Heraldry and The Crusades, part 6.
The crescent was not the only heraldic symbol that has survived from the crusades. Other notable charges dating from the time of the crusades are the escallop shell and the water bouget, it does not however follow that every family that bore such emblem s on their Coats of Arms have an ancestor that took part in the crusades, as these charges passed into general heraldic use, and were adopted by many men whose forefathers never traveled to the Holy Land. The “escallop shell of quiet” was an emblem of pilgrimage. Assigned as a badge to St. James, patron saint of pilgrims, with reference to his original occupation as a fisherman, it was worn by those who made pilgrimages not...