Arthurian Heraldry

The two most important recent works on Arthurian heraldry are:

The material in this page comes essentially from Pastoureau's book.

The Arthurian legends, written up in the 12th and 13th centuries, enjoyed extraordinary popularity throughout Medieval Western Europe. Very naturally, the characters of the Arthurian cycles were given arms by writers, and as early as the late 12th c. conscious efforts are made toward consistency within a work. By the late 13th c., a stable set of about 30 arms can be said to exist: this is described in Brault's work.

The development of this Arthurian heraldry slows in the 14th c. but picks up again in the 15th c. In France, in particular, a number of armories of the knights of the Round Table were compiled from 1440 on. Pastoureau has found 74 such armories in various libraries. They were mainly intended as reference books for book illustrators in Paris and Northern France as they painted illuminations for editions of the Lancelot and Tristan stories. They all seem to come from the same source, likely composed in the early 15th c. in Normandy.

The resulting armory published by Pastoureau contains 178 names, with each a blazon, crest, supporters and a motto in French, Latin or Britton. Nine out of ten characters are present in one of the major 13th c. Arthurian works (Lancelot en prose, Tristan en prose, Guiron le Courtois). Some important figures are missing: women but also some first-order figures (Marc, Merlin, Uterpendragon, etc).

I only present a selection from Pastoureau's armory, with some of his annotations.

In Meliador, an Arthurian romance by Jean Froissart (c1337-c1410), there are a total of 43 coats of arms attributed to knights named and unnamed: they are described in an appendix to the edition of the romance by Arthur Longnon, Paris, 1899.


Agloval de Galles: Purpure on a semy of crosslets or a lion passant guardant argent armed and langued gules. Cr: lion's head guardant argent langued gules. S: two lions passant guardant argent langued gules. M: "de Galles de Galles".
Son of Pellinor, brother of Perceval and Lamorat.

Agravain: Purpure on a double-headed eagle displayed or beaked and membered gules a bend vert. Cr: eagle's head or beaked gules. S: Two eagles or beaked and membered gules. M: "Né pour mourir".
Son of Lot, brother of Gauvain, Guerrehet, Gaheriet. In 13th c. heraldry he is given Argent a lion and a peacock gules or argent three lions gules.

Alixandre: vert a lion argent.
Paternal cousin of Tristan.

Arphasar: Sable a saltire argent. C: stag's head argent. S: stags argent. M: "Au coeur hardi".
Brother of Esclabor.

Arthur: Azure thirteen crowns or. C: wyvern vert langued gules issuant from a crown or. S: two greyhounds argent gorged gules. M: "Pendragon".
Until the 14th c. Arthur had Azure three crowns or or sometimes Gules three crowns or. A misreading changed three into thirteen and all 15th c. armories follow this.

Arthur le Petit: Sable a tree or. C: helm argent. S: two men-at-arms proper. M: "C'est pour Arthur".
Natural son of Arthur. The tree is often called a sycomore.

Ban de Bénoic: Argent three bends gules. C: double-headed eagle gules. S: Two lions gules. M: "À l'aventure".
Father of Lancelot, who bears the same arms.

Bédoier: Or a gonfanon gules. C: glove argent. S: two doves argent beaked and membered gules. M: "Preist à voler".
Constable of Arthur, whose function is recalled by the charge.

Blanor: Argent on a semy of crescents sable three bends gules. C: a bat sable. S: Two griffins azure armed, beaked and membered gules. M: "Petra so" (="what is it" is Briton).
Son of Nestor de Guines and grandson of Lancelot l'Ancien, brother of Blioberis and cousin of Lancelot.

Blioberis: Argent on a semy of crescents sable three bends gules. C: a crescent argent. S: Two buffaloes proper horned or. M: "Blioberis".
Brother of Blanor, whose arms he bears.

Bohort: Ermine three bends gules. C: an ermine argent from its neck hanging a neck-tie ermine. S: Two such ermines. M: "Penos penac" (="any which way").
Son of king Bohort de Gaunes, elder brother of Lionel, father of Hélain le Blanc. His arms are differenced from those of Lancelot his cousin.

Bohort de Gaunes: Argent on a semy of etoiles sable three bends gules. C: double-headed eagle issuant argent. M: "Y ce fera".
Brother of Ban de Bénoïc, father of Bohort and Lionel. His arms are differenced from his elder brother.

Brunor le Chevalier sans Peur: Argent plain. C: crown or. S: two stags saliant or. M: "Sans peur".
Father of Brunor le Noir and Dinadan.

Brunor le Noir: Argent a lion chequy sable and gules, armed and langued vert. C: lion's head chequy sable and gules. S: Two lions chequy sable and gules. M: "Sans peur".
Son of Brunor le Chevalier sans Peur and younger brother of Dinadan, whose arms he bears differenced.

