constituent part of the Royal Arms, and will be found recited later in