page_title: Cornish heraldry
section_title: Common charges
hierarchical_section_title: Cornish heraldry / Cornish Symbolism / Common charges
caption_attribution_description: Coat of arms of Sir Sidney Godolphin: An eagle displayed with two heads between three fleurs-de-lis, circumscribed by the Garter, with canting crest: a dolphin embowed.
context_page_description: Cornish heraldry is the form of coats of arms and other heraldic bearings and insignia used in Cornwall, United Kingdom. While similar to English, Scottish and Welsh heraldry, Cornish heraldry has its own distinctive features. Cornish heraldry typically makes use of the tinctures sable and or, and also uses certain creatures like Cornish choughs. It also uses the Cornish language extensively for mottoes and canting arms.
context_section_description: Chough: the Cornish Chough, Cornwall's national bird, is very widely used in Cornish heraldry.
  Double-headed eagle: eagles with two heads occur prominently in several Cornish arms, in contrast to the rest of Britain where they are rare. The popularity of this form of eagle is probably due to Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who bore such an eagle in his role as King of the Romans.
  Bezants: Lower describes how Cornish families took the bezant from the arms of the ancient earls of Cornwall, "this coat is pretended to from Cadock or Cradock earl of Cornwall in the fifth century". The bezant in fact derives from the arms of Richard, Earl of Cornwall.
  Rose: the rose is an extremely common charge in Cornish heraldry, thought by Lower to originate in the Wars of the Roses. William Smith Ellis thought it might have been derived from an unknown Anglo-Norman family in Cornwall using it as an emblem and passing it on to their supporters. It is more likely, however, to derive from the Cornish placename element ros meaning a promontory or heathland, or res, a ford, Cornish gentry often using the name of their major estate as a surname. It is used by the family of Boscawen originally from Boscawen Rose.
caption: Arms of the Godolphin family of Godolphin, featuring a double-headed eagle
exif: {}