Quote Originally Posted by Weedman View Post
no they weren't

in medieval heraldry, when a house had a Moor's head or other Muslim's head on their coat of arms it was used to show the original barer of those arms was a knight who had taken part in one of the crusades.

people don't know what that symbol means.

in European medieval heraldry, when a knight wore a Moor's Head or another Muslim symbol , like the crescent moon, on their blazon, it was to show they either took part in the crusades, or they specifically took part in a battle where there was a European victory over the Muslim warriors or soldiers.

that's one reason the crescent moons are always upside down in European heraldry, to show they defeated the Muslims in a certain battle or in the crusades in general.

It meant the defeat of Muslims in European heraldry. It's like taking the flag from your enemy and waving it around. It's to show you defeated him. That was the purpose of the Muslim and Moor's head type of symbols on a European knight's coat of arms.


they were military emblems and they signified military victories or the military history of the person or family who bore those arms.

Moor's head emblazoned on a European coat of Arms means the original barer either defeated Muslims in a victory in a specific battle or they took part in one of the crusades in general.

and the name Muir, shows they probably took their name from a knight who was a crusader.

I don't really know the history of that family or whatever so I could be wrong, but I do know, that at least generally speaking, a Moor's head in medieval heraldry was a sign of a crusade or Christian victory over the muslims or just some muslim defeat in a battle.

or again, just that the knight was a crusader at one time.

but it's a military symbol, like most other things having to do with a coat of arms.
Ha, no.

You are right about heraldry, I already knew that. But there are many references to them as being moorish.