In the absence of a crown or coronet the Helmet rests directly on the upper part of a shield. In fifteenth and sixteenth century seals it shows very large in comparison with the coat-of-arms, and so does the crest; the helmet often shows the guige or shield belt, and the shield often hangs _couchée_ or sideways. The Helmet, so says Guillim, is the true mark of English nobility, and it certainly shows as such on seals dating from the fourteenth until about the end of the sixteenth century, when rank coronets began to be used instead of, or together with, a corresponding form of helmet. From the early seventeenth century the shapes and metals of the helmets denoting rank have been clearly laid down, and they are as follows:-- [Illustration: _Royal._--A Helmet of Gold, with six bars, set affrontée.] [Illustration: _Peers._--A Helmet of Silver, barred, with five bars, and garnished gold, usually set in profile, but Dukes sometimes used it affrontée.] [Illustration: _Baronets_ and _Knights_.--A Helmet of Steel, garnished with silver, without bars, the visor open, and set affrontée.] [Illustration: _Esquires._--A Helmet of Steel, the visor closed, and set in profile.] On the Helmet, between it and the crest support, comes the mantling, the survival of the helmet cover torn in war, and showing in strips, now ornamentally treated. The main metals and colours of the coat-of-arms should be repeated in the mantling. To wear a crest at a Tournament implied more social status than the possession of a shield, and in the latter part of the fourteenth century all great nobles were very careful to display their crests, but lesser gentry had to be content with their shields only. In early visitations coats-of-arms were frequently granted without crest at all. Later, in Jacobean times, crests were sometimes given to persons already bearing arms, and they became commoner. Whenever ancestral coats-of-arms are quartered with a given coat, the corresponding crests may also be worn, but in English usage this is rarely done. In the event, however, of an additional surname being adopted by Royal Licence, with the corresponding coat-of-arms and crest, the second crest is commonly used; but it is very rare in English Heraldry to show more than two crests. Crests are undoubtedly derived from the fact that in the days of Armour, Knights were completely covered up and required some evident mark by which they could be recognised. To meet this difficulty a coloured device set on the top of a man's helmet offered an obvious and ornamental solution. Such a crest was strictly personal; the retainers of a Knight wore his badge and his colours, but never his crest. The modern use of livery colours and badges can be well seen in the case of the Beefeaters at the Tower. Very ancient helmets were sometimes ornamentally coloured.