MURAL CROWN

In Hellenistic culture, a 'mural crown' identified the goddess Tyche, the embodiment of the fortune of a city, familiar to Romans as Fortuna. The high cylindrical ''polos'' of Cybele too could be rendered as a mural crown in Hellenistic times, specifically designating the Mother Goddess as patron of a city.^[1] The mural crown became an ancient Roman military decoration that later became a heraldic motif.
The Roman ''corona muralis'' (Latin: "walled crown") as used in antiquity was a golden crown, or a circle of gold intended to resemble a battlement, bestowed upon the soldier who first climbed the wall of a besieged city or fortress to successfully place the standard of the attacking army upon it.^[2] The Roman mural crown was made of gold, and decorated with turrets^[3], as is the heraldic version. Being one of the highest orders of military decorations, it was not awarded to a claimant until after a strict investigation ^[4].
The term is also used in heraldry to denote a crown modeled after the walls of a castle. In recent times, mural crowns have been used in opposition to royal crowns; they are typical of Italian medieval and modern Communes. A mural crown, Italia Turrita, is a symbol of Italy. The coat of arms of the Second Spanish Republic had a mural crown. Most Portuguese municipal coats of arms contain a mural crown, with three towers signifying a village, four towers representing a town, and five towers standing for a city. Similarly, the Romanian municipal coats of arms contain a mural crown, with one or three towers for villages and communes, five and seven towers for towns and municipalities.

Contents

Examples for the use in heraldry

References

See also

Examples for the use in heraldry

References

1. The mural crown as an indicator of the personification of a city was thoroughly explored by F. Allégre, ''Étude sur la déesse grecque Tyché'' (Paris 1889), pp 187-92.
2. Aulus Gellius, ''Noctes Attici'', V.6.4; Livy, ''Ab Urbe Condita'', XXVI.48
3. ''muri pinnis'' according to Aulus Gellius
4. Livy. l.c.; cf. Suetonius, ''Lives of the Twelve Caesars'', Augustus 25.

See also

★ Naval crown

★ Grass Crown

★ Civic Crown

★ Emblem of Italy