carpenters square

It is important that a coat of arms be easily recognised and so everyday objects were frequently used as clearly identifiable charges – tools Boutell’s Heraldry, J.P. Brooke-Little, Warne, (revised Edition) London 1970, P 69 being a common and important example of these, of which the carpenters square is typical. Some of these tools are rather obscure to modern eyes, who of us nowadays would recognise a hemp-break A Glossary of Terms used in British Heraldry, J.H. Parker, Oxford, 1847, P163, let alone know what to use it for! The carpenter’s square is perhaps still somewhat recognisable to us today. Wade believes that it could represent someone “who would desire to conform … to the laws of right and equity”. The Symbolisms of Heraldry, W. Cecil Wade, George Redway, London, 1898 P98