Canting arms

A famous example of canting arms are those of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's paternal family, the Bowes-Lyon family. The arms (pictured below) contain the bows and blue lions that make up the arms of the Bowes and Lyon families.

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  Bowes-Lyon family: bows and lions
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  Princess Beatrice of York: Beatrice = bee thrice = three bees
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  Rosetti family: three roses
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  Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone: three hog's heads
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  Cockburn: three red cocks
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  Crowninshield family: crown on the shield
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  De Barry family: three bars gemelles
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  Coat of arms of the head of the Portuguese Costa family: costa means "rib" in Latin and Portuguese
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  President Eisenhower: a blacksmith's anvil, as EisenhauerisGerman for "iron-hewer"
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  Flag of Maryland, originally the arms of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, whose mother's maiden name was Crossland; the latter's arms shows a cross.^[3]
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  Theodore Roosevelt: roses-fields
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  Maus family: a mouse in the first and fourth quarters.
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  Anthony Rota: rota means "wheel" in Latin
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  Edwin Forrest: Three trees and a tree crest (forest)
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  Arms of the Campdavaine branch of the counts of Saint-Pol: a sheaf of oats (Camp d'avaine means field of oats in that family's Picard language [Champ d'avoine in Paris French]).

Municipal coats of arms which interpret the town's name in rebus form are also called canting. Here are a few examples.

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  The arms of Berwickshire, Scotland: Bear and Wych Elm
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  Elmbridge, Surrey (1974): elm tree on bridge. (The toponym is related to bridges but not to elms; the prefix refers to Emel, a former name for the river Mole.^[4])
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  Châteaurenard: Château = castle; Renard = fox
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  Eberbach (1976): Eber = boar; Bach = brook (wavy blue fess)
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  The coat of arms of the village of Hensbroek in North Holland interprets the toponym as "hen-breeches" (the toponym is unrelated to either "hen" or "breeches", deriving from the personal name Hein and the Dutch cognate of "brook", i.e. "Henry's brook".)
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  Freixo de Espada à Cinta (1926): Freixo = ash (tree); de Espada = with sword; à Cinta = at the waist, in Portuguese
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  Falkenberg (1948): Falken = falcon; Berg = hill, in Swedish
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  Seinäjoki (1951): seinä = wall, joki = river, in Finnish
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  Arms of Kontiolahti featuring a bear (kontioinFinnish), carrying a log driving pike pole referring to the importance of forestry in the region's economy^[5]
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  Berlin (1954): Bär = bear
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  City and canton of Bern: Bär = Bear
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  Manacor: man a cor = hand with heart, in Catalan^[6]
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  Torrevieja (1829): Torre = tower, vieja = old
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  Kryvyi Rih: Kryvyi = crooked, Rih = horn, in Ukrainian
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  Rueda (1986): rueda = wheel in Spanish
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  Łódź: Łódź = boat
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  Wolfsburg: Wolf's Castle
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  Arms of Magenta, France, feature a bend sinisterinmagenta, an extremely rare tincture in heraldry
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  Örnsköldsvik (1894): Örn = Eagle, Sköld = Shield and Vik = Bay.
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  Füssen: Füße = feet
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  Schaffhausen: Schaf = sheep, Haus = house
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  Steinhaus: Stein = stone, Haus = house
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  Schattendorf: Schatten = shadow, Dorf = village
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  Hadersdorf-Kammern: Hader = quarrel, Dorf = village
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  The arms of Dornbirn feature pears, Birn in German
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  The arms of Kotka feature an eagle (kotka in Finnish)
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  An example of canting arms outside Europe: the Malaysian city of Kuching features a cat on its municipal coat of arms, kuc(h)ing being the Malay word for cat

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  The arms of the Diocese of Lansing: The lances crossed per saltire are a play on the name of the see, the city of Lansing, Michigan.^[7]
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  The arms of the Diocese of Rockville Centre: The mounds in the circle at the center of the arms are a play on the name of city in which the diocese is based, Rockville Centre, New York.^[8]
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  The arms of the Diocese of Baton Rouge: The shield features a red baton, referencing the city name, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and its literal French meaning.
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  The arms of the Diocese of Buffalo: The arms feature an American bison, colloquially called a buffalo, carrying a banner of the Cross of St. George (analogous to the heraldic Lamb of God), referencing the name of city in which the see is based, Buffalo, New York.
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  The arms of the Diocese of Brownsville: The tincture of the field, tenné, is depicted as brown, referencing the seat of the diocese, Brownsville, Texas.
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  The arms of the Diocese of Phoenix: The arms feature a phoenix, the namesake of the diocesan seat, Phoenix, Arizona.
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  The arms of the Diocese of Fort Worth: The arms feature a castle, referencing the fort for which the city, Fort Worth, Texas, was named.
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  The arms of the Archdiocese of Anchorage: The anchor references the namesake of the see, Anchorage, Alaska.
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  The arms of the Archdiocese of Hartford: The arms feature a hart, a male deer, in the midst of flowing water, i.e., fording a body of water, referencing the name of the see, Hartford, Connecticut.
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  The arms of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles: The arms feature three pairs of wings, denoting three angels, and referencing the namesake of the see, Los Angeles, California, which translates to "the angels."

• Japanese rebus monogram

• Winifred Hall: Canting and Allusive Arms of England and Wales. 1966. ISBN 9780900023019

• "Meaning of Arms". Heraldica.org. 2001-06-20.

• Canting arms (Britannica)
• Canting arms – 100 armes parlantes (YouTube)