Dinadan: Argent a lion sable armed and langued vert. C: lion's head sable langued vert. S: Two lions sable armed and langued vert. M: "Bizuiquen" (="nevermore" in Briton).
Son of Brunor le Chevalier sans Peur and elder brother of Brunor le Noir.

Érec: Or three serpents' heads gules langued vert. C: serpent's head vert. S: Two wyverns vert. M: "Sortés sortés".
Son of Lac. In 13th c. heraldry he bears lozengy or and gules.

Esclabor le Méconnu: Chequy or and gules. C: a chessboard or and gules, lined or. S: Two Turks proper.
King of Babylon; brother of Arphasar, father of Palamède and Saphar.

Gaheriet: Purpure on a double-headed eagle or beaked and membered gules a bendlet of the last.
Last son of Lot, younger brother of Gauvain. In 13th c. heraldry he bore Argent on a canton gules a semy of eagles argent.

Galaad: Argent a cross gules. C: a maiden's head proper, hair or. S: Two unicorns argent. M: "O l'aide Dieu".
Son of Lancelot. His arms are unchanged since the 13th c. and recall his central role in the quest for the Grail.


Galahad and monk.

Gauvain: Purpure a double-headed eagle or beaked and membered azure. C: eagle issuant or beaked azure. S: Two eagles or beaked and membered azure. M: "Orcanie Orcanie".
Eldest son of Lot whose arms he bears undifferenced. In 13th c. heraldry he bore a differenced version of his father's arms, namely Argent a canton gules. Father of Guinglain.

Guerrehet: Purpure a double-headed eagle or beaked and membered argent within a bordure of gouttes gules.
Son of Lot, younger son of Gauvain. The bordure of gouttes is probably a bordure engrailed which was misread. In 13th c. blazon he is given argent three (or a semy of) eagles gules.

Guinglain: Argent a bend raguly gules. C: an "écôt" (piece of stick) gules. S: two angels winged azure. M: "Richemont".
Son of Gauvain. In the novel Le Bel Inconnu of 1185-90 he is given ermine a lion argent.

Hector des Mares: Argent on three bends gules a sun azure. C: sun azure. S: two sagittari proper. M: "Aux marais".
Son of Ban, half-brother of Lancelot, whose arms are differenced.

Hélain le Blanc: Argent on three bends gules a label sable. C: cat's head proper. S: Two cats rampant proper. M: "Brangores Brangores".
Son of Bohort le Noir and the daughter of the king Brangoire. His arms are differenced not with respect to his father but to Lancelot who is the head of the lineage.

Karados: Azure a crown argent. C: two tigers sable. S: Two tigers sable. M: "Zellande".
King of Estrangore.

Keu: Azure two keys per pale addorsed argent. C: key argent. S: Two greyhounds vert. M: "hors des buissons".
Canting arms. In 13th c. heraldry he bears Sable a chief argent, also canting (chief pronounced ché).

Keu d'Estraus: Or two bars-gemels sable. C: arm in armour holding two horses or and sable. S: two goats saliant argent horned or. M: "tout pour la vie".
Nephew of Karados.

Lac: Or three serpents' heads gules langued vert. C: dragon's head gules langued vert. S: Two greyhounds argent spotted sable gorged gules. M: "Gregois suis".
King of Estregales, father of Érec and Brandelis.

Lamorat de Gales: Purpure on a semy of crosslets or a lion passant guardant argent armed and langued gules. C: lion's head guardant or. S: Two lions passant guardant or. M: "soies seur".
Son of Pellinor, brother of Perceval and Agloval, nephew of Lamorat de Listenois. Same arms as Agloval, differenced from those of Perceval by the lion.

Lamorat de Listenois: Purpure a lion passant guardant argent armed gules. C: lion's head guardant purpure langued gules. S: Two lions passant guardant purpure armed and langued gules. M: "tost ou tard".

Lancelot: Argent three bends gules. C: falcon rising or. S: two savage men proper. M: "Du Lac ma Dame".
Son of Ban, father of Galaad. The arms are stable since the early 13th c.


Lancelot is on the left, recognizable by his arms.

Lionel: Argent on a semy of etoiles sable three bends gules. C: Etoile or. S: two greyhounds argent gorged or. M: "Hare levrier".
Second son of Bohort de Gaunes, whose arms he bears, and brother of Bohort.

Lot: Purpure a double-headed eagle or beaked and membered azure. S: Two eagles or beaked and membered azure. M: "D'Orcane".
Father of Gauvain, Agravain, Guerrehet, Gaheriet. Husband of Morcad&eagrave;s half-sister of Arthur. In 13th c. blazon his arms are not described anywhere but all his sons bear differenced versions of Argent plain.

