For more than half of the Christian era in man's history most people, of all nationalities, had but one name, but as life became more urbanized and as the race multiplied it became necessary to have more precise individual identity.
Therefore, to identify one James from all the others, a second name (a surname) was added; describing James' physical characteristics (Tallman, Short, Long, etc.); his occupation (Miller, Barber, Shoemaker, Carpenter, Hunter, etc.); his location (Rivers, Waters, Field, Street, Stone, etc.); his relationship to ancestors -- "patronymic" names ending in "son" or "sen" for Scandinavians --"ian" for Armenians -- "ez" for Spanish - "wiecz" for Poles all indicate "son of". Other language groups used prefixes for the same purpose; the Irish and Scotch "Mac" and "Fitz"; the Welsh "Ap"; and other devices all to facilitate identity.
Coats of Arms
There is so much general confusion and lack of accurate information about coats of arms that we believe you would like to know something about the several parts of a coat of arms, and particularly about the origin and significance of these parts.
Coats of arms are described by heraldry, the language of emblems, (i.e. patterns, signs and symbols), which grew out of the military life of the Middle Ages. Those "extraordinary times of reality and romance, of barbarism and civilization" when the social order was feudal. Of the various trappings of feudalism, only heraldry survives. In continental Europe heraldry has been esteemed as a privilege of nobility only. In England, however, a coat of arms has always been "the indispensable appendage of a gentleman" and an object of pride and display. In a real sense heraldry is coexistent with man -- for always man has realized the need of a means by which to identify himself.
Since armor or coat of mail was invariably worn by the warrior class, there was no difficulty in distinguishing friend from foe even at some distance for each man bore a shield of a unique design.
Blazoning is the heraldic term for describing a coat of arms; first its color, i.e. the field (background) and second the bearings (designs) all in their proper order and respective shapes, positions and tinctures (colors).
The armor, or coat of mail, often became hot and a long, sleeveless garment was frequently worn over it as protection from the sun. This was called a surcoat (overcoat).
By the XIIIth century the surcoat had become short, and many knights wore their emblems (also called bearings, or arms) on their surcoats as well as on their shields. So grew the expression "coat of arms".
In the XIVth century an even shorter surcoat was worn, called a jupon (skirt). To protect their heads from blows, knights also wore a helm covered with a scarf called contoise, mantling or lambrequin.
To distinguish the helm it was topped by a crest. This was made of feathers, leather or wood, sometimes similar to the device on the shield.
The contoise, mantling or lambrequin was devised by the painter to give prominence to the coat of arms and crest. It is believed to have originated as a piece of cloth covering the helmet and hanging down at the back to a point beneath the base of the helm. It was intended to shield the warrior from the heat of the sun and to ward off the rain.
The wreath was a twisted silken scarf wound about the joint where the crest was attached to the helmet. Modern heraldry depicts the wreath as if two colored scarves had been braided together, the colors showing alternately. These colors are the same as the first named metal and the first named color in the blazon, and are known as "the colors". The wreath was, perhaps, copied by the crusaders from the wreathed turbans of the Saracens. The first noticed is that of Sir John de Harsich, 1384.