It is not only individuals that can have arms assigned to them: companies, corporations such as trade bodies or charities, local authorities and other councils can all invest in their own dignified, striking and unique expression of their identities and nationality.

Scotland is unique in having a living and vigorous branch of life and law concerning the bearing of heraldic insignia, backed up by a statutory register of arms, a court (the Lyon Court) to regulate disputes, and a government minister (the Lord Lyon King of Arms) in charge of granting new arms and controlling who is entitled to existing ones. From the 1400s many old laws required landowners to have arms and since 1672 the Lord Lyon has been authorised by statute to give arms to virtuous and well-deserving persons.

When one thinks how much Scottish companies and others spend on branding and corporate design, one wonders why more do not take this relatively simple step.