beasts of heraldry
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
In English heraldry all manner of creatures have been borne as charges or as crests, the principal being the lion, bear, bull, boar, cat, swallow (called a martlet), pelican, unicorn, stag.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “beasts of heraldry” mean?
In English heraldry all manner of creatures have been borne as charges or as crests, the principal being the lion, bear, bull, boar, cat, swallow (called a martlet), pelican, unicorn, stag.
Is “beasts of heraldry” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.