A NEW LOOK AT THE START OF HERALDRY: WHO, WHEN, WHERE, AND PERHAPS WHY
In the past, heraldists competed to find the earliest seals that appeared to have heraldic designs on them, and they found isolated examples scattered over a wide area of Western Europe and dating from the second quarter of the twelfth century. However, a more fruitful approach to the start of heraldry and its family symbolism has been an investigation into individual medieval families to see when they changed from using non-heraldic seals to using seals with heraldry.
Peter G. R. Howarth
Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds