A mural crown (Latin : corona muralis) is a crown or headpiece representing city walls, towers, or fortresses. In classical antiquity, it was an emblem of tutelary deities who watched over a city, and among the Romans a military decoration. Later the mural crown developed into a symbol of European heraldry, mostly for cities and towns, and in the 19th and 20th centuries was used in some republican heraldry.
Early appearances of the mural crown appear in the Achaemenid Empire, where they take on the appearance of crenelations on Mesopotamian and Persian buildings.
In Hellenistic culture, a mural crown identified tutelary deities such as the goddess Tyche (the embodiment of the fortunes of a city, familiar to Romans as Fortuna), and Hestia (the embodiment of the protection of a city, familiar to Romans as Vesta). The high cylindrical polos of Rhea/Cybele too could be rendered as a mural crown in Hellenistic times, specifically designating the mother goddess as patron of a city. [1]
The mural crown became an ancient Roman military decoration. The corona muralis (Latin for "walled crown") was a golden crown, or a circle of gold intended to resemble a battlement, bestowed upon the soldier who first climbed the wall of a besieged city or fortress to successfully place the standard (flag) of the attacking army upon it. [2] [3] The Roman mural crown was made of gold, and decorated with turrets, [4] as is the heraldic version. As it was among the highest order of military decorations, it was not awarded to a claimant until after a strict investigation. [5] The rostrata mural crown, composed of the rostra indicative of captured ships, was assigned as naval prize to the first in a boarding party, similar to the naval crown.
The Graeco-Roman goddess Roma's attributes on Greek coinage usually include her mural crown, signifying Rome's status as a loyal protector of Hellenic city-states. [6]
The Roman military decoration was subsequently employed in European heraldry, where the term denoted a crown modeled after the walls of a castle, which may be tinctured or (gold), argent (silver), gules (red), or proper (i.e. stone-coloured). In 19th-century Germany, mural crowns (Mauerkronen) came to be adopted for the arms of cities, with increasingly specific details: "Residential (i.e. having a royal residence) cities and capital towns usually bear a Mauerkrone with five towers, large towns one with four towers, smaller towns one with three", observed Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, in A Complete Guide to Heraldry, adding "Strict regulations in the matter do not yet exist" and warning that the usage was not British. [7]
Mural crowns were used, rather than royal crowns, for medieval and modern Italian comuni . A mural-crowned lady, Italia Turrita, personifies Italy. In Italy, comuni and some provinces and military corps have mural crowns on their coats of arms: gold with five towers for cities, and silver with nine-towered for others. The coat of arms of the Second Spanish Republic had a mural crown.
In the early 20th century Portugal established strict rules for its municipal heraldry, in which each coat of arms contains a mural crown, with three silver towers signifying a village or an urban parish, four silver towers representing a town, five silver towers standing for a city and five gold towers for a capital city. The Portuguese rules are also applied to most municipal coats of arms of Brazil and some other members of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.
Romanian municipal coats of arms contain a mural crown, with one or three towers for villages and communes, five and seven towers for towns and municipalities.
The eagle on the coat of arms of Austria wears a mural crown to signify its status as a republic. This is in contrast to the royal crowns that adorned the double-headed eagle (and the imperial crown positioned above it) in the coat of arms of Austria-Hungary until their defeat in World War I. The mural-crowned eagle was abandoned under the clerico-fascist Federal State of Austria from 1934, but was reinstated in Allied-occupied Austria following World War II and remains in place to this day.
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| Mural crowns of French heraldry: 1. Capital 2. Department Capital 3. Commune | Mural crowns of Portuguese heraldry: 1. Village or urban parish 2. Town 3. City 4. Capital | Mural crowns of Romanian heraldry: 1. Village 2. Town 3. City 4. Capital | |
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| Mural crowns of Brazil: 1. Village 2. Town 3. City 4. Capital | Modern elaborations of mural crowns of Catalan heraldry | Mural crown of an Italian City | Mural crown of an Italian Comune |
Tyche was the presiding tutelary deity who governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. In Classical Greek mythology, she is usually the daughter of the Titans Tethys and Oceanus, or sometimes Zeus, and at this time served to bring positive messages to people, relating to external events outside their control.
The current coat of arms of the Republic of Austria has been in use in its first forms by the First Republic of Austria since 1919. Between 1934 and the German annexation in 1938, the Federal State used a different coat of arms, which consisted of a double-headed eagle.
