... a family's heraldic symbol is called a "coat of arms"?
In medieval Europe men serving under a feudal lord in battle needed some way to identify
one another. This was particularly true during the Crusades when many nations fought together. To
provide this identification, shields were painted with brightly colored symbols called "arms" that identified
the feudal lord. Men of lower rank wore badges showing this same symbol.
Knights usually had this symbol emblazoned on light cloth tunics or coats that they wore over
their armor. This tunic became known as a "coat of arms", and later the term came to mean the heraldic
symbol itself.
