Bayley Coat of Arms
Coats of Arms have, since very early days, been used as a means of identification and decoration. Originally, coloured symbols were displayed on shields as an instantly recognisable means of telling friend from foe during the confusion of battle. It was common practice for feudal lords to raise private armies which were pledged to the Crown. Each bowman or foot soldier would carry on his shield the Arms of his master, so it was important for each man not only to recognise his own master's shield of Arms and to follow it, but also to learn which other painted shields represented those groups which were friendly and those which were hostile. Later, it became common practice to display Arms on a sleeveless, loose coat or 'tabard' worn over the armour, and so was born the expression 'Coat of Arms'.
It was the gruesome job of the Royal Heralds to walk the length and breadth of the battlefield following an engagement and, from the Coats of Arms on the bodies, identify and count the dead. A tally was then taken and compared with a similar count made by the opposing Heralds. Very often, the outcome of a battle would frequently be decided on the number of dead suffered by each side. Warfare was organised and conducted very much along the lines of almost a gentlemanly game in those distant days. From these early days, the Heralds, because of their need for specialised knowledge of Coats of Arms, were given control over the issue and use of Arms, by the Crown. They have even given their name to the study of Coats of Arms, Heraldry.
Although Coats of Arms originated and served an individual function on the battlefield, their use as an easily recognisable system of symbols, shapes and colours was quickly taken up in civil life and soon became the forerunner of the modern-day trademark. In an age when few people could read or write, a sign of any sorts outside one's place of business was obviously advantageous.
As time passed, the traders prospered and many of them adopted their old trade signs, or variations of them, as a formal Coat of Arms for decoration and for the fashionable identification of items of personal property, such as tableware, valuable linen and jewellery.
Obviously, since it's early evolutionary days, Heraldry has become a very sophisticated subject and many hundreds of thousands of different Coats of Arms have come into use. In Victorian England, it was considered extremely fashionable to have a Coat of Arms - the more elaborate, the better. Many people simply designed their own and began to use them, but although the Heralds at the College of Arms controlled the issue of Coats of Arms and had legal authority over them, this did not mean that if people wished to display a Coat of Arms as a form of decoration, they had to have it registered with the College.
So, contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as a 'Coat of Arms for a surname'. Many people of the same surname will often be entitled to completely different Coats of Arms, and many people with that surname will be entitled to wear no Coat of Arms at all. Coats of Arms belong to individuals. For any person to have the legal right to bear a Coat of Arms they must either have had it granted to them by the College, or be descended in the legitimate male line from a person to whom Arms were granted or confirmed in the past. The increasing popularity of genealogy over the past couple of decades has seen a corresponding growth in companies offering to research people's 'family Coats of Arms' and selling all manner of merchandise decorated with family crests. Personally, I can see no harm in that, provided the people buying these products are aware that, in all probability, they will not be entitled to claim the design as their particular Coat of Arms, and the companies themselves do not set out to deceive their customers.
An excellent starting point for anyone who wanting further advice and information on the subject is the Heraldry Society's website - www.theheraldrysociety.com/
The Coat of Arms featured on our home page was actually awarded to the Hoddleston, Hertfordshire branch of the Bayley family. In heraldic terms, it is emblazoned with 'Argent, three torteaux, two and one' (the torteaux is a French heraldic term representing a loaf of bread and is depicted on a shield as a flat red coloured disc) and a 'chief gules' (the chief is the upper portion of the shield, and in this instance, is coloured red). The motto, 'Virtus in Arduis' means 'Valour in Difficulty'.
A quick trawl of the internet and you'll also come across a few more 'Bayley Coats of Arms' including the following -
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both of which are legitimate 'Bayley Coats of Arms' but the only people entitled to claim them as theirs are the original recipients, or their direct first-born male descendents.
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