© Addie Williams

Personal Coat of Arms

© Addie Williams

This resource includes the following:

- Detailed Assignment Sheet with a list of

traditional symbols & their meanings

- Brainstorming Page x 2

- Coat of Arms Template x 4 (2 sizes, 2 styles)

- Paragraph Worksheet

- Grading Rubric

Teacher Ideas / Suggestions

This is a fun activity for students to do during a Middle Ages Unit or even as a

“Back To School” project. It’s important to introduce the idea of a Coat of

Arms to the students by showing them some examples.

Find the Coat of Arms for your school, community, state, province and coun-

try. Talk about the symbols used in each Coat of Arms and their importance

and significance. A quick “Google” search will yield all sorts of examples of

Coats of Arms to show your students.

This project is also a great way to introduce some new vocabulary to students.

There are some great new words to share with students on the assignment

sheet as they relate to the different symbols. A quick lesson on perseverance,

industriousness, serenity, and fortitude might be helpful before students get

started. (I put the difficult words and their definitions on the board while stu-

dents are working.)

Students love to see what others in their class have come up with and

I often make a display of their work—they look fabulous up on the wall!

Assignment also includes a paragraph summary of their design and symbols.

Have fun!

~Addie

Student examples—these students chose to make

their own template / design and not use the ones I

provided. I allow students to do whatever they feel

best represents them.

© Addie Williams

Personal Coat of Arms

HERALDIC ANIMALS

Bear - Protectiveness

Bee - Industriousness

Camel - Perseverance

Dog - Loyalty

Dragon - Defender of Treasure

Eagle - Leadership & Decisiveness

Falcon or Hawk - Eagerness

Fox - Cleverness

Griffin (part eagle, part lion) - Bravery

Horse - Readiness to Serve

Lion - Courage

Pelican - Generosity & Devotion

Raven - Constancy

Snake - Ambition

Elk or Deer - Peace & Harmony

Tiger - Fierceness & Valor

Unicorn - Extreme courage

Wolf - Constant Vigilance

HERALDIC SYMBOLS

Axe - Dutiful

Crescent - Enlightenment

Crosses - Christian sentiments

Crown - Authority

Fire - Enthusiasm

Flaming Heart - Passion

Hand - Faith & Justice

Heart - Sincerity

Horns & Antlers - Fortitude

Lightning - Decisiveness

Moon - Serenity

Oyster Shell - Traveler

Ring - Fidelity

Scepter - Justice

Star - Nobility

Sun - Glory

Sword - Warlike

Castle - Protectiveness

HERALDIC COLORS

Yellow or Gold - Generosity

White / Silver - Peace & Sincerity

Black - Constancy & Grief

Blue - Loyalty & Truthfulness

Red - Military Fortitude

Green - Hope, Joy & Loyalty

Purple - Sovereignty & Justice

© Addie Williams

In the Middle Ages, individuals were identified by their coat of arms. As they were used

on the battlefield to identify a person’s friends and foes, they were often in the shape

of a shield. The symbols used on coats of arms were chosen carefully to represent an

individual or an entire family. The study of the symbols, colors and patterns used in

coats of arms is known as heraldry.

Design your own Coat of Arms

Create your own COAT of ARMS based on your hobbies, unique personality,

character traits and your family. Read through the list of colors, animals and symbols

shown below and decide which colors, animals and symbols best represent you.

Can you think of more animals or symbols that you could use on your Coat of Arms?

Include the following information on your own Coat of Arms.

1. A symbol / picture to represent an important place.

2. A symbol / picture to represent a hobby / activity

3. An animal that represents you

4. Any other symbol or picture that represents you.

5. Include a Personal Motto (words or a phrase that represent you) at the

top of your coat of arms.

Personal Coat of Arms What are some important places for you? What symbols represent these places?

What are your favorite hobbies and activities? What symbols represent these activities?

What is an animal that represents you? Why?

What else is important to you and should be represented in your coat of arms? What color best

represents you?

Ideas for a Personal Motto.

© Addie Williams

Personal Coat of Arms

© Addie Williams

COLORS TO REPRESENT YOU MOTTO OR LOGO TO REPRESENT YOU

Personal Coat of Arms

© Addie Williams

Write a paragraph to explain the key points of your Personal Coat of Arms.

Be sure to explain each element of your design and why you chose it.

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© Addie Williams

© Addie Williams

© Addie Williams

© Addie Williams

Not Quite

2 points

Good Start

3 points

Well Done

4 points

Wow!!

5 points

Coat of

Arms

• Incomplete or

missing details

• Little effort put

in to show

unique aspects

of themselves

• All details

included

• Basic aspects

included… more

depth required.

• All details

included—good

effort

• An effort has

been made to

showcase unique

aspects of them-

selves.

• Creative & unique

design of all

elements

• Full effort has

been made to

create a unique

coat of arms.

Paragraph

• Little or no

explanation of

symbols

• No organiza-

tion or structure

to paragraph

• Symbols are

explained.

• Basic paragraph

structure and

organization.

• Good explana-

tion of symbols.

• Well written

paragraph with

good structure &

organization.

• Explanation of

symbols is

insightful and

mature.

• Excellent

paragraph—well

structured and

organized.

Spelling &

Grammar.

• Frequent errors

in simple words

and sentences

• More editing is

required.

• Most sentences /

words are

correct.

• Well edited work

Personal Coat of Arms Rubric Name:

Comments:

© Addie Williams

Click the links below to see more of my ELA, Science & Social Studies

resources.

Thanks so much for your purchase!

middle ages mapping

science

This is also part of my Middle Ages Pack! Includes

all of my Middle Ages Resources!

Copyright Information Copying any part of this product and placing it on the internet in any

form (even a personal / classroom website) is forbidden and is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). These items can

be picked up in a search and downloaded for free. This product is meant for single classroom / teacher use only—please do

NOT distribute to others. ~ Addie Thanks so much for respecting copyright and the hard work of others.

~Addie

Thanks so much!

Let’s keep in touch!

Artist Credits