It would probably early have suggested itself to the minds of tradesmen and others to use their own coats of arms (when they had any), or those of the Trade Guilds to which they belonged, or the arms, crest, or badge[8] of their landlord or some patron, as a sign. This convenient custom, once established, would be sure to be largely followed. There can be no doubt whatever that in this way arose the custom of calling a house the “So-and-So’s Arms.” At the present time, the custom itself remains, although its origin has been largely lost sight of; and many inns have now, in consequence, come to be known as the “Arms” of persons, trades, places, and things which never did bear, and never could have borne, a coat of arms. Clearly the origin of the sign of the KING’S ARMS had never presented itself to the mind of the “simple clodhopper” who, according to Messrs. Larwood and Hotten (p. 106), “once walked many miles to see King George IV. on one of his journeys, and came home mightily disgusted; for the king had arms just like any other man, while he had always understood that his Majesty’s right arm was a lion, and his left a unicorn!” In Essex no less than 8·5 per cent. of all the inn-signs are “Arms” of some kind. In Devonshire “Arms” actually form as much as 22 per cent. of the whole, according to Mr. Pengelly. Although the custom of calling a house the “Somebody’s Arms” still survives, it is probable that, when the knowledge and ordinary use of Heraldry began to decline, many houses, formerly known as the “So-and-So’s Arms,” gradually came to be called after the most prominent charge in the coat, or after the “crest” or one of the “supporters,”[9] which might have been a _lion gules_, a _boar azure_, a _white hart_, or a _rose crowned_. The badge, again, has unquestionably given us not a few signs. Badges were used by the sovereign and by the higher nobility from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries inclusive. They must not be confounded with _crests_, which were personal emblems, worn on the crest or helm by leaders in the field. _Badges_, on the other hand, were household emblems, worn by all the followers and retainers of the lord. They were always of a simple nature, to be easily distinguishable in battle, and were placed on armour, standards, clothing, buildings, furniture, &c., &c. As a rule, therefore, it is the badge, rather than the crest, or even the coat of arms, which has given us our old heraldic signs. In some cases badges were adopted by parties, as, for instance, during the Wars of the Roses, so called because the Yorkists took the White Rose as their badge, while the Lancastrians took the Red. Shakespeare often alludes to the old custom of using badges. Mrs. Bury Palliser,[10] speaking of this subject, says, that “we still find the cognizance of many an illustrious family preserved as the sign of an inn. The White Hart of Richard II., the Antelope of Henry IV., the