The Supporters of an Achievement (Coat-of-Arms)

During the age of chivalry, what some of us call the medieval times, each different lineage of royalty was given an achievement (coat-of-arms) to visually discern their families from on another. On some, but not all, of these Achievements were supporters, which one would see on either side of the shield.

Aesthetically, there would be one on each side. Rarely would there be one supporter on an achievement. Most of these supporters were human, animal or mythological creatures.

Sometimes there were plants, pottery or some other object, but this is not a common practice back then.

When heraldry, the making of an achievement, was in full practice in Europe, most countries had rules they would adhere to in designing each emblem. What these rules were exactly is rather obscure, as we do not have complete records on this today.

One thing is certain, and that is England developed a school for heraldry, which later became the set constant in how achievements were designed. Achievements became more and more popular among the commoners, and supporters were used less and less.

An excellent example of supporters on an achievement of arms is the one of Greater England. On the Dexter side (right) is a golden lion, and on the Sinister side (left) is a white unicorn with a golden horn and mane.

After reading through many books on this subject, there is not a precise reason as to why supporters were introduced to the design other than the fact that they were selected to represent something important to the bearer of it.

Two different sets of books are really good for reference from the library. The first of these is A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Fox-Davies. The author of this set of books is Arthur Charles.

The second book that would be good to read through is Boutell's Heraldry by Charles Boutell. Both of these gentlemen spent years researching the hidden past of heraldry and try to explain the importance of supporters in an achievement.

Unfortunately, no matter which single book or set of books you find on this subject of "heraldry" will fully explain everything you need to know. Why? I have yet to find consistency from one book to another on the subject of supporters.

The same goes for blazonry; the description of what the achievement looks like. Of course this is another subject matter altogether.

With such archaic designs, we still find remnants of it in our marketing trends. What we call logos today would have been called crests back then. Supporters can be found architecturally as statues, which hold up beams in a structure.

As times have changed, people have changed. Such as with achievements, they have changed, too. You can have your own designed with supporters or not, but you will need to go through the College of Arms in England.

I have been told that the Air Force took over the Department of Heraldry for the United States of America, if there really was such a department, and that there is a university in Arizona that teaches the art of Heraldry. I have yet to obtain any facts on this so my guess is that these are just falsehoods.

Supporters of an achievement add to the overall design, and can give more meaning to your coat-of-arms. Don't be mislead with all of the websites you find on the internet today. I have been researching my family's genealogy for two decades, and not every surname has an achievement.