The Naval Crown was a gold crown surmounted with small replicas of the prows of ships. It was a Roman military award, given to the first man who boarded an enemy ship during a naval engagement.
The coat of arms of Belgrade is the official symbol of the City of Belgrade and is stable in three levels - as Basic or Small, Medium and Large.
Mitcham was a local government district in north east Surrey from 1915 to 1965 around the town of Mitcham.
The emblem of the Italian Republic was formally adopted by the newly formed Italian Republic on 5 May 1948. Although often referred to as a coat of arms, it is an emblem as it was not designed to conform to traditional heraldic rules. The emblem is used extensively by the Italian government.
The coat of arms of the city of Melbourne, also known as the armorial bearings, is an official symbol of the City of Melbourne, Australia. They were granted to the corporation of the city by letters patent on 30 January 1940.
Portuguese heraldry encompasses the modern and historic traditions of heraldry in Portugal and the Portuguese Empire. Portuguese heraldry is part of the larger Iberian tradition of heraldry, one of the major schools of heraldic tradition, and grants coats of arms to individuals, cities, Portuguese colonies, and other institutions. Heraldry has been practiced in Portugal at least since the 12th century, however it only became standardized and popularized in the 16th century, during the reign of King Manuel I of Portugal, who created the first heraldic ordinances in the country. Like in other Iberian heraldic traditions, the use of quartering and augmentations of honor is highly representative of Portuguese heraldry, but unlike in any other Iberian traditions, the use of heraldic crests is highly popular.
The tradition and art of heraldry first appeared in Spain at about the beginning of the eleventh century AD and its origin was similar to other European countries: the need for knights and nobles to distinguish themselves from one another on the battlefield, in jousts and in tournaments. Knights wore armor from head to toe and were often in leadership positions, so it was essential to be able to identify them on the battlefield.
The Municipality of Ohrid is a municipality in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. Ohrid is also the name of the city where the municipal seat is found. Ohrid Municipality is in the Southwestern Statistical Region.
The London County Council was granted a coat of arms in 1914 and a heraldic badge in 1956. The coat of arms can still be seen on buildings constructed by the council before its abolition in 1965.
Italia turrita is the national personification or allegory of Italy, in the appearance of a young woman with her head surrounded by a mural crown completed by towers. It is often accompanied by the Stella d'Italia, from which the so-called Italia turrita e stellata, and by other additional attributes, the most common of which is the cornucopia. The allegorical representation with the towers, which draws its origins from ancient Rome, is typical of Italian civic heraldry, so much so that the mural crown is also the symbol of the cities of Italy.
A crown is often an emblem of a sovereign state, usually a monarchy, but also used by some republics.
The coat of arms of Adelaide was granted by the Heralds' College on 20 April 1929.
National symbols of Italy are the symbols that uniquely identify Italy reflecting its history and culture. They are used to represent the Nation through emblems, metaphors, personifications, allegories, which are shared by the entire Italian people.
The coat of arms of the London Borough of Camden were granted on 10 September 1965. The borough was formed by the merger of three former boroughs, namely the Metropolitan Borough of Hampstead, the Metropolitan Borough of Holborn and the Metropolitan Borough of St. Pancras, from whose arms elements were utilised in the arms of the new borough.
In Ancient Rome, a camp crown, also known as a vallary crown, was a military award given to the first man who penetrated into an enemy camp or field during combat. It took the form of a gold crown surmounted with replicas of the stakes of a palisade.
The coat of arms of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham was granted to the then London Borough of Hammersmith on 1 March 1965, but the motto changed languages in 1969. The subsequent change of names to Hammersmith and Fulham on 1 January 1980 did not affect the arms.
Brazilian heraldry as a distinct form of heraldry dates to 1822, when Brazil became independent as an Empire, under the reign of the House of Braganza. Being formerly a part of the Portuguese Empire and being ruled by the same Royal House that reigned in Portugal, Brazilian heraldry followed the tradition of Portuguese heraldry.
The coat of arms of Lyon, the ancient capital of the Gauls, reflects the rich history of the city across different periods of its existence and the power that has exercised authority over the city. It was created in 1320, although the current version, which dates from 1859, reprises the form that it had before the end of the Ancien Régime after having undergone several temporary modifications.
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