Thus the mitre over an English bishop's coat-of-arms is a survival which indicates him as the successor of bishops who actually wore mitres, while armorial bearings themselves, and the whole craft of heraldry, are survivals bearing record of a state of warfare and social order whence our present state was by vast modification evolved.
The Heralds' College or College of Arms, the official authority in matters of armorial bearings and pedigrees, occupies a building in Queen Victoria Street, City, erected subsequently to the great fire (1683).
The quadrangle of the latter contains many well-painted armorial bearings of the podestas.
Somewhat later the adoption of hereditary surnames and armorial bearings marked the existence of a large and noble class who either from the subdivision of fiefs or from the effects of the custom of primogeniture were very insufficiently provided for.
The Riddarhus (house of the nobility) was the meeting-place of the Council of the Nobles until 1866, and its hall is adorned with the armorial bearings of noble families.
It is perfectly straight, and formed of old houses, on which remain the armorial bearings of the members of the order.
Moreover, the two hands and a castle, which form the arms of Antwerp, will not be dismissed as providing no proof by any one acquainted with the scrupulous care that heralds displayed in the golden age of chivalry before assigning or recognizing the armorial bearings of any claimant.
The hotel de ville, the facade of which is decorated with armorial bearings of Renaissance carving, and the church of St Etienne, an unblemished example of Romanesque architecture, are of interest.