Heraldry (TCG)

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Every knight or noble worth his castle has a family crest or banner. In fact, once a new noble is knighted, a banner bearing the family heraldry must be sent to the king's castle where it is hung proudly in his great throne hall, another sign to all visitors of a king's vast wealth and power.
While every noble has a coat of arms, this section is specifically tailored to warrior knights in particular. As their standards are the most colorful and meaningful. they offer the best examples of the
great art of heraldry. However, any noble can bear a coat-of-arms, and any important personality (PC or NPC) can have their own personal etched rune, wizard mark, or identifying glyph, and these guidelines can be used by any person interested in adding just a little bit more flavor to their fantasy persona.
==Standards==
Most notably, a knight's standard appears in five places: on his armor, his shield, his lance-banner (when leading a charge to battle or shown at the beginning of a tournament), on a large banner or flag flying high above his castle, and on his private signet ring (which is used to leave an impression in sealing wax on letters and legal contracts).
The standard can include anything from the favorite flowers of a knight's lady to the depiction of the knight's most hated enemy or heroically vanquished foe. In classic medieval history, the objects placed on the standard usually had no apparent meaning to those outside the family. Often that secret was not passed down to the next generation of the family either, making things very confusing indeed if a genealogy is attempted.
However, for our purposes, it really adds very little to the game if such standards are useful for nothing more than identifying the enemy during a foggy battle. For all players interested in adding some color to their characters, some more thought is required.
The royal standard is born only by the king, his squires, and his personal knights, guards, and army. However, some kings require at least a portion of their standard to be included somewhere in the standards of any sworn vassals, noble or knighted. In such cases, the king's symbol is something simple and easily recognized, like a sun, moon, lion. single bar, background color, or even a dragon, which is easily incorporated into any lesser standard.
Before a campaign is begun, at least the king's standard should be described to the characters, as his followers are to be treated with the utmost care at all levels of adventuring. The standards of any neighboring allies and enemies and the local noble manor should also be determined before play commences fully.
If the DM is using the option of waiting to knight his warriors until they have become worthy of the honor through great deeds, then the knight-in-training must bear the standard of his lord until he has earned the chance to create his own noble line. Otherwise, players should detail their family crest and history during the character creation phase and submit this to the DM for approval and inclusion into the campaign.
In particularly large kingdoms or worlds where there is an emperor, it is possible for a newly knighted warrior to have more than one required symbol in his standard, making the customizing of his own standard a difficult one.
It is now readily apparent why the Heraldry skill in the Players Handbook becomes useful. With this skill, it is possible to deduce another knight's allegiances, family history, and record of previous deeds or crimes. It also becomes equally apparent why the DM needs to whip up some of this information beforehand! Use it to drop hints about an ancient weapon known to be wielded by a famous, or infamous, knight. It also comes in very handy during a tournament.
In any case, the exact nature and meaning of the standard is left up to the character and the DM. Below we present two examples, one from history and one from fiction. to guide the DM in this matter.
===Richard the Lion-Hearted===
Richard the Lion-Hearted, renowned king of England, bore a "lion rampant" (i.e. attacking lion) upon all of his noble devices. This symbolized his strength and aggressiveness in battle. While there is no real lion in Richard's past, the symbol of the lion was based on his deeds as a young man, his large stature, and his skill in battle.
While some standards bear little resemblance to the historical perception of some knights, Richard's was eminently appropriate. Since then, many of England's kings have followed Richard's example and have incorporated lions into their standards.
In an AD&D game, thousands of animals and monsters, both good and evil, can be utilized in a similar fashion.
===Lancelot Du Lake===
Lancelot, as portrayed in the film Excalibur, bore an embossed picture of the Holy Grail on his chest as a symbol of his search for perfection. It was legend that only the truest knight, perfect in all respects, could find the lost Holy Grail. While the existence of the Grail can be doubted, it is not its reality that is important, as the Grail was a visible symbol of something that was not visible to the knights: perfection. Such symbolism can add greatly to a PC knight's coat-of-arms.
===The King's Standard===
As an example of incorporating the lord's standard into one's own. imagine that the great overlord's standard is a gold dragon. If a king under him has a silver dragon, intertwining the two dragons is a standard rich in artistry and symbolism for a feudal environment.
If the king uses the symbol of a stone tower to remind people his castle has never fallen to siege, the emperor's gold dragon can be spread out behind the tower, indicating that the tower is protected by a greater power as well.
===Altering the Armor Further===
When knights spent more time dressing themselves for war than actually fighting, they continued to alter their armor in decorative ways. One of these ways included modifying the helmet to resemble something in the knight's standard, like a hawk's beak, the wings of a pegasus, or the fangs of a vampire.
Another alteration involved the outer appearance of the armor. While it is customary to paint the noble standard on the armor, it can be quite an elaborate affair. Molten precious metals like silver and gold can be used like paint at such times.
However, someone who has such funds available usually goes to the trouble of embossing his standard more permanently. This includes actually denting and shaping the armor in and around the symbol like a bas relief sculpture. This can then be augmented by gems, precious metals, or any. thing else the knight desires. Since this increases the value of the armor, and the expenses to repair it once damaged, only the very wealthy prepare their battle armor in such a fashion. Usually, a second set of armor, not suitable for combat use is prepared for special occasions and high ceremonies, like weddings, knighthoods, and councils of war.
Even the very armor itself can be modified slightly, to look more rounded or sharp, depending on the effect desired. Some things. however, speak louder than any crest of standard when it concerns one's armor. Any knight walking the land in a suit of blue-green metal embossed with runes of mystic power is not to be taken lightly.