Markup Languages in Art - Part 1: Vexing Ology

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Stowe_Armorial.jpg/527px-Stowe_Armorial.jpg

"To marshal two or more coats of arms is to combine them in one shield, to express inheritance, claims to property, or the occupation of an office." - Heraldry

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_-_Herzogtum_Sachsen-Altenburg_%28Grosses%29.png

"In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. ...Blazon also refers to the specialized language in which a blazon is written, and, as a verb, to the act of writing such a description. This language has its own vocabulary, grammar and syntax, or rules governing word order, which becomes essential for comprehension when blazoning a complex coat of arms."

Arms of Östergötland, Sweden: Gules a griffin with dragon wings, tail and tongue rampant Or armed, beaked, langued and membered azure between four roses argent.

 

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4051/4302119652_02621ea923_z.jpg?zz=1

Vexillology is the "scientific study of the history, symbolism, and usage of flags or, by extension, any interest in flags in general."

 

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/images/images_2/lara/818_images/house_of_flags/high_res_images/hof07.jpg

House of Flags, an installation by Ay Architects celebrating multicultural London.