These examples serve to show the differences between the ancient and modern language of heraldry. They, however, demonstrate that, basically, we are dealing with the same language here. The rules and terminology that heraldry acquired in the thirteenth century still form the basis of its present laws and language. There was a movement, about 1400, to substitute English for old French terms - gold instead of or, silver instead of argent and so on – but this movement died out and the French terms are used to this day. This is not surprising: Norman French was used in the English law courts for pleading until about 1735, so that its present use in heraldry is understandable. 

What makes blazons related to legal English is that they are the central element of grants of arms, which are, essentially, a variety of legal documents. All grants are formally and regularly recorded, with a full description of the insignia, at the College or Offices of Arms. Until the first part of the reign of Henry VIII grants tend to be in French. Thus the grant of arms to John Rympyngden of Leatherhead in 1516 is blazoned “gueules a une bende engrelee dor entre trois cornes et les laces dargent sur la bende trois hurtes.” This might be blazoned today as “Gules on a Bend engrailed Or between three Bugle Horns stringed Argent three Hurts.” 

When later grants came to be written in English they absorbed much of the French element in the way, common to the language of the law in general. The Norman-French technical words used in blazons were taken over wholesale. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries grants were couched in extravagant terms characteristic of the times. An interesting example is the grant to John Shakespeare, William Shakespeare’s father, in 1596. Two draft copies of the original grant are preserved at the College of Arms. The following transcript, taken from Boutell’s Heraldry, is made from the later, words in brackets having been supplied from the earlier copy. It shows many of the stylistic characteristics, which we discussed when examining legal language. Among them is bilingual doubling (have and enjoye, honour and worthinesse, name and good fame, knowen and divulged, children and posterite, to bear and make demonstracion); triplets of near synonyms (families, kyndredes and descentes; assigned, graunted and confirmed; children, yssue and posterite); as well as longer string of semantically related words, like the all-French “valeant factes, magnanimite, vertu, dignites, and desertes” used here for the sake of stylistic amplification:

TO ALL and singuler Noble and Gentelmen of what estate [or] degree bearing arms to whom these presentes shall come, William Dethick alias Garter principall King of Armes sendethe greet­inges. Know yee that, whereas by the authoritie and auncyent pryveleges perteyning to my office from the Quenes most excellent Mate and by her highnesse most noble and victorious progenitors, I am to take generall notice and record and to make declaration and testemonie for all causes of arms and matters of Gentrie thoroughe out all her Majestes Kingdoms, Domynions, Principalites, Isles, and Provinces, To th’end that, as manie gentelmen, by theyre auncyent names of families, kyn­dredes and descentes, have and enjoye certeyne enseignes and cotes of arms, So it is verie expedient in all ages that some men for theyr valeant factes, rnagnanimite, vertu, dignites, and desertes, may use and beare suche tokens of honour and worthinesse, whereby theyre name and good fame may be the better knowen and divulged, and theyre children and posterite in all vertu (to the service of theyre Prynce and Contrie) encouraged.

The highlighted central peace of the grant is the blazon itself, worded in a fairly conventional heraldic language, though a modern version of it would definitely prefer the French or for the English “gould”. The language of the blazon is mixed: the Norman-French had been partially replaced by English words and constructions.

The Norman-French element in the modern language of heraldry comprises most of the purely technical terms, like the already mentioned words for tinctures, or for the various forms of lines used in dividing the shield into parts, or for different kinds of the divisions of the field of a shield, and such like. The native English element in heraldic descriptions is usually represented by ordinary and everyday names of plants and animals, as well as of inanimate objects. They have been adopted as “charges” (i.e., heraldic figure and devices) by families, sometimes possibly from some historic event, but more often because of the play upon the name. Thus, the spear in Shakespeare’s arms is an obvious example of the play on the name of the bearer. Although most of the names of the animals are English, the terms describing their postures are French. Thus rampant means on the hindlegs, while rampant guardant is the same posture but full faced. Reguardant means looking back; passant, walking. Combattant signifies two animal fighting on hindlegs. Couchant is lying down; dormant, sleeping; and sejant, sitting. Since there are very many coats of arms in which animals occur, these heraldic terms are very important.