Lucan: Or a lynx gules armed sable. C: lynx's head gules. S: Two lynx rampant gules. M: "je parviendroi".
Lynx is "loup-cervier" in French, hence canting arms. Lucan is the cup-bearer of Arthur.

Méliadus de Léonois: Vert plain. C: oak-tree vert issuant from a crown or. M: "a la verdure".
Father of Tristan. Tristan differences by adding a lion, although it is possible that Méliadus' arms were created by substraction of the lion instead.

Mélian de Lis: Gules a fox or armed and langued azure. C: fox's head or. S: Two foxes salient or.
The 13th c. versions are different: either argent a lion issuant gules or Argent a maunch gules.

Méraugis de Port-les-Guez: Argent a bordure gules. C: a lion's head or langued gules. S: Two mongrel dogs gules. M: "Cornouaille".
Natural son of king Marc of Cornwall. The mongrel dogs allude to his bastardy. One may deduce that the arms of Marc (otherwise unknown) are Argent plain.

Mordret: Purpure a double-headed eagle or and a chief argent. C: double-headed eagle or. S: Two Moor women sable. M: "par adventure".
Son of Morcadès and Arthur, half-brother of Gauvain. Differenced arms of Gauvain. In 13th c. he bears Argent diapered gules.

Palamède: Chequy argent and sable. C: lion's head guardant chequy argent and sable. S: Two lions passant guardant chequy argent and sable. M: "Pour celle poy."
Son of Esclabor, brother of Saphar. He appears to difference from Esclabor. These arms date to the 13th c.

Pellinor: Or semy of crosslets azure. C: eagle issuant sable. S: Two eagles sable. M: "par la croix".
King of Listenois, father of Perceval, brother of Lamorat de Listenois. Arms differenced with respect to Perceval, and both Agloval and Lamorat de Galles difference with respect to Perceval instead of their father. The crosslet seems to be the charge of the Listenois lineage.

Perceval: Purpure semy of crosslets or. C: a cross or. S: Two griffins argent. M: "crux Christi".
In 13th c. works he bears Gules plain. Even though Perceval is the younger brother, his brothers Agloval and Lamorat (and even his father Pellinor) seem to difference with respect to him. His arms recall the quest for the Grail.

Pharamon: Sable three toads or. C: Tiger's head sable. S: Two tigers sable. M: "Gaule Gaule".
King of Gaul, ancestor of Clovis, whose mythical arms Azure three toads or were changed upon his conversion to Azure three fleurs-de-lys or. French Arthurian legends make Pharamon a contemporary of Uterpendragon and a knight of the Round Table.

Sagremor le Desreez: Gules two stars or on a canton argent a star sable.
In 13th c. texts he has gyronny or and vert or gyronny or and sable. Desreé means excited, and the gyronny is associated with excitement and lack of control, as in the arms of Baniers le Forcené: gyronny argent and gules.

Saphar: per pale vair and chequy or and vert.
Brother of Palamède, son of Esclabor. The impalement with vair is unexplained.

Tor: Or semy of crosslets sable. C: Crane's head proper. S: Two cranes proper without their vigilance.
Tor is a natural son of Pellinor.

Tristan: Vert a lion or, armed and langued gules. C: lion's head or. S: Two lions or. M: "C'est pour Yseut".
Son of Méliadus. Tristan's arms in 13th c. texts are variable: usually a lion in French, English and Scandinavian texts, a boar in German texts.

Urien: Azure a lion or armed and langued gules. C: lion's head or langued gules. S: Two swans argent membered and beaked sable. M: "A tout".
King of Moraife or Gorre, father of Yvain, brother of Lot.

Yder: Gules three lions' heads or langued sable. C: Lion's head or langued sable. S: Two lions or armed and langued sable. M: "or bien".
King of Cornwall. Chrétien de Troyes in 1175-80 gives him a device with a stag issuant from a door; these arms are those of the legendary kingdom of Ireland.

Yvain: Azure a lion or armed and langued gules. C: Lion's head or langued gules. S: Two lions or armed and langued gules. M: "C'est pour Morguen".
Son of Urien. His motto alludes to Morguain, his mother in a number of texts. In 13th c. texts he bears Or a lion gules. The change in tinctures may be an enhancement, due to the higher prestige of the azure/or combination (France, Arthur).

Yvain l'Avoutre: Azure a pale or.
Natural son of Urien in whose arms the lion is replaced by a pale.

The address of the editor of Pastoureau's book is:

Le Léopard d'Or
5, rue Decouédic
75014 Paris
France


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Last modified: March 7, 1996

François R. Velde