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Canting arms

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	Topics Canting arms Topic Home Canting arms is a technique used in European heraldryHeraldry Heraldry is the practice of designing, displaying, describing and recording coats of arms and badges, as well as the formal ... whereby the name of the individual or community represented in a coat of armsCoat of arms A coat of arms or armorial bearings , in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by... is "translated" into a visual punVisual pun A visual pun is a pun involving an ... or rebusRebus Overview A rebus is a kind of word puzzle which uses pictures to represent words or parts of words; for example: H + Pictogram... . The term probably originally came from the same root as the term 'cant' (originally to sing) in the meaning of slang or argot. Other languages call it speaking arms, e.g. in Dutch sprekend wapen. An example of canting arms are those of the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen MotherElizabeth Bowes-Lyon The Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon* was the Queen Consort of King George VI from 1936 until his death in 1952.... , who was born Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Her arms, shown to the right, contain in sinister (i.e. on the wearer's left, viewer's right) the bows and blue lions that make up the arms of the Bowes and Lyon families. Rebus coat-of-arms When the visual representation is not straightforward but as complex as a rebusRebus A rebus is a kind of word puzzle which uses pictures to represent words or parts of words; for example: H + Pictogram... , this is sometimes called a rebus coat of arms*. Examples of canting arms Canting arms – some in the form of rebuses – are quite common in German civic heraldry. They have also been increasingly used in the 20th century among the British royal family.