crest
Sign in to savetop component of an heraldic display
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Encyclopedic overview
A knight with an eagle crest at the Saracen Joust in Arezzo, Tuscany
A crest is a component of a heraldic display, consisting of the device borne on top of the helm. Originating in the decorative sculptures worn by knights in tournaments and, to a lesser extent, battles, crests became solely pictorial after the 16th century (the era referred to by heraldists as that of "paper heraldry").
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “crest” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.