ClanA clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning that their members can marry one another. Clans preceded more centralized forms of community organization and government, and exist in every country. Members may identify with a coat of arms or other symbol to show that they are an .
EmblemAn emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a monarch or saint. Although the words emblem and symbol are often used interchangeably, an emblem is a pattern that is used to represent an idea or an individual. An emblem develops in concrete, visual terms some abstraction: a deity, a tribe or nation, or a virtue or vice. An emblem may be worn or otherwise used as an identifying badge or patch.
TabardA tabard is a type of short coat that was commonly worn by men during the late Middle Ages and early modern period in Europe. Generally worn outdoors, the coat was either sleeveless or had short sleeves or shoulder pieces. In its more developed form it was open at the sides, and it could be worn with or without a belt. Though most were ordinary garments, often work clothes, tabards might be emblazoned on the front and back with a coat of arms (livery), and in this form they survive as the distinctive garment of officers of arms.
MottoA motto (derived from the Latin muttum, 'mutter', by way of Italian motto, 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mottos (or mottoes) are usually found predominantly in written form (unlike slogans, which may also be expressed orally), and may stem from long traditions of social foundations, or from significant events, such as a civil war or a revolution.
Flag of CanadaThe National Flag of Canada (le Drapeau national du Canada), often simply referred to as the Canadian flag or, unofficially, as the maple leaf flag or l'Unifolié (l‿ynifɔlje; the one-leafed), consists of a red field with a white square at its centre in the ratio of , in which is featured a stylized, red, 11-pointed maple leaf charged in the centre. It is the first flag to have been adopted by both houses of Parliament and officially proclaimed by the Canadian monarch as the country's official national flag.
Red starA red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. It has been widely used in flags, state emblems, monuments, ornaments, and logos. One interpretation sees the five points as representing the five fingers of the worker's hand, as well as the five populated continents (counting the Americas as one).
Papal coats of armsPapal coats of arms are the personal coat of arms of popes of the Catholic Church. These have been a tradition since the Late Middle Ages, and has displayed his own, initially that of his family, and thus not unique to himself alone, but in some cases composed by him with symbols referring to his past or his aspirations. This personal coat of arms coexists with that of the Holy See.
