Editing Template:Coat of arms/doc (section)

===Background: Appropriate use of heraldry===
[[Heraldry|Heraldic emblems]] – typically [[coats of arms]], also referred to as arms – have since the Middle Ages been used to represent or identify personal/geographical entities, preceding flags for such use by several centuries. Moreover, heraldic emblems have traditionally also been preferred to vexillological designs for representation on any physical medium other than actual fluttering banners, i.e. fixed surfaces such as paintings, paper, carved wood, metal, masonry, leather, stone or stained glass. Note that heraldic emblems may also be displayed on fabric; either as embroidered arms or as a [[tabard]].

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File:Balduineum Wahl Heinrich VII.jpg|Depiction of the 1341 gathering of [[prince-elector]]s of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], identified by their constituent states' coats of arms
File:Philipp Veit 008.jpg|1830s painting of [[Germania (personification)|Germania]] holding the German arms while seated on a pedestal displaying the arms of the seven traditional prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire
File:BritishEmpireWW1MemorialBrussel cropped.jpg|[[Memorial tablets to the British Empire dead of the First World War|British post-WWI memorial tablet]] in [[Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula|Brussels Cathedral]]
File:1952 Trygve Lie Resigns.jpg|Disks in the [[United Nations General Assembly]] hall on which the national arms were to be engraved<ref>https://www.unmultimedia.org/s/photo/detail/704/0070477.html</ref>
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